Gold Demonstrator

[Powermaster]

Trying to find out if my tractor is a real gold demonstrator. It has gold paint showing through on the sheet metal and cast parts but, the serial number has either been ground down or has been eaten away by battery acid. I've heard the serial number was sometimes ground off when the transmission was sent in for exchange. There is a serial number stamped on the opposite side with a B above the number 5642. Does that help in identification in any way? Is there any other way to determine without a serial number?

 

[Kirk-NJ]

The number on the right side is a tracking number.
It means it has been in for the recall. Production
code on the engine block, trans, rear trumpets will
have been made within the production run of the gold
demo ending in march 1959. If not changed out even
the top of the radiator will have a production code
on it. Take a lot of photos before you repaint
anything.

Kirk

 

[Powermaster]

Thanks Kirk. Does the production code need to be cross-walked to some sort of table or are the code numbers in month/year?

 

[Kirk-NJ]

Example.
B59= Feb 5, 1959

 

[Texas!]

(quoted from post at 13:33:36 02/23/15) Example.
B59= Feb 5, 1959

Feb 5, 1959 in the early Ford date code system would be 92E.

 

[Texas!]

(quoted from post at 05:42:23 02/23/15) Trying to find out if my tractor is a real gold demonstrator. It has gold paint showing through on the sheet metal and cast parts but, the serial number has either been ground down or has been eaten away by battery acid. I've heard the serial number was sometimes ground off when the transmission was sent in for exchange. There is a serial number stamped on the opposite side with a B above the number 5642. Does that help in identification in any way? Is there any other way to determine without a serial number?

My 971 Gold Demo (painted blue & gray many years ago) had the transmission replacement done according to the instructions spelled out in the Service Bulletin. The SOS was replaced with a factory new (not rebuilt) unit and the tractor's original serial number (65383) was stamped into the proper location although the model number (971) was not stamped because the SB did not call for it. The date code on the SOS housing is H119 (Aug 11 1959). The other date coded pieces on the tractor are early 1959 and late 1958 dates such as 91O (Jan 14 1959), 91V (Jan 21 1959) and 89M (Sep 12 1958). The SOS is also stamped on the right side with the warranty tracking number.
When the tractor's original SOS was returned to the factory they would have ground off the original serial and model numbers and rebuilt it with the updates. Then it would have been shipped back out for warranty replacement into another tractor. Do you see any evidence of grinding on the housing where the serial and model numbers should be stamped?

 

[Powermaster]

Guys - I found J229 on the transmission but, can't find any numbers that look like that on the trumpets or the engine. Where would I find them? The trumpets have some illegible numbers on the front-facing part but, they look to start with M or W. I can't find a thing on the engine block. Where would it likely be located? I did find NDA-B with a L 159 on the radiator.

Also, yes it does look like the model and serial number were ground off.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Powermaster]

ok, I went back out to the barn and found 91N on the engine and 92N on the rear housing. The 92N was upside down; does that sound familiar to any of you?

 

[Texas!]

(quoted from post at 05:26:02 02/24/15) ok, I went back out to the barn and found 91N on the engine and 92N on the rear housing. The 92N was upside down; does that sound familiar to any of you?

91N is Jan 13 1959
92N is Feb 13 1959

 

[Kirk-NJ]

9/22/1959 on the trans
Not sure on the radiator might be 1/5/1959.

Kirk

 

[Powermaster]

Thank you. It appears to have the right dates. I will assume the transmission was changed out pretty quickly by the date.

I want to restore it but, wanted to make sure it has all the right dates to be a real demonstrator before I spend a ton of money and effort and find out it's painted the wrong color. The gold showing through on all sheet metal and housings looks to be the original coat as well.

SOS will need to gone through but, I'm probably not the right guy. Anyone know someone in the Midwest? I've talked to the folks in Pennsylvania and may send it there but, pretty expensive to ship from Missouri.

 

[Kirk-NJ]

Make sure you take a lot of photos before you repaint to document it. Here is my gold demo before repaint.

Kirk