New member saying hi

[80f350]

I have had several Brick nose trucks before, but this is my first bull nose.
It belonged to my grandfather, and I grew up in this truck, I finally was able to get it, after him selling it over 25 years ago. It is in rough shape but I love it, ill get it back to its old glory one day.
1980 F350 4x4
Originally had a M in it.
Now has a 460. Trying to decode vin
But nothing seems to match up..lol

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome!  Glad you joined.  

Several things to say.  First, I'm really glad to see another truck kept in the family.  I love that.  

Next, where's home?  I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you if we know the city/state or postal/zip code.

And, as you are one of the first to have registered via our new joining process, which isn't quite right yet, can you please tell us how it went?  Did you have any problems?  What were the steps?

Last, the 1980 trucks had a short 12-digit VIN instead of the 18-digit VIN used in '81 and later trucks.  You can see that in the snippet below from our page at Documentation/Specification/VIN Decoding.  So that makes the decoding a bit different, but it can be done.

[80f350]

It went ok not bad at all, i tried upload a picture,  but it didn't post.
Hometown is now bumpass va
I may be looking at it wrong but my numbers are not even listed..

[80f350]

Ok now I can do pictures
It's rough but it's mine..lol
 

[Gary Lewis]

You are now on the map.

As for the numbers, you are looking at a "buck tag", probably the one on the firewall.  No one seems to know how to decode those, and not even Bill/Numberdummy.  They were used while the truck was being put together and their meaning has been lost.

For the VIN you need the one either on the Certification Label on the driver's door post or under the windshield, pretty much in front of the driver.

And glad you got the pics figure out.  

[Gary Lewis]

As for the truck, it looks like it will be a pretty good project to get going.  But since it was your grandfather's it will be well worth it.  

[80f350]

Yeah it is the one under the hood
One on inside of the door is gone
Can't read the one on dash..lol
My grandfather painted the truck these colors, it used to be silver top and bottom, and green in the center
With light green interior, was hoping to find original paint codes
Haven't found one in Google images with that paint combo
But I have found ones like it is now.

[Gary Lewis]

The one on the dash may be obscured because someone put a later model windshield in the truck.  The VIN location was changed some time later and people seem to stock that windshield rather than the right one for our trucks.  That is technically against the law, but people do it and get away with it - until the DOT wants to verify the VIN.  And now the owner, not the installer, is in trouble.

I had that when I sold a truck to a guy in another state.  That was a pain as the dash cover had to be removed and a mirror used to see the VIN.  I won't let that happen again.

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[FuzzFace2]

Welcome to the forum.
Do you have any paper work, title for the truck?
If so the VIN would be an that and with the VIN you can get a report of how the truck left the factory.
I think just a good cleaning it would look a lot better.
Dave ----

[Atlas75]

On the lower left of the buck tag there is an “F36” which equals F350 4 wheel drive.  Then there is a space.  In that space would be the engine code followed by the manufacturing plant code (one letter each).  The next portion is the serial number of the truck.  In your case it looks to be “HD9581”.  With the door tag gone you’ll need either the title or locate the VIN in the window as Gary described to fill in the engine code and manufacturing plant.  Hope that helps some.  I love the truck.  I have a 1980 F350 as well and it is definitely a work in progress.