super c without serial plate

I have a super c but there is no serial number plate where it should be on the seat mount box, any ideas on how to find out the serail number anyway, or should I just order a new plate and make up a number?

Don't make up a number. Someone on here will be able to get close to the number by adjusting the engine serial, but it probably won't be exact. You can tell the year of the tractor by looking at several casting numbers on most cast parts. the numbers are in the format month*day*year; the year is a letter, for the SC that would be U or W, 1951; X, 1952; Y, 1953; Z, 1954. V was supposedly not used, looks too much like U). But, if you happen to find one, let us know.

thanks, i will look for that tomorrow, merry CHRISTmas.

Theres a flat surface on block to the front of engine below head and above distrubator.The serial number will be stamped there you will have to look hard but its there.

The chassis and motor serial numbers on the SuperCs were didn't match. On my '51, they're off by a couple thousand.

To continue on CNKS's point, don't make one up. What I usually suggest is detrmine it as closely as you can, and make a plate with the first digits that you're confident of and stamp in Xs for the rest.

You can get to the online IH Archives at Wisconsin State Historical Society. They're not complete, but you might be able to find the month your motor was made and then look at the chassis serial numbers for that month and be able to nail at least the first three, maybe even four digits.

Try following the link. If it doesn't work, come on back here with your motor serial number and I'll see if I can help you noodle it out.
Try here

Are you saying they didnt match on any Super C you have me puzzled I have two with original plates and both match.No disreguard intened Just wondering if mine were tampered with.

Not a problem. It might make a difference on when it was made.

If you follow the link and look at the 1951-52 serial numbers, the third and fourth lines in the report are chassis and motor serial numbers. The motor numbers don't appear until June 1952 and by then, with roughly only 50,000 tractor having been built, they are 2014 apart.

If the chassis and the motors even started at the same number, that suggests that except for the very first few, the numbers would not have matched. That doesn't rule out the possibility that they ran together for quite a while without a record being made of it, and something in the interim took place, motors being taken off the tractor line for use in other machines or as power units. But if your motor serial number date your machines at June '52 or later, I'd suspect the chassis tags have been doctored. Precisely why I don't condone making up serial numbers.

Now you have me interested - I have a Super A and the serial plate is in pretty poor shape. The serial # is still readable, but it was painted over (red) and the black on the plate looks like it was long gone before the red was applied. Where does one get a replacement serial plate (for restoration purposes)?

you just buya new plate from oem tractor parts or likewise and stamp the # on it and your good

The engine serial number on my 52 SC is a couple thousnad higher that the tractor number. My Dad bought the tractor new so I know it came from the factory just as she sits.

(quoted from post at 17:38:46 12/25/09) you just buya new plate from oem tractor parts or likewise and stamp the # on it and your good

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Thanks, Joel. The Dealer would have been the last place I'd have thought of. Possibly because if it's anything like most Genuine OEM Parts, a new tractor would cost only slightly more than a replacement antique serial plate. (Tongue only slightly in cheek).

I'll have to check it out when I get over that way (once in a blue moon).

Ummmm...

OEM is a reference to oemtractorparts.com

Check them out before you order. Some of the replacement plates are silk-screened onto a flat piece of metal. The old IH plates were actually stamped and the low spots between the raised lettering and faces for the stamped info were silkscreened in.

If your original plate is flat enough to work it, it's actually possible to strip it chemically, then apply THIN coats of a black lacquer or hard paint and wet sand it down with a 1600 or 2000 grit every coat or two, to expose the raised parts, letting the paint that fills in the low spots build up as background as you go along. You might have to go over it two or three times, but it will look good when it's done and be original. It's a lot less sanding, but still tedious, if you mask over the Model, Ser #, and RPM blocks.

There's a lot of people differ with the idea for different reasons, but a replacement serial number plate is always cause for suspicion on my part. If it's just plain missing and you're trying to come up with something, even I woldn't have any problem as long as the number is not made up out of thin air. But I certainly wouldn't put a replica on when the original is right there.