Data Plate Number Interpretation needed.

[snowdad]

Good morning. Fairly new to the forum. I have bought a M-37 in near complete status and plan on starting a stock rebuild. Last night I was able to write down the numbers on the Data Plate and hope someone here can tell me something about it. There is a 'WW' in the right upper corner block. The Ord Stock Number is G2741-8358323. Serial Number is 80047789. Contract Number is 12107. Date of Delivery is 03-04-1953. Type is T245. The right lower square is blank. The hood number is there, I just don't have it at present. It was issued to the US Army.

I haven't had time to clean off the bumper paint and see what unit it was issued to. All numbers appear to be made by an engraver unlike the WW2 vehicles which were stamped. Is this normal? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

[Murf]

If you look at the sub categories above you can find basic info.. (Contract #s , production dates etc.) Hood number isn't going to tell you anything useful. The bumperettes have historically reveaeled the most info as to what unit,.. etc the truck was assigned. I would start to very lightly sand to find stenciled edges of characters and most of all Be Patient. You can just as easily sand away a number with the next swipe if you aren't careful.

[snowdad]

Murf,
Thanks. Pics are on the registry now. Hope to post some better ones soon. And yes, that is a tree growning up through the bumper! That is how long it had sat there. Hickory. She is pre-camoflauged!

[Nickathome]

Good morning. Fairly new to the forum. I have bought a M-37 in near complete status and plan on starting a stock rebuild. Last night I was able to write down the numbers on the Data Plate and hope someone here can tell me something about it. There is a 'WW' in the right upper corner block. The Ord Stock Number is G2741-8358323. Serial Number is 80047789. Contract Number is 12107. Date of Delivery is 03-04-1953. Type is T245. The right lower square is blank. The hood number is there, I just don't have it at present. It was issued to the US Army.

I haven't had time to clean off the bumper paint and see what unit it was issued to. All numbers appear to be made by an engraver unlike the WW2 vehicles which were stamped. Is this normal? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Does your truck have a winch? That would explain the "WW". The prefix "G2741" is probably the designation which to most is G-741(Gov't jibber Jaber for M37). Not sure why the 2 is there, maybe for 2 axles(a guess) ? T245 is the engine designation .....Can't help you with the rest.

[snowdad]

Nickathome,
It does have a winch. The 2 is also a mystery to me. Hoping to get the engine number soon also. It should also have T245 stamped on it.

[mikkelborg]

Welcome aboard!

The '2' confused me too, so I did some research. You have an ex-M42, which is the command version on the M37, just a standard M37 with a kit applied. This entry in the registry is a '53 M42 with the same NSN...

http://www.g741.org/m37registry/display ... nercount=1

Most likely the data plate is a replacement put on by the motor pool when the M42 kit was removed and the blanks were filled in by somebody in the motor pool who did not have the stamping tools available because the M42's received a new data plate as part of the kit that said M42 on the top of it.

Interesting (to me anyways) side note, the R2 crash trucks also appear to have the G2741 prefix, I would not be surprised if a few other variations do as well.

Hope this helps,
Collin

[snowdad]

Collin,
Thanks very much! What kind of kit was used and what can I look for on the vehicle? This is much appreciated. Now to figure out how to restore it!
Phillip

[mikkelborg]

I can't be as useful on this one, I have no idea where you would find the parts for it, but according to olive-drab.com the command kit includes the following...

New side curtains on the bed with 3 non-reflecting windows each
Split rear end curtains
A Map light (look for reminants of a wiring harness in the bed)
A folding table (unussual mounts or holes for them in the bed floor, maybe?)
A rear entry stepladder

Another page I found said that M42's were frequently set up for radio communications as well, with the radios bolted down on the bench seat behind the driver and the 100AMP alternator fitted. I think I can see the rectifier in front of the radiator on your truck indicating it does have the 100AMP upgrade too. You could look for the additional radio wiring or evidence of an antena mount.

Somebody more knowledgeable will have to step in because I am at the very limit of what I know, and I could be wrong too, I did find this stuff on the Internet after all.

Here are my sources
http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m37_m42.php
http://www.mil-veh.org/archives/97-09/0407.html

Collin

[snowdad]

Collin,
You are a wealth of information!!! I was wondering what the item was in the grill. That also explains the different voltage regulator! There is also a platform of some type at the front of the bed that is currently a seat. Must have been for the radios! I will try to get some more photos of these items and post tomorrow!

[cuz]

Actually the old ORD stock number system labeled it with a G741 prefix. Later when the Federal Stock number system came on line they needed four digits in the prefix hence the 2741-.

So this number referenced by Collin "G2741-8358323" is the G741 listed by it's Ordnance stock number. Has nothing to do with model variations.

The T245 is the Chrysler engineering (model) number for the M37 series and the T245A is the Chrysler engineering (model) number for the M37B1 series. In the above context that number represents the entire vehicle

[mikkelborg]

Shoot, I'm sorry, I could just about die of embarrassment now. I thought I was onto something there, that's what I deserve for thinking I could figure it out myself on the Internet. I'm glad you straightened me out Wes, Thank you. Now I'm really confused, why the wide variations in the second part of the G2741-... NSN? 8358322 and 8358323 appear a lot, presumably with and without winch or something like that? But then there are also records of 6800009 in the registry... 8358618 only appears on M56's and 8358516 only appears on M43's so do those at least correspond to those models?

Again, I'm sorry snowdad, you should probably disregard my previous posts.

Collin

[snowdad]

Collin and Cuz,
Thanks to both of you.
No need to apologize as there is so much confusion involving MVs. In fact (and not to knock Cuz) your explaination is a bit more plausable. I wonder about the dateline involving the change from ORD to the Federal took place. It still doesn't explain the different generator, voltage regulator, or the presence of the rectifier. What about the engraved numbers vs stamped? Are there certain things to look for other than holes drilled for the antenna? Any experts here on the M42? Pics would be nice.
Phillip

[cuz]

I don't mind being knocked, even when I am right.

The stock numbers varied based on model and contracts. I've been around these military part and stock number systems since 1965 so I do speek with some experience. Believe plausable what you like but my answer to your question was correct.

Maybe a more detailed explanation of the numbering system is needed.

G741-XXXXXXX : G741 ID's the equipment class or supply classification of the equipment or part. The XXXXXX ID's a specific unit or part.

G2741-XXXXXXX : G2741 ID's the equipment class or supply classification of the equipment or part. The XXXXXXX ID's a specific model of the equipment or a specific part. The added 2 appeared from mid 52 on. It is also found on the M38, M38A1 and other mseries units.

These numbers were often changed by supply for no apparent reason to folks in the field. The G prefix was eventually dropped completely in the 60's from most equipment as the federal Stock Number (FSN) system took a solid foothold. Then late 70's early 80's saw the transition to the National Stock Number (NSN) system. Both of these system use the first 4 digits to ID the Stock Classification of the item.

FSN XXXX-XXX-XXXX
NSN XXXX-XX-XXX-XXXX

The NSN added the second pair of digits which ID's the country (usually in NATO) that produced the part. The last seven digits actually were derived from the old Ordnance Part Number.

Vehicles produced from the 60's on usually have the FSN/NSN arrangement on their data plate and the TM's for that vehicle usually include the first four digits of the FSN/NSN in their numbering system.

The 100 amp kit was a field installed kit and if you shop the web site you'll find the instructions.




When these vehicles were kitted up for radios the truck then became a component of the entire radio system.


M42 web sites:
http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m37_m42.php
http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m37.php3
http://www.mil-veh.org/archives/97-09/0407.html

[snowdad]

Cuz,
Very good explaination of the system! Any thing you could tell me about why stenciled dataplate instead of stamped?
Phillip

[cuz]

The truck has had half a century of opportunities for someone to remove the original factory stamped tag and install one they etched or engraved. Could have happened anytime during the military or civilian part of it's long life.

Are you going to load more photos in the photo album page?