Topic: Decoding Driveshaft Stencil Code

[GlennG]

I am getting my '66 Shelby barn car running for the first time since the late '70s.  As I was bead blasting the rusted and pitted driveshaft, I noticed some stenciled letters.  My car originally had an automatic, but it was replaced with a Ford Toploader four speed. 

My question is this, is it possible that this is still the original driveshaft?  Does anyone have some ideas of what the stencil may actually read and what it would translate to if decoded?

Thanks to anyone that can help.

[carlite65]

i'd venture to say that is the original shaft. if i understand correctly that stencil'd number was placed on the tubing before it was cut into the correct shaft lengths. done at the tubing manufacturer. i do not know what the #'s mean. i would not bead blast it though. i would soak it in evaporust to preserve any makings found. if you look at the library section on this site jeff has an excellent article on restoring a driveshaft.

[Murf]

For what it is worth, I think that your number is   19078-4S  and is the same as some of us have found on several 65 - 66 shafts.  Seems to be stenciled in a sort of "school bus yellow".  Wish we knew more about the meaning of those makings.  For what it is worth the last two numbers-letters might vary.  In other words the 4S in this may be something else on a different shaft but the ones I have found always seemed to have the same  "19078"  Hope someone comes up with a code breaker for this number, it has always been a mystery. 

[bryancobb]

I work in the steel industry.  We are an ASME Pressure Vessel/Boiler manufacturer.  One of my jobs as QC Representative, is to collect and compile all of the traceability paperwork from the steel mills, on all the material we use.

I assume these driveshaft tubes were cut from mill lengths of tubing that was manufactured to Ford Specifications. 

Typically in the steel industry, each "melt" of raw steel is assigned a "fingerprint" called a "heat number."
Any tubing formed from a single heat, would be marked with "line stamping" so it could be easily identified and traced back to the original heat.
A document called a "Mill Test Report" would show the specific dimensions, chemical composition, tensile strength, x-ray results, etc. for that group of like items.

It is very possible that several hundred sticks of tubing would'a/could'a been from the same heat number and been marked the same with the yellow lettering.
This could explain why hundreds of Mustangs have the same marks?

[s2ms]

I am getting my '66 Shelby barn car running for the first time since the late '70s.  As I was bead blasting the rusted and pitted driveshaft, I noticed some stenciled letters.  My car originally had an automatic, but it was replaced with a Ford Toploader four speed. 

Hi Glenn,

The original driveshaft from 6S1757 (4-speed) had 19078-5S stenciled on it. I have seen a Hertz car near yours (auto) that had 19078-4S. I'm not sure about differences between the 4-speed and auto shaft tubing.

Dave

[GlennG]

 These are all great answers to the mystery stencil number.

Unfortunately I might have went too far with my bead blasting.  This drive shaft was badly pitted and rusted, and I was very doubtful that I would find any other markings other than what I found with the stencils. 

A good friend of mine took photos of his original 66 Shelby driveshaft and maybe can shed a little more light on what the original markings might look like. Attached are pictures. 
Any more ideas will be helpful....and now I will look at what I should have done to properly restore my drive shaft.....sigh......

Any other ideas on decoding the yellow stencils?

Glenn

[s2ms]

Glenn,

You can have your original driveshaft retubed and replicate the markings. Here's a pic of my original tube after replacing it. I just wish I had kept the darn thing, now all I have is this lousy picture....

Dave

[J_Speegle]

From what we've been told by Ford workers of the time the drivelines were cut from a long single tube (3 drivelines from each piece of tubing) and the number you found was applied to each tube (so typically one out of three drivelines would have this stencil)

The stencil appears (by comparing a fair number of these) to include a number that indicates the diameter of the tube and a date when it was made. No specific decoder from the tubing supplier has been found and Ford documents don't cover this since its not their coding

[GlennG]

Thanks again for all the great comments.  I did go through the library and read through Jeff's Driveline Restoration guide...Wow, this is really great, Jeff.  Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

Glenn

[Bill Cabaniss]

 Just for future reference on this subject, my 66 coupe has 19078-4E in school bus yellow stenciling on the shaft much like Murf described.

[Pete Bush]

I wonder if someone might provide some dimensions of the HiPo driveshaft for automatic equipped cars? Diameter and length between the center of the universal holes on each end.

[GlennG]

Hi Jeff, I thoroughly enjoyed, and used your Driveline restoration guide.  It was super helpful.  The only difference was that I used a mini-DA sander that worked really well to sand the driveline.  My question now is this...do you have a stencil, or know where I can get a stencil for the driveline letters?  Also, can you tell me what colors were used on: 1) Drive line yellow numbers 2 ) bands that go around the driveshaft.  My friend's '66 Shelby has dark green, then blue, then light blue stripes on the end (pictures posted).  What paint would you suggest for all of the above? 

[bryancobb]

A little more insight based on my experience...
This lettering was "MOST LIKELY" placed on the tubes using a stencil, punched out of oiled cardboard. with a "MARSH" stencil punch machine.  These have been used since WWII in all kinds of industries.
The stencil was probably held by hand while either being daubed with a Marsh Stencil Brush or sprayed with a rattle can.
Now...  I have hand-drawn this MARSH font alphabet, using AutoCAD, from actual punched letters from a Marsh Machine.  I do a lot of marking decals for military aircraft restorers such as Stearmans.   I'm going to gather some pics together and post them.  If it is concluded by the experts here, that this is the right font,  I can create a stick on, removable stencil for spraying or daubing, if I have the height and specific numbers you need.

Note: If the driveshaft markings were "SPRAYED," the characters will have a fuzzy edge.  My sticky stencils will not create that fuzzy edge.  If the driveshaft tubes were marked with a daubing brush, my sticky stencils will create a closer representation.

Stay tuned for the "Rest of The Story."
Here's the Marsh Machine and Stencil Brush.

[bryancobb]

AFTER LOOKING AT ALL THE PICTURES OF POSTER'S DRIVESHAFT MARKINGS...

I AM CERTAIN THAT THESE MARKINGS ARE ONLY TRACABILITY NUMBERS THAT REFER BACK TO THE MILL TEST REPORT DOCUMENT FOR THE RAW TUBING.  THE NUMBER WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY CONTAIN ENOUGH CHRACTERS FROM THE "HEAT NUMBER" TO IDENTIFY THE TUBING'S PAPERWORK WHICH SHOWS ITS' CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 

Some of the characters may be shift/extrusion-line etc.

[J_Speegle]

Hi Jeff, I thoroughly enjoyed, and used your Driveline restoration guide.  It was super helpful.  The only difference was that I used a mini-DA sander that worked really well to sand the driveline.  My question now is this...do you have a stencil, or know where I can get a stencil for the driveline letters?

I've used the brass stencil (had them at work) and simply transfered (so that the pattern would bend to the curve of the tube) them to cardboard or a Manila folder material. Another option would be to simply use your printer to create the numbers, printed them out them cut them out of similar material for that purpose. I've never applied these to a driveline since I've never owned or restored a car that had them and since most didn't get them IMHO there was no need to add that detail

Also, can you tell me what colors were used on: 1) Drive line yellow numbers

Appears to be a strong "school bus" yellow. Should be able to get something pretty close in a spray can locally


 2 ) bands that go around the driveshaft.  My friend's '66 Shelby has dark green, then blue, then light blue stripes on the end (pictures posted).  What paint would you suggest for all of the above?
[/quote]

Didn't see a picture. Are these original stripes or something that someone did during a restoration?