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The meaning of the "N" markings on the 1955 and 56 Dodge Firewalls
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56D500boy
Posted 2020-12-28 4:28 PM (#607210)
Subject: The meaning of the "N" markings on the 1955 and 56 Dodge Firewalls



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Location: Lower Mainland BC		.
This pertains to the 1955 and 1956 Dodges that were built in Detroit and comes from Mike Petersen's excellent book "1955 Dodge - by the numbers". Specifically pg. 238 of Draft 82. The information originally was provided to Mike by Al Schweitzer who was the plant engineer in the body trim area of the Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck, MI. (The Hamtramck assembly plant straddled the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. The facility opened in 1911 but was closed in 1980 and sadly demolished in 1981).

Al told Mike that " there were two trim lines in the Detroit (Hamtramck) plant - North and South. The North line was for the high volume cars and the South line was for the "cats and dogs" such as convertibles and station wagons. There was a card (presumably the IBM card that we love so much ) that traveled with the body through the assembly process. "Teletype" machines were found throughout the lines. A job number was written on the card with an "N" or "S" to designate the assembly line (to be used) plus 3 digits. This letter/number combination was written on the passenger side firewall area to the (line) workers could easily identify the car rather than having to read the card."

I have collected some photos from some 1956 Detroit built Dodges that have these "N" markings. I have never seen an "S" marking. I did find one 56 Dodge LaFemme that had the "N" marking on the cardboard of the glove box.

I don't think that I have any IBM cards to match to these firewall photos so if you have a 55 or 56 Dodge with both the firewall markings and the same markings on the IBM card, please post them up in this thread for future reference.


See below:







Edited by 56D500boy 2020-12-28 5:11 PM




(56Coronet2drHardtopWhiteOverCrownYellow.jpg)



(56LaFemmeLancerHardtopCowlTag_1.jpg)



(IMG-3164.jpg)



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Attachments 56Coronet2drHardtopWhiteOverCrownYellow.jpg (69KB - 198 downloads)
Attachments 56LaFemmeLancerHardtopCowlTag_1.jpg (75KB - 192 downloads)
Attachments IMG-3164.jpg (61KB - 204 downloads)
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frwl
Posted 2020-12-29 4:43 AM (#607222 - in reply to #607210)
Subject: RE: The meaning of the "N" markings on the 1955 and 56 Dodge Firewalls


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It is very interesting article! Thanks, Dave!
Here are a couple ’56 Dodge firewall pictures unfortunately without corresponding IBM cards.




(56 Coronet Lancer.jpg)



(56 Custom Sierra.jpg)



(56 Royal Lancer.JPG)



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Attachments 56 Coronet Lancer.jpg (74KB - 202 downloads)
Attachments 56 Custom Sierra.jpg (148KB - 196 downloads)
Attachments 56 Royal Lancer.JPG (85KB - 202 downloads)
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22mafeja
Posted 2020-12-30 2:28 AM (#607250 - in reply to #607210)
Subject: RE: The meaning of the "N" markings on the 1955 and 56 Dodge Firewalls


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Location: Finland		Darned photographer (me..) took the shot too low....I think it says N128...or N728. It is impossible to say.
Could someone wiser than me tell what these stand for:

B
1
and

SP
2

Edited by 22mafeja 2020-12-30 9:09 AM




(coronet 56 data plate90x.JPG)



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Attachments coronet 56 data plate90x.JPG (180KB - 198 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2020-12-31 6:51 PM (#607299 - in reply to #607210)
Subject: More comments from Al Schweitzer



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From page 241 of Mike Petersen's "1955 Dodge by the numbers book" (available for $$ through the AACA)

Al Schweitzer told Mike:

"Don't put too much credence in the miscellaneous chalk and crayon markings found on various parts of the car. These were seldom a prescribed part of a production work assignment. Many were placed there by individual employees, perhaps to keep a record of off-line parts made, maybe to identify a repaired part, an engineering change, etc. or to identify different lots of items from suppliers, etc. Many had no production significance whatever. As we (Mike and Al) previously discussed, the job number, written in crayon on the right side of the firewall was definitely put there intentionally so the workers on the line did not have to read the IBM car which was not always possible to see from a distance. The job number was always preceded by a "N" or "S" for north or south trim lines. (Mike added: observations of cars with trim plates and these numbers do not show a correlation between the crayon number and the Shipping Order (S.O.) (number) on the trim plate)."

So there we have it. The numbers were important at the time the car was moving down the line (60 cars/hr by the way), but once the car was completed, they really didn't mean anything.




Edited by 56D500boy 2020-12-31 7:06 PM
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