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I have a rebuild tag on my engine and distributor that says it was rebuilt at "USASCR" Does anyone know what/where that might be? I assume that the USA is for US Army, but the SCR part is foreign to me! Thanks guys!

Good question. I have the same tag on my engine with a 4 73 date on it. I've looked for it by doing searches on the internet but haven't found anything that sounds plausible. Anyone else know what it may stand for?

Mike, both the engine plate and the distributor have a 3/73 stamped on them as well. I thought that it was around that time (1973) that the M37s were being removed from the US Army inventory and given to state and local govts. Maybe it is not a Depot code rather a state/fed govt code of some sort???

Well, could be. My truck, as best as I can speculate, was in the MN NG prior to gov't release. From the military, it was used by a MN county highway dept before I got it. I don't know when it was actually released from service.

I also assumed it was as you mentioned, a US Army depot facility somewhere. Just don't know the codes to pinpoint it.

Mike,

I"m an investigator by trade and I won't rest until I track this down! I don't know why it bothers me so, but it does!!! I even was thinking "well maybe USA doesn't stand for US Army," ....just trying to brain storm this code. My engine came from a truck that was in the Canton Ohio area, so with your MN truck and my OH engine, one could assume that the USASCR is somewhere up in that neck of the woods. I'll keep digging!!

I might try contacting one of more of the current depots and asking if they can tell you who it is (was?) While you're at it might ask for a list of depot abbreviations.

FYI. I'm currently awaiting delivery of a '54 M-37 and spare engine that came from the Ormond Beach, Fl Fire Department. The current spare engine was the original engine but the FD replaced it before surplussing it. Anyway the original engine has an overhaul tag on it that says it was rebuilt by "USAFLR". I thought maybe it meant "Florida Reserve" but that's just a guess but if that's the case, USASCR may mean South Carolina Reserve. IIRC the date on this tag was also 3/73 or something very close to that. The USA seems to have a habit of overhauling things just before they surplus them! It would be interesting to have as many owners as possible send in copies of their overhaul tags and compare the dates and locations on them!

PS

Wait a minute! What about this? "United States Army Support Center, Richmond". I'll leave it to someone else to research them and see if they were repairing vehicles during the time period in question. Google is your friend! But they weren't any help in discovering what "USAFLR" might stand for.

USAFLR? Hmmmm! United States Air Force, Little Rock, maybe? Just kidding, of course. I really have no clue either!

Joe,

I had also thought of the Richmond center but so far haven't found anything that would indicate that they rebuilt engines or anything connecting them with the USASCR designation.

I like the idea of the codes list. There may be something on one of the other vehicle forums.

Mike,

I did find a link to Richmond Center and USASCR when I searched for "USASCR". In fact, that's how I found out about Richmond. I didn't keep the link but you should be able to find it via Google.

I sent a note to the DSC-Richmond historian and got a reply. I had asked them if the depot itself or any subordinate/tenant unit had that designation at one time. They were pretty clear that the installation never had that designation but didn't address if a tenant unit located on the installation may have been named that. Here is the reply:

"We have done research on this acronym have not found any references to "USASCR" for our installation. We were activated in 1942 as the Richmond Quartermaster Depot, under the command of the Army Quartermaster Corps. Through the years our name has evolved from the Defense General Supply Center, Defense Supply Center Richmond and currently now DLA Aviation.
The Richmond Quartermaster Depot was renamed the Richmond Armed Service Forces Depot in 1943. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Branch Depot was established on the site in 1949, followed by the U.S. Army General Supply Center in 1958.
In 1962, the installation name changed to the Defense General Supply Center and it became part of the Defense Supply Agency. In 1996, the installation name changed from Defense General Supply Center to Defense Supply Center Richmond.
You may want to check with the Army or the Army Ordnance in reference to the rebuild plates. The Army Quartermaster Museum is located on Fort Lee. That may be a good place to start.
I’m sorry we could be of further assistance. Good luck on your research."

I haven't followed up on their suggestion about contacting the QM museum yet.