VIN plate on the door of my 63 &

[Alan H. Tast]

Photos on verified unrestored/unmolested cars, please. It's going to be a few days before I can go through body/trim assembly manuals and look at doors and a parts car for what I have.

I'm suspecting this is going to be 6 of one thing, half-dozen of the other...

[Scott6T6]

I don't claim to be an expert on '61 - '63 Thunderbird's. I actually looked at two photos of '63 Data Plates I have before I posted my photo and both of them were oriented in that manner, with the top of the plate facing to the left - towards the exterior of the car. The photo I posted is from a VTCI "Senior Car".

Then I saw these other Data Plates mounted opposite of the one in my photo, so I started searching for low mileage, surviving '63 Thunderbird's to see if I could find a photo of a Data Plate on an un-restored, original car. I managed to locate two such cars that also had photos of the Data Plates. Here are the Data Plates from both of those cars. Sorry, I know this is only adding to the confusion!!

Is it possible Ford mounted them both ways? I guess this needs to be researched further.

Scott

[Scott6T6]

Here's the original Data Plate found on a 42,834 actual mile '63 Hardtop. The car is completely original and in great condition with beautiful Raven Black factory paint.
The Date Plate on this car is situated with the top of the plate facing right, towards the interior.
Scott

[OM1963]

This super low mileage '63 (2,600) that sold numerous times over the last few years has it this way also:

https://www.orlandoclassiccars.net/vehi ... hunderbird

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0122-48526 ... underbird/

[Scott6T6]

Wow! That 2,600 mile '63 Hardtop is absolutely incredible! I want it - minus the incorrect wide whitewall tires!! Odd that I've never heard about or seen this car until now. You know the Data Plate position on this baby is reliable.
Scott

[Alan H. Tast]

From the 1963 T-bird Body/Trim/Sealer Assembly Manual reprint shows the plate mounted with the left side of the plate on top, meaning plate is rotated clockwise from horizontal.

1963 Data Plate Mounting (from '63 T-bird Body/Trim/Assembly Manual)

Plate on my parts car and Sports Roadster are same as in the Body/Trim/Sealer manual illustration above. I still need to find pre-restoration photos (if I still have them) of location on my hardtop, though, as I installed it counterclockwise from horizontal.

I'm not going out on a limb to say with absolute certainty that 100% of all '63s had them installed the 'right way', primarily because of the likelihood that assembly line workers assigned the task of installing the plates, especially replacement or 'floater' workers who filled in for the people normally assigned this task, could easily get the plates oriented differently from the 'standard' set in the engineering drawings. I don't know how particular quality control inspectors were about placement of the plates, but it probably drove a few of them insane if the plate was not oriented per instructions. It's sufficient enough to say that there is factory-produced documentation showing how the plate was to be installed, and that such orientation would be what I would recommend short of finding out that an original was originally delivered otherwise. Is it worth a modification point deduction in Primary judging? Personally, I'd be concerned about other items before I'd be nit-picking on this because of the potential for error of installation when originally built.

Placing the plates horizontally on later-year T-birds from 1964 up through 1969, before placement of the Vehicle Certification Label on the latch face of door jambs, was probably a direct result of issues with orientation of the plates on '63s.