CSI Cape Town : Decoding Identification Plates

So this is what we start with - identification plates which are found in the engine compartment on the right hand inner wing :

The vehicle number  is CS 22 G S 24543 and is broken down into five parts :

C = shipped unassembled (a letter D could also denote this.) 

In the UK, the vehicle number would start with a B (i.e. assembled in Great Britain) and the second letter would denote where the vehicle was assembled :

A = Dagenham
B = Halewood
C = Langley
D = Southampton

I can only assume that the S in Cass's number denotes South Africa - will have to double check on that, but I do know that Fords in SA at the time were assembled in Port Elizabeth.

The next two numbers denote the body type :

21 = Anglia Saloon
22 = Anglia Saloon Deluxe  - (always knew Cass was a bit of a posh chick)
23 = Anglia Estate
24 = Anglia Estate Deluxe
26 = Anglia Super Saloon
27 = 5 cwt Standard Van
28 = 7 cwt Standard Van
29 = 7 cwt Deluxe Van

The next two letters denote the year and month code - in this instance :


G = 1967                             S = July

Month / Year	1965 (E)	1966 (F)	1967 (G)
January	J	L	C
February	U	Y	K
March	M	S	D
April	P	T	E
May	B	J	L
June	R	U	Y
July	A	M	S
August	G	P	T
September	C	B	J
October	K	R	U
November	D	A	M
December	E	G	P

The final numbers are the actual identification numbers of the vehicle - will have to check if I can get some info on that from Ford SA.

I can't seem to find reference details for the engine, transmission and axle numbers - and even more frustrating - the paint and trim colour codes for models assembled in SA which seems pretty odd as I would have thought they were shipped painted.  Perhaps not.  Another mystery to solve.  I have a suspicion that Cass is in fact a 123E and not a 105E and that's why her colour code isn't listed on the Anglia 105E Owner's site. 

Update :

Yup, it seems that Cass is indeed a Super 123E Deluxe with a 1198cc engine (or it's supposed to be anyway.)

The BEFORE pictures and the journey begins ...

She's home and I'm suffering from a little twinge of buyer's remorse - oh dear.  I think it's because I have a bunch of my older neighbours taking a look at her and instead of seeing potential, they've done nothing but point out problems.  I'm glad that I got her for R7 000 instead of the R10 000 she was advertised for, but she runs and honestly - what did anyone expect for that price?

But hey, I've spent four years restoring my family home with my own two hands so I'm not going to let the chatter scare me off. This is my dream car we're taking about here - I'm just going to have to keep motivating myself with the thought of cruising around in her looking beautiful with The Beach Boys on the radio!

Let me say right away that I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about engines. Like really.  Nothing.  I'd love to restore the Anglia back to it's original Kent Crossflow engine which - thankfully - is one of the simplest engines ever built. Amen. 

Only problem is going to be figuring out which parts are original and which aren't.  Going to be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.

This worries me a little - take a look at the radiator fan.  Definitely NOT original.  Someone has butchered it down to a size that fits and this makes me wonder how many other cowboy repair jobs I'm going to find. Yikes!

Next on the to do list is investigate the engine block number and the rest of the details provided on the plates.  Little bit of CSI work this week.

 A Capri steering wheel and a dodgy Diamond tape deck - no self respecting thief would break a window to steal that thing.

At least I know the interior is something I can really do myself to save a few bucks - or that's the plan anyway.

Poor Cass.  So neglected for so long.  Never fear old girl - you'll be looking gorgeous soon!

You can leave your hat on ...

So it's 34 degrees Celcius on a beautiful Saturday in Cape Town and instead of heading to the beach, I decide to put some work in on Cass.

I been procrastinating on starting any substantial work because I've had no idea where to start! Thankfully an episode of American Restoration on DSTV has given me some direction i.e. start stripping baby!

Armed with a couple of spanners and a few screwdrivers I set to work ...

First thing was to remove all the chrome fittings - I've got to get a quote on rechroming everything so that was a good place to start. Need to get a budget sorted so I know what I'm in for.

Everything comes off surprisingly easy - with the help of some Q20 and elbow grease of course!

Getting the chrome tail light trims was a real pain in the backside.  Murphy's law - the last screw is right at the apex of the fin. Needed a torch for the job and lord knows how any one with larger hands than mine would get the job done.

I've made sure to put each fitting and it's screws, nuts and bolts in a labelled sandwich bag to save some tears later - seen too many people take things apart and not been able to figure out which screw goes where later on. Frustrating and far too time consuming.  I've also sealed each bag with a bit of cellotape in case they fall at some stage.  Don't want everything tumbling out and getting mixed up.

Next thing was tackling the expired rubber seals around the windows and doors.  What a mission!  The dumbasses who had resprayed Cass the last time had sprayed the rubber too!  Not smart guys - even a chick knows that.  The rubber was literally rock hard in some places and I had to remove the back windows to get the worst of it out.

Only thing to do was get a screwdriver and dig it out piece by piece.  Some of the rubber had somehow melted onto the metal and then hardened - couldn't get it all off and might have to take some paint stripper or a grinder to it later. 

Glad I left the interior for the hottest part of the day!

Managed to get those disgusting front seats out.  What an insult to such a beautiful car.  Seriously - grim Opel Kadett seats.  What were they thinking!?!

Couldn't get the top half of the backseat out - someone had ... you guessed it ... spray painted over the screw when they did the boot and it wouldn't budge.  Will have to leave that for another day. 

Quite an exciting moment pulling up the glued on plastic matting to find Cass's ORIGINAL colour - a light-ish blue.  At least I think so.  I've got to get hold of Ford SA sometime this week and see if they're able to tell me what the OB colour code represents.  Can't find it under the standard Anglia colour and trim codes listed in the UK.  I can only assume that Ford SA had their own set of colour codes.

Also got rid of the cheap radio and funny set of dials that had been mounted under the dash.  I've left most of the dash fittings and trims for another day - I want to label the wiring before I remove everything.





Not a bad days work methinks!  I need to start getting some quotes in ASAP so I can plan what to spend money on first.  The tyres are seriously NOT looking good so I know that's going to be a big chunk of cash already.

Thankfully the neighbourhood amateur (and not-so-amateur) mechanics are as excited as I am about getting Cass looking gorgeous again, so the advice and offers of help are pouring in. Now I just need the Lotto and I'd be sorted!