The Sludge

For example on the RS turbos, the following applies

The chassis number on the RST is made up of letters and numbers. The numbers being the engine number that was originally fitted to the car when built.

Using this as an example chassis number I will break it down and explain what it all means.

WFOBXXGCABHP12345 when expanded becomes WFO,B,XX,G,C,A,B,H,P,12345

WFO is the Ford company that assembled the car. WFO is Cologne in Germany. Other codes that appear are SFA (Brentwood, Essex), VS6 (Valencia, Spain), UNI (Ford of Ireland, Dublin), XLC (Ford of Holland), TW2, (Portugal), and finally 98F (Brazil)

B stands for 3 door hatch back saloon. Other variants are L for a Cabriolet, V for a van, A for a 5 door hatch back, C for a 2 door coupe, D for a 2 door estate, N for a 5 door estate and T for a 2 door saloon.

XX is not needed.

G means the car was sourced from Germany. Other variants are B for Britain, W for Spain, C for Ireland, N for Portugal and L for Brazil.

C means the car was assembled in Saarlouis. Other variants are A for Cologne, B for Genk, B is also used for Halewood as well. K is for Karmann, N for Australian and P for Portugal.

A means the model of the car is Escort. B is for Sierra and Mondeo, G for a Granada, E for a Capri and F for a Fiesta.

B again is just repitition of the B above, in that it is what model of car it is.

H is the year the car was manufactured (1987)

Here is a list of some relevant years you should look for, and bear in mind that the letter I isn’t used at all.

1985 = F
1986 = G
1987 = H
1988 = J
1989 = K
1990 = L
1991 = M
1992 = N

P is the month (September 1986)the car was manufactured. These are represented by letters running in a sequence. Again with no letter I.

Here is a list of all the all the other months/years

December 1991 = P
November 1991 = O
October 1991 = N
September 1991 = M
August 1991 = L
July 1991 = K
June 1991 = J
May 1991 = H
April 1991 = G
March 1991 = F
February 1991= E
January 1991= D

December 1990 = C
November 1990 = B
October 1990 = A
September 1990 = Z
August 1990 = Y
July 1990 = X
June 1990 = W
May 1990 = V
April 1990 = U
March 1990 = T
February 1990 = S
January 1990 = R

December 1989 = Q
November 1989 = P
October 1989 = O
September 1989 = N
August 1989 = M
July 1989 = L
June 1989 = K
May 1989 = J
April 1989 = H
March 1989 = G
February 1989 = F
January 1989 = E

December 1988 = D
November 1988 = C
October 1988 = B
September 1988 = A
August 1988 = Z
July 1988 = Y
June 1988 = X
May 1988 = W
April 1988 = V
March 1988 = U
February 1988 = T
January 1988 = S

December 1987 = R
November 1987 = Q
October 1987 = P
September 1987 = O
August 1987 = N
July 1987 = M
June 1987 = L
May 1987 = K
April 1987 = J
March 1987 = H
February 1987 = G
January 1987 = F

December 1987 = E
November 1987 = D
October 1987 = C
September 1987 = B
August 1987 = A
July 1987 = Z
June 1987 = Y
May 1987 = X
April 1987 = W
March 1987 = V
February 1987 = U
January 1987 = T

December 1986 = S
November 1986 = R
October 1986 = Q
September 1986 = P
August 1986 = O
July 1986 = N
June 1986 = M
May 1986 = L
April 1986 = K
March 1986 = J
February 1986 = H
January 1986 = G

December 1985 = F
November 1985 = E
October 1985 = D
September 1985 = C
August 1985 = B
July 1985 = A
June 1985 = Z
May 1985 = Y
April 1985 = X
March 1985 = W
February 1985= V
January 1985 = U

The 5 numbers that follow are the engine number running from a range of 0001 to 99,999.

Next up is the slam panel plate or chassis plate as it’s sometimes called. This contains even more information about the car. Again if it’s missing as why. You can still get them re made from Fords, but if they don’t have them on the car shouldn’t pass it’s MOT.

The plate will have a few boxes on it with information in them. Here is a breakdown of what is contained in them and what they should say.

The DRIVE box, this should have a number 2 in it, which means the car was originally manufactured in RHD. It could also have the letter B in it as well which means the same. If it has a number 1 or the letter A in it the car was originally built in LHD form, even though it might now have been converted over to RHD, so look out for this as the car might be an import from Europe.

The ENG box has two parts to it. The first part gives the cubic capacity of the original engine and the second part is the type of engine (eg 1600 CVH, Fords never did a 1.9 turbo or 2.1 ZVH from the factory as you know) The engine code for a CVH is L. The RS turbo car should also have a second plate on the slam panel that says F for turbo on it or even the words Turbo. It should be the same colour as the car.

There is a third box which is called TRANS and it should have one of 4 letters in it, on the RST it should be W for a 5 speed manual gear box. The other letters are T for a 4 speed manual gear box, Q for an MTX type gear box and X for a CTX automatic gear box.

The fourth box is the AXLE box, which has all the details for the final drive on the gear box. The codes used are

4 for 3.82:1 ratio
6 for 3.12:1 ratio
8 for 3.56 2 ratio
2 for 3.59 (and also for a ratio of 4.27:1)
F for 3.84:1 ratio
J for 4.06:1 ratio

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Crazy Canuck

Found this great reference site sometime back:-

http://www.wrc-cosworth.org/specs/identify.htm

Crazy Canuck

hmmm... Cant seem to edit my non working link.....

http://www.wrc-cosworth.org/specs/identify.html

The Sludge

Cossie92

I took this pic next to alternator, in the engine block.



What should these numbers tell me, are these somehow connected to the VIN itself? Atleast the ''200'' tells me that its the stronger one of the blocks.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Thats the engine number, this should be reflected in the last 7 characters of the VIN, IF you still have the original engine of course! The top number is a casting number.

Martin

Cossie92

Seems like its not the original engine.

The VIN tells me this vehicle was manufactured july 1991. And I know the engine is YBJ, which the car now has. So the original engine must've been YBG, or did they still make YBJ engines in 1991?

Cossie92

EDIT:

I found the correct engine number from the block ''MS63133'', it was just hidden behind the exhaust manifold. So Im having original engine right now.