'47 factory marking? Electric wiper motor & vacuum switch swap

[bobrich47]

Hello,  there are some faded numbers. 606 & under it 689, either white or yellow, crudely written onto the left (passenger.) side firewall of my '47 60S. I doubt they are chalk (surely would have worn off by now. ).  The lines are not wide, as though a brush was used .  Were grease pencils or paint pens used?       Anyone swap the vacuum antenna and swiitch  out with  electric ones?  Thanks,Bob

[Jeff Hansen]

Bob,

Could you please post photos of the markings? 

While at Hershey a few years back, I saw a 1946 Cadillac that had the number 8 drawn on the left side of the firewall in the same manner you suggest.  The owner was not around so I wasn't able to speak to him about it.  What model is your '47?  Do the numbers correlate in any way to the body number of your car?

Jeff

[bobrich47]

Hi Jeff,  My car is a '47 60S. The last photo is an "R" above my data tag.

[bobrich47]

Well,  now I believe its obvious. I never looked at the 2 side by side. I was thinking they had some hidden meeting. Maybe they were written prior to the tag being riveted?  Thanks Jeff. Your reply made me laugh. Reminded me of my Dad, he just slapped me in the back of my head for not seeing the obvious!   

[bobrich47]

Here is the one above the data tag h a couple others.

[Cadman-iac]

Possibly something to do with the options as it's going down the production line.
I'm not familiar with the Cadillac stuff, but I do know that the Chevrolet lines used to mark on the firewall for certain things.  I've seen that on all of the trucks I've had and the ones I've worked on.
Deciphering them is another thing. But I think they were mostly just color codes, at least for the trucks, and being GM, I would imagine that it was a company wide thing.
Just a thought.

Rick

[bobrich47]

Here is an interesting bit of info with this car. The serial #,  a reference that this car went to Don Lee Cadillac in Los Angeles, CA, maybe a delivery date of Valentine's day 1947 to  someone with the initials F.M.  A lucky woman?  It is on the right front sheet metal above the fresh air intake.

[bobrich47]

Thanks Rick. Do you know what they might have used? I'm guessing  it was grease pencil,  since it dosen't easily rub off.      I want to paint the firewall and I'd like to replicate it as close as possible.   I'm not going for a 100 pt. car, just bolt on upgrades.

[Cadman-iac]

Hi Bob, from what I've seen and heard it's a grease pencil or marker, and it always looks like it was applied before the vehicle was painted. The reason I say that is because it looks like it's under the paint and partially obscured,  and the paint is "distorted" if you will,  just like if you had painted over a spot you hadn't cleaned or it was a spot you missed, if you know what I mean.
  I hope that helps some. Unfortunately I don't have anything that says that's exactly what they had done, but from being on other make websites, or forums, this seems to be the general consensus.

  Rick

[bobrich47]

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for your help Rick.