1958-1968 M37B1/M43B1 serial number information needed

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townwagon
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2016 7:00 pm

1958-1968 M37B1/M43B1 serial number information needed

Post by townwagon »

I am looking for pictures of the serial number tag and frame number from 1958 to 1968 M37B1/M43B1 and other variants. I need both the number off the tag and from the frame so I can figure out the correct prefix for a given serial number on the tag. The ending portion of the serial number is on the tag and the complete serial number is on the frame (1958-59 has the complete number in both locations). I need as much data as I can get to figure out what changed when and how. It would also be useful to know what side of the frame the number is on as some are on the driver side and others are on the passenger side.

I'm working on figuring out the 1958 to 1968 M37B1/M43B1 serial number system and so far the real world trucks don't match a lot of the information out there. The information on the registry page looks to be the information that John Zentmyer put together in his book and he states in his book that he is guessing based on the production numbers. The registry entries are hard to trust as Robi has changed several when they didn't match the Zentmyer data and others are suspect as people added 2661 or 26680 (from the help page) to the number on their tag instead of checking the number on the frame. The trucks I have checked so far don't all match the data on the help page.

I hope to collect enough data to figure this out. Any factory information on this subject is also welcome. So far I have found the following prefixes.

L245 1958-1959. This is the only B1 prefix stamped into the glove box tag.
T245 1960-1961
26611 1961-1962
2661 1962
1963 to 1968 prefix numbers have been:
26680
2668
266
I am not sure which prefix was used during what year from that era. I am not sure if it is a group thing or a truck by truck thing.

For anyone wondering who I am and why I am working on this, I provided the serial number data for the general Dodge truck serial number decoder on T137.com and I wrote this book:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/152101547287

If I can collect enough verified data I should be able to create a decent chart for the B1 serial numbers and I'll be able to verify any factory data that turns up providing a break down for the B1 serial numbers.

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Eric
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