1940 Dodge Chassis/Serial Number? where is it?

[Andydodge]

Gidday from sunny Sth Grafton Australia....for those that know me you know that I've had my 1940 Dodge for a while...since 1971 actually.....lol......anyway I have never had to go looking for the Chassis/Vin/Serial number as the car has always been registered........however there might be some licencing/registration changes coming in and whilst the legal paperwork I have had since 1971 states that the "Chassis/Vin Number is 3938637" I have never actually seen this anywhere on the car.........when I bought it there was no Serial Number plate on either front door pillar with this number and however # 3938637 has always been listed under the chassis number section on the rego papers and corresponds with the listing for D15 Serial Numbers as shown in the 1936-42 Oz Chrysler Workshop manual..........BUT............I have it in the back of my mind that this number was also stamped into the chassis somewhere.......can anyone confirm this.....and WHERE?......lol....my understanding is that D15's were USA sourced for export.........any help would be much appreciated.......thanks...Andy Douglas

[Desotodav]

Hi AndyD. I did a bit of searching on the net and it seems general consensus that VIN #'s are usually stamped on firewall plate, door pillar plate, or chassis rail on the left side near the wheel arch. I have only seen the VIN stamped on 1 of my trucks here in Oz though, so you might be lucky to find one on the chassis rail of your jalopy. Pics attached of the VIN location on my 48 Dodge truck chassis...

[TodFitch]

The number on the photo from Desotodav looks more like an engine number than a serial number. Though it doesn't look exactly like an engine number either.

 

The numbers I've seen or heard about have always been on the side of the left (US driver's side, Australian passenger side) frame rail. Either around the running board supports or the kick up for the rear axle. Seems the the numbers were more likely to be for the engine rather than the car serial number but you might get lucky.

 

For what its worth, my serial number lookup gives the following for your number:

Serial Number: 3938637
Found in range: 3934901 to 3939123
Serial: 3737 of 4223
Year: 1940
Make: Dodge
Model Code: D15
Plant: Detroit
Engine: 6 cylinder L-head
Wheelbase: 117 inches

[1940plymouth]

Andy,

 

Check the POC store, Jim Benjaminson has written an article in the new issue of the "Plymouth Bulletin" about locations for the serial numbers.on pages 14 and 15 along with some photos.

 

Hopefully this will help,

Bob

[JerseyHarold]

Since your car was built in Detroit, it may be possible to get a build card for it from Chrysler that would tie together any number you find to the serial number on your paperwork.

[Andydodge]

Have tried various ways to email Jim Benjaminson but the email connection to him doesn't seem to want to work.........Bob is there any chance you could scan those 2 pages to which you refer or just repeat what is said.....tOD...I've had a look on the chassis where you mention without success.....lol.......this car is starting to annoy me.........lol.......regards, andyd.......

[Ricky Luke]

G'day Andy

 

Mate, have a squizz at the front right chassis rail. My 1940 Chrysler has the number hand stamped there.

 

Rick

[1940plymouth]

I take care of the scan on Monday for you, I am having issues with my scanner-printer right now

[1940plymouth]

http://www.plymouthbulletin.com/DVD-Plus/Issue322s.pdf

 

 

Andy, hopefully this will help you out

[Andydodge]

Thanks Bob.....Ricky, roughly where?.......oz drivers side?....thanks, andyd

[Ricky Luke]

Yep, RHS in front of the suspension. Hand stamped about 1/2" high.

 

Rick

[deathbound]

On my '38 Plymouth Coupe, the # stamped on the left outside frame rail just behind the rear axle arch matches my engine# (less the P6 part).

[Andydodge]

Deathbound, the chassis number is supposed to be somewhere on the chassis, however I can never recall ever having seen it and I have cleaned the firewall portion and repainted it many yrs ago without ever seeing the number.....the original engine number or at least the engine number that the car had when I bought it in 1971 was DP9362645, however I replaced this engine with a 1962 Oz Chrysler Royal 313 Poly V8 & auto which it still has........its just that due to possible changes with registration(licencing) I may need to be able to verify this is indeed the car that my paperwork refers to and whilst I do have this pretty well covered I'd just like to see this damn number..........lol.........now Ricky.......where EXACTLY is your chassis number?......RHS? is that Oz drivers side?........whereabouts in front of the suspension?........on the vertical side or horizontal/flat part?....remember my chassis is painted, although the paint is old .....lol.......I have just come in from looking on the chassis either side of the radiator surround, where the upper front spring pocket is and have also checked both right & left sides of the vertical chassis rail behind the rear axle centre line........lol...........help.........lol.........andyd

[B-Watson]

Right hand side, top side of chassis side rail, just in front of the FRONT axle.  Does not matter what side of the car the steering wheel is located. Left and right is determined by sitting at the steering wheel and looking straight ahead.   Same way as determining port and starboard on a ship.  

 

Your original engine was an American Plymouth P9 unit, which became a Dodge engine by adding the "D" in front of the "P".   If it was Canadian-built the engine number prefix would be "D15-".   

[Andydodge]

Bill.......thanks....that's where I've been looking, I assume you should be able to see it by looking into the engine bay and down onto the top of the chassis rail, when you say in front of the axle, being the independent front end I assume you mean in front of the axle "centreline" which is almost impossible to view from above.........will take off the front wheel tomorrow night.........lol..........thanks, andyd

[Ricky Luke]

The location is on the RHS under where the sway bar bolts to the chassis.

 

For those that are playing at home, the Australian cars had bodies built here dropped onto running chassis that were imported. For my car, 144 RHD chassis were exported from the USA in 1940, which makes mine a very rare beast... The thoughts I had of doing a mild rod went out the window when I found that out.

 

Obviously not having a body meant they had to put a number somewhere easy to spot. My chassis #6957905 apparently flags it as a Winsdor. It does cause havoc at registration. My dad had the same issue with his 1929 Plymouth. They insisted that the body number was the correct chassis number, not the tag on the dash.

 

Cheers

 

Rick

[Furylee2]

Andy, I was just helping a buddy replace the frame under his 41 coupe yesterday.  He’s owned the car since 1964, it only had 32,000 miles on it.  Started to restore it a few years ago, and found the frame was damaged in an accident.

 

After we got the “new” frame from a 41 four door sedan under his coupe, I started scratching around his old frame looking for a Serial Number.  Sure enough, it was there.  His engine is at the mechanics, so couldn’t really verify if it’s his engine number or not.

[Furylee2]

Had issues attaching the photo.

[deathbound]

Here's mine....just behind the rear axle/rear frame x-member.

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img31/661/qk17.jpg

[Mopar Mick]

Ricky, I am having the same issue as "Andydodge" except mine is a 1940 Chrysler Coupe (C25) model.

Are you saying the chassis number can be found on the bottom side of the C section facing the road?

This whole issue is very confusing.

Mick.

[Andydodge]

Mick.............YOU may have a slight problem..........didn't you cut the front off the chassis and fit a holden front end?.....did you keep the chassis front clip?..............the area Ricky is referring to is the area on the Oz drivers side of the chassis, right at the front, on the side of the chassis  below the sway bar bracket, where the front bumper bar bolts onto..........the stock chassis rail continues in front of the stock front crossmember and the outside of this chassis rail is where he is referring to, it has two indented areas where the bumper bolts go thru, somewhere around/above/beside this spot............lol..........I just had another look there on mine and without stripping paint I cannot see any number......lol.....but at least I have a rough idea where it should be.........or at least a choice of a few areas........lol.............andyd

[Ricky Luke]

Mick, if I remember correctly yours was imported as a complete car. Your numbers could be anywhere going by the other posts. As Andy said, mine is at the extreme front RHS. Heres a link to a pic https://www.dropbox.com/s/x5e9dnwo9bf1p6y/Note_20131119_001326_1.pdf

 

Standing invite - I'm only 20 min away.

 

Rick

[fstfish66]

subscribed, interesting,,,

[Mopar Mick]

Many thanks for the replies.

Andy, my chassis wasn't cut off just added to for more strength and the HT Holden front crossmember was grafted into the original chassis.

Rick, thanks for that pic. I shall check mine out.

 

I may just "find" my chassis number on my new front end lol.

 

Mick.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Mopar Mick

[Andydodge]

Mick, well thats right..........you never know what you might find if you look hard enough........lol..............your eyes might be better than mine.........lol..........andyd