That is your Data Plate, well worn I might add. It tells you it was built in February of 1936 at the Kansas City factory as a Master and was the 13903rd car off the assembly line.

5=Kansas City

FA=Master

02=February

14903=13903rd car built (numbering started at 1001)

I might add to not lose those clutch/hex head screws that are holding it in place. I saw where someone was reproducing them now but the OE screws are always the better option if one values originality.

FANTASTIC info. I will make a copy of this and add it to the info binder I have for the car. 

You guys help me really appreciate what I have.

@jeff-navarro I don't think the tag was originally held on with the clutch head screws. Note the 4 small holes in the corners where the tag was most likely held on with body nails. Also appears to possibly have been altered as all the stamped numbers are different- should all appear as the last few.

Posted by: @steve-d

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@jeff-navarro I don't think the tag was originally held on with the clutch head screws. Note the 4 small holes in the corners where the tag was most likely held on with body nails. Also appears to possibly have been altered as all the stamped numbers are different- should all appear as the last few.

I can't speak specifically to the 36 but my 38's Data Plate's stamping was identical to his. I admittedly have not seen data plates for all years but I've yet to see one with all the characters the same. As for the screws I have no clue but my 38's was held by two clutch/hex as is his. Pictured below is the original data plate off of my old 38.

@tiny Possibly it has something to do with the changeover to all steel bodies. I don't know if the 36 had wood frame sills . If all metal then i could understand the screws and possibly the plates were production stamped and the plant and model added when assembled. It would be interesting to know if Chevrolet produced the tags themselves or a vendor produced them.

@steve-d It would be interesting to know for sure. I've always assumed that, since they are all stamped with oddly spaced and irregularly aligned characters that they were hand done on the assembly line. Those done by machine in advance would likely be evenly spaced and aligned. I very well could be wrong.

@tiny My original 32 tag is evenly spaced and all the same size stampings. Also has the same small holes for nails as the above photo. I would post a photo but it would not show.

@steve-d @tiny @jeff-navarro The data tags on my 1935 Chevys appear exactly as Jeff's. A larger stamp for the plant location, Series designation and month of manufacture. A smaller stamp for the serialized number. The large characters always seem a bit random as though they were hand stamped. When wood was used for the body sills, the tag would have been nailed in place. When wood was no longer used, they would have changed to some kind of screw or rivet. Those clutch head screws look identical to the ones used on my trucks.

Mike

@35mike Thanks Mike as it helps to validate the hand stamping . Do you also have the 4 small " nail holes " in the corners?

This tag is on the floor next to the passenger side door.  It originally was riveted but I replaced the rivets with ss screws when I reinstalled it.  The number stamped is 8543512.  This does not correlate to the number on my data plate in anyway.  When I got a 1936 GMC price and parts list booklet, there is a section on Model application of Cab, Cowl and Body.

The listing has 12 different type of applications, the ones for the T-14 and T-16 models are 851 Standard Cowl, 853 Deluxe Cab, 854 Standard Cab, 855 Standard Cowl and Windshield, 856 Flat Back Cowl, 857 Panel Body (7ft), 860 Deluxe Cowl and Windshield, 861 Deluxe Panel Body (7ft), 862 Standard Panel Body (9ft) and 863 Deluxe Panel Body (9ft).

I would surmise that the tag in my truck is for the Standard Cab due to the 854 prefix.  I have no idea if the 3512 is the production sequence of the standard cab units or not.  That makes sense, but no way to confirm.

@jeff-navarro @tiny @dunfire @steve-d Hey Guys, Here are a couple of pictures of ID tags for your enjoyment. First is the tag from my 1936 Chevy 1-1/2 ton truck, Series RD. RD indicates that it was sold new as a long wheelbase (157 inches) 1-1/2 ton truck with dual rear wheels. This tag was affixed to the firewall on the engine side. I removed it when I installed a heater in the truck and I have not yet put it back, in a slightly different location. It was secured in place by two 8-32 machine screws with a 1/4 inch hex head which is recessed for a clutch head screw driver, just like Jeff's tag.

The second tag is one that I made for a 1935 Standard Coach (2 door sedan). I bought this car from guy in Nebraska. It came with a legitimate title but no ID tag. I had no doubt about the correctness of the title since it called out the correct series (EC) for a 1935 Standard. There was a problem with the title in that the it had a letter S where there should have been a number to tell where the car was built. It seemed logical to me that the car would have been built in Kansas City and also that someone could have mistaken a 5 (Kansas City plant number) for an S on a previously existing tag. I would need a tag to title the car here in Missouri so I made this tag using the number form the title, but corrected to have a 5 instead of the S on the title. I called for a Trooper to come and verify that the Character shown on the title was a 5. Thought a re-pop tag would have raised some suspicion if I was asking for a correction. How did I do?

@35mike Unless you are posting from a place with bars on the windows you did fine. New Hampshire does not require titles for vehicles over ten years old  but they do need a notarized bill of sale and previous registration certificate. Without that they require someone from the police dept. to certify the vehicle. I had to have that done for my 32 and when the officer came he had no clue about the process. I showed him the old tag and the new one and explained what I was doing. We had a nice conversation about the car and I think it was a learning experience for him.

@steve-d That was pretty much the case with the officers who came to my place, on two different occasions.

Here is the car.

@35mike Some states are absolutely ridiculous on how they handle vehicle registration. I sold a Jeep to a Massachusetts person and gave him a legal notarized NH Title certificate. He was unable to register the vehicle in Massachusetts as he did not have a previous vehicle registration. It was a project vehicle and had not been registered in 5 years in NH. He ended up selling it to a friend in NH who registered it there and then resold it back to him along with the new registration. GO FIGURE.