Vin code help needed.

petke

Registered User
Dear Members,

I have recently bought a lovely 1989 SC. The car has been imported to europe in 1992. I have tried to add different wheel sizes to my registration (since it has only 245/45 R16 and 225/55 R16 listed). For this I need a statement of the manufacturer.

After communication with the local Ford representative, they contacted Ford Motor company USA. The statement of FMC USA is, that such VIN number was never made, and is probably fraudulent :-/

Can anyone help me with decoding, or authenticating my VIN number?

Its 1FAPP64R3KH205425

The stamped metal sheet under windscreen and the sticker in the driver door frame has the same matching number. Is there any other spot, where the chassis could be identified?
 
I don't know why they would have told you that, that VIN you posted is a valid one, and decodes as a 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC. As for getting Ford USA to authorize alternate size tires, good luck with that! The SC was never offered with anything other than 16" rims, and the only tire sizes you could get from the factory were 225/60/16 and 235/60/16. Nobody at Ford is going to stick their neck out and say it is OK to run a different size tire on a car that has been out of production for 20 years. If your local laws require you to run a factory approved tire size, then that is what you are stuck with. I think you will have better luck talking to someone local to see if there are any ways to get the approval from Ford waived given the age of the car and that it was only sold in the US market, never in Europe.

Oh, and if you do need to verify the VIN in another place, if you take the driver's fender off, there will be a tab that is part of the upper frame rail that sticks out that is stamped with the VIN, and would be very difficult to replace and make it look factory.
 
I don't know why they would have told you that, that VIN you posted is a valid one, and decodes as a 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC. As for getting Ford USA to authorize alternate size tires, good luck with that! The SC was never offered with anything other than 16" rims, and the only tire sizes you could get from the factory were 225/60/16 and 235/60/16. Nobody at Ford is going to stick their neck out and say it is OK to run a different size tire on a car that has been out of production for 20 years. If your local laws require you to run a factory approved tire size, then that is what you are stuck with. I think you will have better luck talking to someone local to see if there are any ways to get the approval from Ford waived given the age of the car and that it was only sold in the US market, never in Europe.

Oh, and if you do need to verify the VIN in another place, if you take the driver's fender off, there will be a tab that is part of the upper frame rail that sticks out that is stamped with the VIN, and would be very difficult to replace and make it look factory.

I would be glad to have the 235/60/16 in my papers. I have had these tires on my car, when I bought it, and it looked neat to have a wider and taller tire on the rear and 225/50/16 in the front.

Is it possible to see the VIN code on the frame without removing the fender?

THNX for the reply
 
Possibly, I've never tried. You would at the very least need to remove the fender liner and use a flashlight and a mirror. I have the fenders off my Cougar, so I'll take a pic of where it is and post back here with it so you know where to look.
 
: Vin code help needed.

HI I have a 35th and a sweet '91 and I had a bad problem with switching tire sizes the smaller sizes cause speedo to read too fast and tall tires was under so if you're running the ABS and it it happens to have the wheel sensors watchout dude bad news is a coming so use whats on the specs to keep the the performance correct, but I managed to use a different rim set up 19" but the trick it to match the tires height to the original by comparing them side by side after tires are paired with taller rims but it's a pain and not really worth all the headache FYI I'm in Arizona glad I don't have your dalema wow!
 
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Thanks guys for the replies.

One more idea hit me. Are there guys here working in a ford dealership or service, where they have an access to the vin database? I mean I dont need a history report, just an information that a car with this specific number was ever made. I mean I have a tiny suspition the ford dealer just tried to get me off his neck, so he doesnt have to deal with this.

Anyone?
 
Do a Marti Report on your vin number. It will cost you some money, but that is the nature of any Super Coupe.
 
Only issue I could possibly see is the serial section of the VIN only Ford would know if its valid, the Marti Report would also say. Is totally possible the Ford rep misheard that section and showed a invalid bird.
 
You have to register your tire size?!

And I thought California smog laws were bad...

For realz! If I recall correctly, in some places you have to provide evidence that any modifications from stock are safe or else they're not street legal and must be removed.



To the original poster...the Marti report is a good idea since it's sanctioned by Ford. Do carfaxes include OEM info? Maybe that's another option.
 
For realz! If I recall correctly, in some places you have to provide evidence that any modifications from stock are safe or else they're not street legal and must be removed.



To the original poster...the Marti report is a good idea since it's sanctioned by Ford. Do carfaxes include OEM info? Maybe that's another option.

I did what is called an auto check (cheaper than a car fax), the somewhat limited info that i recievef in that area was not enough info. What i did receive mstched the Marti Report though. I would do the Marti.
 
Sorry it took a few days to get around to taking that pic for you, but here is the tag on the upper frame rail that is VIN stamped. It only shows the last 8 digits of the VIN, but if it matches all the other VIN tags, that should be pretty conclusive evidence that the VIN is correct.


This pic shows where it is actually located on the upper rail
 
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