Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Does anyone's Packard Title have a Motor Number listed instead of a VIN? My '51 Title shows J225619 as the Motor or Vehicle Identification Number. I haven't found this number on the car. Yet... But my metal plate on the firewall and the front left door frame shows VIN to be 2462 16418. I understand the VIN as model number and S/N, but wondered if the J225619 is actually an engine number and where might I find it? Thx in advance, Bruce

The J number is a motor number for a 51 with a 288" engine.

It appears on the left side of the engine block on a slightly raised pad just below the head gasket and approx above the starter. If the engine has been changed the number will differ.

Most DMV's will accept a tracing opf both the # on the door post and the engine # to convert the title to serial #.

Thanks, I will look for it again.

As Fred explained, 51-4 is supposed to be above the starter but if the engine has been changed to an earlier engine it may be somewhere either side of the dist and not really on a pad but rather a smoothed surface on the block. If it is covered with dirt and grease can be very hard to see no matter the location.

Motor numbers were used by many states as the registration number while others used the vehicle number on the cowl plate or door jamb. If it is a service engine there may be no factory number on the engine. Some replacement engine numbers have been really strange and thought to have been assigned by a state DMV. There have been some cars known to have been in California that have had those odd numbers.

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My 40 had originally been titled in Ohio with the engine number. Fortunately, the original engine was still in the car, but I did not want to remove and/or replace it without correcting the title situation. Years from now if someone is selling the car and the engine referenced on the title is gone, that's a mess.
So after giving the state of Virginia $125, a DMV officer came to my garage, verified the engine number and sent in paperwork to correct the title using the VIN plate number.

My 37 Six is registered using the engine number as the identification number. This was a common practice in many states back in the day.

(o[]o)

A couple of my Packards were titled with the engine number, one of which did not actually have anything at all stamped on the block, but all it took here in California was a VIN verification form filled and signed by a licensed verifier, and an application for a new title along with the small application fee to sort it out. Your mileage (and other states' laws) may vary.

My '54 Clipper was originally registered in Calif by its engine number, and when I registered it, I did the same to make it a easier since it was out of the system and missing the title, and I was already fighting an up hill paperwork battle.

Now registered in Illinois under engine serial.