Larry has begun doing research on his M-38 that he has begun to restore.  However, the only numbers he has so far are his hood numbers.  Based on my research, I couldn’t find any pattern between hood numbers as a tool for determining an exact VIN number.  So, we thought we’d post what he has in case anyone has other ideas.

Larry writes, “I realize that hood numbers were put on in random lots but it is possible that they were put on sequentially. I am narrowed down to 32 serial numbers producd for 6-52 and they begin with MC71350 -MC71382 and I know four of those numbers are assigned to M38s on another website data base My hood number is 20945312. I want to find anyone with a 6-52 M38 with numbers above or below this hood number. If they will contact me by email so I can get their hood numbers and serial numbers by seeing which way the serial numbers go as compared to the hood numbers I may be able to figure out my number. yeah its a long shot and there are those that said it cant be done that way.

Now I dont know much about the way things were done by the Willys factory but I did get assigned to a military paint shop and we were tasked to take all the vehicles we had just received straight from the factory and repaint them camo with all the numbers done in subdued black. We all had to keep records of the vehicle, the serial number, unit number as assigned, etc. While doing this I noted that the serial numbers went up consecutively and the registraion numbers assigned all went down.

So, if there are any owners of Army M38s with DOD of 6-52 and hood numbers above and below and close to the hood number 20945312, please send an email to loop_m@hotmail.com and please put M38 REQUESTEDINFO in the subject line.”