Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:39 am Post subject: M38A1 Hood Number Help
Hi all, newbie here. I am getting ready to paint my M38A1 that has been in my family for about 35+ years. My dad painted it Rustoleum Hunter Green 30 years ago, but we're taking it back to OD. It currently has the hood & fender stars, which will be redone, but has no other markings. I have no chance in finding unit info; Dad sandblasted it off 30 years ago. I do have the patent plate, with S/N MD10497. If I could get a reasonable approximation of what my hood number could have been, I'd like to put it on. Any ideas?
And many thanks for having this site. It has been awesome to read through the posts and see what others have dealt with. Sorry to add yet another post on hood numbers!
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:14 pm Post subject:
Hood numbers (Army registration numbers) do not always follow the serial number progression. Hood numbers are assigned by the Army in groups equal to the number of jeeps ordered on that specific procurement contract. They are painted on the hoods as they roll of the assembly line by the factory. Since many times the production assembly order becomes irregular due to jeeps failing inspection at certain points on the line or due to errors in installations along the lines you will see batches of jeeps leave the assembly line out of the normal serial sequence.
Deriving a hood number based on serial sequence from what was found on another jeep is a very unreliable method. It also leaves many jeeps with the wrong hood numbers which creates confusion for researchers in the future. There is always the possibility the jeep hood number you base yours on is not correct for that jeep.
The accepted practice in the hobby is to use the approximate first 3 digits IE 236, 237 and etc. Then add the last four digits of the serial number. If your serial falls in the 8 digit hood number range then use 208XXXXX or 209XXXXX and add the five digits of your serial number.
Your serial number is 12787 and since Willys started the serials for the M38 at 10001 your jeep is the 2787th jeep built. Not the 12787th jeep built. Now if we take a look at production contracts then the first contract W-20-089-ORD-4758 which was for 4000 M38's means the the Army gave Willys a block of 4000 hood numbers to use, If we assume the first pilot jeep used the first of that block of numbers and that number was 2368159 then your theoretical hood number would be 2370946 but since we know they did not follow serial sequence perfectly that is only a theoretical number. If you use it you could find later another M38 with the same number. This is why we recommend not using the theoretical number and to instead use a number derived from the first three approximate digits and add your serials last four. 2372787 would be the ideal number for you to use,
_________________
Wes K
45 MB, 51 M38, 54 M37, 66 M101A1, 60 CJ5, 76 DJ5D, 47Bantam T3-C & 5? M100
As stated hood numbers and serial number data plates were not placed in order of production.
The inspection stamps were placed on the data plates after inspection. Not every jeep was inspected - instead per ordinance regulations a percentage of the entire lot of jeeps would be inspected and based on a minimum number of acceptable defects, the entire lot was accepted.
After this the data plates and serial numbers were applied.
I have a lengthy article from the Army Ordnance Journal in 1949 that goes through the lengthy explanation for all manufacturers of ordnance material. _________________ Ryan Miller
MVPA # 22010
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
