I glass beaded my rims and found a number stamped

[Nitram]

As I was removing my old tires from my 57 Transtar pickup rims the guys at the shop told me on the older cars the date of manufacture is stamped on the rims. Sure enough as I was glass beading them today I came across the number and a name. The name is not shown in the pic. It is after the number. The number is:
C 2 15x6L 44321-E-3 57 Budd



Does anyone know what this translates to? Is it merely a part number by the manufacturer? This number is the same on all five of my rims. I have a spare. I've taken a guess at the numbers below.

C = ? (for a C-cab Stude)?
2 = ?
15 = Wheel diameter
6 = Wheel width
L = ? not clear in the pic but it is a capital L
44321 = ?
E = ? (my truck is a 3E7)
3 = ? (my truck is a 3E7)
57 = Year of manufacture
Budd = Name of manufacturer which if I'm not mistaken is
still manufacturing rims today.

Any clues to the meaning of these numbers would be of interest to me. Hopefully Mr. Drumheller reads this. He seems to be good with the numbers. Thanks in advance.



[img=left]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/360197307_8639ee4a46_m.jpg[/img=left]
~Nitram~
57 Transtar
Lancaster, PA

[StudeRich]

My guess is that it is extremely unlikely that Budd would use any Studebaker identification codes at all, after all they or no one cared if it went on a '56,'57 or '58 or 112 or 122 or 6 or 8, and they did not know what Studebaker would use it on!! [:0]

The codes are all Budd Corp. info. Most likely something like:
E= May
3 = the 3rd.
1957 = the year

C 2 could be Plant C, second shift etc.

44321 = Their part number

15X6 = the size, "L" the large center hole and bolt pattern for Trucks.

This guess is probably as good as anyone's, unless we have a former Budd employee here! [^]
It seems pretty insignificant to me, I would just want to know if my truck had the correct wheels, and apparently you do, even a date matched set, no less! [^]

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[barnlark]

Matched mopar sets like that go for thousands with the matching dates.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Try doing a Google search to find an NWRA number glossary.
NWRA id the National Wheel & Rim Association.
They should have a glossary somewhere.
Hope the info helps.
Jeff[8D]

http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock

[Nitram]

[quote]Originally posted by DEEPNHOCK

Try doing a Google search to find an NWRA number glossary.
NWRA id the National Wheel & Rim Association.
They should have a glossary somewhere.
Hope the info helps.
Jeff[8D]

Hey thanks Jeff, I did a google search and couldn't believe what I found for NWRA:

National Welfare Rights Organization
National Welfare Rights Union
National Wellness, Prevention and Fitness Conference
National Wen-Hua Senior High School
National Western Club (National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO)
National Western Life (Insurance Company)
National Western Life Insurance (stock symbol)
National Western Stock Show
National Western Stock Show
National Westminster
National Westminster (UK bank)
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc
National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited
National Westminster Bank, Liverpool
National Westminster House
National Westmister Bank
National Wetlands Coalition
National Wetlands Inventory
National Wetlands Research Center
National Wetlands Research Center
National Wheat Diseases Screening Nursery
National Wheat Weavers Association (Hutchinson, KS)
National Wheel & Rim Association
National Wheelchair Athletic Association
National Wheelchair Basketball Association
National Wheelchair Basketball Association
National Wheelchair Basketball League (Australia)
National Whistleblower Center
National Whistleblower Center
National White Collar Crime Center (US Department of Justice)
National White Collar Crime Center (US FBI)
National White Dove Release Society
National Wholesale Directory Assistance Service (Bell South)
National Wholesale Liquidators
National Wholesale Liquidators
National Wide Area Network
National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River Act
National Wild and Scenic Rivers
National Wild Turkey Federation
National Wilderness Area
National Wilderness Preservation System
National Wildfire Coordinating Group
National Wildfire Coordinating Group
National Wildfire Mitigation Program
National Wildflower Center
National Wildflower Research Center

I scrolled down to the bottom of this site:

http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/National+Wheel+&+Rim+Association

Would you believe all the above acronyms had direct links to their site except National Wheel and Rim. Apparently Wheel and Rim doesn't have an official site.
I've also been Googling Budd but they must have been bought out by another company. Can't find any info on them either. I'll keep on looking.





[img=left]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/360197307_8639ee4a46_m.jpg[/img=left]
~Nitram~
57 Transtar
Lancaster, PA

[Guido]

Google is still your friend (if you give it a chance ). I did a search on "National Wheel and Rim Association" and found that they merged on January 1, 2006 with the Council of Fleet Specialists to form the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network. I did no looking on their site to see if it has the info you need, but here is the link.

http://www.cvsn.org/about.asp

Guido Salvage - "Where rust is beautiful" and real Studebaker horsepower lives

See pictures here: http://community.webshots.com/user/GuidoSalvage

Hiding and preserving Studebakers in Richmond, Goochland & Louisa, Va.