casting code needed

[hotrod ford]

what is this number to? C9AE 9425-B. thanks.

[fordman]

with no books to looks at or no experience it looks like it might be a head from a car. or maybe an intake

[FORDification]

With Ford's numbering system, number 9425 is always an intake manifold. In this case, it's a common 2-barrel FE intake.

[hotrod ford]

With Ford's numbering system, number 9425 is always an intake manifold. In this case, it's a common 2-barrel FE intake.

so 9425 means intake. C9AE should mean 69'. what does the b mean?

[willowbilly3]

big

[fordman]

b is a change from the a casting. no letter after the first number means it was the original casting. c9 is 69. A is a car code. E is for engine

[hotrod ford]

does this mean that this was not a stock part in a 70 or newer truck?

[fordman]

no that just means thats when they changed the mold that it was made from.

[hotrod ford]

b is a change from the a casting. no letter after the first number means it was the original casting. c9 is 69. A is a car code. E is for engine

if A is car code, is there a specific code for a truck? or no?

[Hawkrod]

Casting numbers can be confusing and there is a lot of misinformation out there which makes it worse. The casting (or engineering) number indicates a lot of information. It does not always indicate what a part was used on but it does indicate what it was originally designed for. The engineering number consists of three parts, the prefix the base number and the suffix.

Please keep in mind that the following explanation applies only to about 1962 and newer parts. The system used was adopted prior to that but there were variables such as only three numbers in the prefix or using engineering numbers as part numbers but those items rarely come up in normal conversation. The current system was adopted in 1959 and was based on an earlier system that Ford used. By 1958 Ford knew they needed a new system and they started using one designed by a former GM employee but because existing workers could not cope with the change it was quickly discarded (you may often see casting numbers like 5752614, this means it was made in the 58-59 time frame).

The base number is the easiest to understand because it always means the same thing, it is what the item is. In this case it is 9425 which is always an intake manifold. It does not matter if it is a 62 6 cylinder or a 2005 Ford GT, a 9425 is an intake manifold. The only potentially confusing part of this is there are sometimes other numbers that can also identify the same type of item and in this case a 9424 is also always an intake manifold.

The next easiest part of the engineering number to understand is the prefix. In this case C9AE. This really is basic. The first letter is the decade A is 40's, B is 50's, C is 60's, D is 70's and so forth. The next number is the year, in this case 9 so C9 means 1969. The third slot is the model line that originally was billed for and the part was originally developed for, not what it was actually used on, but what it was developed for. A is full size car, D is Falcon, Z is mustang etc... There are a lot of codes and depending on the year it can mean something else. For example C was Remanufactured Parts from 1966-75 and then became Capri in 1979. The fourth slot of the prefix is usually where things go south for people because Ford did not always treat this the same. If the fourth slot is actually part of a number on a part it identifies the engineering department responsible for the design of the part. F is fuel and ignitions, E is engine, B is body etc... However, if the fourth slot is on a piece of paper, a box or a tag and is a Z you are no longer looking at an engineering number, you are looking at a part number. I will give more detail on this after I explain the rest.

Now, finally in the engineering number, is the suffix, it is the last letter and it is often mistakenly called the change code. Unfortunately it does not specifically note a change but it can. It is more properly called a version code. Which version of a particular item this is. They always start with A so C9AE-9425-A would have been the first intake manifold designed for a 1969 Ford full size car, C9AE-9425-B would have been the second intake manifold designed for a 1969 Ford full size car. This does not mean that B is a change in design of A. The A version can be for a totally different application and in this case is, C9AE-9425-A is 2 barrel intake manifold for a 429 Ford, while C9AE-9425-B was for a 390. Depending on the part the suffix can be a revision of a part but a revision can also be noted as C9AE-9425-B1 so revisions can be confusing and it takes some experience or a pile of books to figure out sometimes.

What all of this means is that a C9AE-9425-B is an intake manifold that the full size car department paid the engine department to design in 1969. This does not mean that a 69 Ford car is the only place you will find it as after a part already exists it can be used by any line and it also does not mean that the department that paid for it even used it. For example a C9OE-8509-G is a water pump pulley for a 1970 small block. It was designed in 69 but never used that year (and actually won't fit a 69!). There are also examples where the next years parts are released early such as 68 302 blocks and intake manifolds that were used on the late 67 289's. There are even examples of next years parts that were used on this years cars and then dropped in favor of a new design such as a DOZA-3108-B and DOZA-3107-B spindles used on some 1969 Shelby Mustangs and 1969 Boss 302 Mustangs but not used on 1970 Mustangs (the 1970 used DOZA-3108-C and DOZA-3107-C which are examples of where the suffix does note revisions!).

There are a couple of other caveats about the numbers you see that you may need to know. First would be assemblies, very often a part is made from several parts. The best example I can come up with of this is a distributor. These are made from many parts and each part has an engineering number as does the assembly. I use this example because most distributors (except for FE style 352, 360, 390 etc...) have two engineering numbers showing. One number is usually on the lower body running top to bottom and is a number like C80F-12131-A. 12131 is a base number for a distributor HOUSING. If you look closely at the same distributor you will also see an engineering number near the top running horizontal and it will be something like C9ZF-12127-E. 12127 is the engineering number for a distributor ASSEMBLY. This difference can be very confusing and is the reason that most Ford FE engine casting number charts are wrong. The original chart was done by somebody who was reading books and not looking at parts and saw a whole slew of number that never actually appeared on parts! Very often a base part will have a number but will be assembled with different components and these parts do not always have an assembly engineering number on them. In this case all the assemblies would show the exact same engineering number but the books show a whole bunch of numbers. The most common example of this is the C8AE-H cylinder head for an FE. This single number is associated with a dozen or more assembly engineering numbers. People get confused badly because the printed lists such as in Steve Christ's How to rebuild your big block Ford and George Reid's pocket guide contain numbers that never actually were cast into heads. Unfortunately they both copied a list of numbers that contained numbers from books not from parts!

There are also parts sold through Ford subs such as Shelby and Holman Moody that used Ford like part numbers as it was easier for them. You will see Shelby intake with a S2MS number and this decodes just like a Ford number except 2 is not the last number of the year it is the second year. So S is Shelby, 2 is second year, M is Mustang so it is for a 1966 Mustang. In 67 they changed the year number to reflect the actual year so 67 parts are S7MS. Holman Moody is the same but starts with HM and the number is the year so HM5 is 1965.

Finally is part numbers. These are numbers used by the Ford Replacement Parts and Service Division to sell replacement parts. Very often these numbers are the same as the casting number but have a Z in the fourth slot. The Z simply notes it was entered in the parts department system. This number will not be cast on the part but will be on the label or box. For example a C9AE-6312-B engineering number is a C9AZ-6A312-B part number. Unfortunately the part number does not always so easily relate and a C8AE-6312-E engineering number is a D3TZ-6A312-A part number because it was not available as a service part until 1973 even though it was used in 1968 (Ford sold a three groove pulley to replace it as it is the same but the original had two grooves). I realize this is long winded but I hope it helps people understand the Ford numbering system. Hawkrod

[Hawkrod]

b is a change from the a casting. no letter after the first number means it was the original casting. c9 is 69. A is a car code. E is for engine

if A is car code, is there a specific code for a truck? or no?

Parts designed for trucks carry a T in the third position but not all parts used on trucks are truck parts! LOL hawkrod

[hotrod ford]

Nope not long winded at all. That is a great explanation on Ford parts and is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.