Sill...y Question

[JR Rotramel]

On the Superior data plate, it has

Model no.
Body no.
Sill no.

What is meant by Sill no. ?

 

[John ED Renstrom]

it's the catholic boy and the priest thing. when the young man asked the priest why? the reply was will son, it's a Mystery. still is

but I find that if you tear the car apart you find the body number wrote on the back side of all the interior parts. so I'm guessing it was superiors way to keeping the cars apart . they would number them as the cars started down the line. then the car would be referenced by that number to keep parts that belong on that car with the right car. as things were made in different places in the plant and put to gather as sub assemblies then tag with the body number so they went to the right car for final assy. but what the sill number was for no one seams to know

 

[Paul Steinberg]

The Sill number is a sequential numbering system to differentiate between the vehicle identification number, and the body number. Sill numbers are used to identify when a part is changed as from supplier A to supplier B. It is an old and convoluted way of keeping track of what parts fit what vehicles. This is why in the old days, you had to supply the vehicle identification number to the manufacturer when ordering parts. They would use that information to look up the sill number, and that paper would give the details of the cars configuration. Keep in mind that all these records were kept on paper, and were done by humans that made lots of mistakes. This was one way to keep mistakes to a minimum... or so they thought.
Fisher Body Corporation tag from a 1926 Buick.