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You are here: Home The FORDification Digital MPC
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The FORDification Digital MPC

 

After two years involving HUNDREDS of hours of extremely tedious work, the project of digitizing the entire text section of the 1964-1972 Ford Truck Master Parts Catalog (MPC) is now finished and ready for release...and so it's now possible to have your own searchable database of '64-'72 Ford truck part numbers right on your home computer!

Every page (nearly 5,000 of them!) of the Text section of the MPC (pictured at right) has been scanned, read by OCR software and then proofread...twice...to ensure accuracy. It's then been saved as four digitally-searchable PDF files for quick and easy reference.
 

 

Fig. 02 - Each page was individually laid out prior to being read by OCR software. Green is text, red is images and blue is tables.

 

Fig. 03 - After being read, the monumental task of proof-reading every single page began. In split-screen mode the original copy can be compared to the original scan.

 

NO corners were cut in the creation of this Digital MPC. Most of you who know me from the FORDification forums or Facebook groups know how anal I can be about details...well, for a project like this one you actually NEED someone who's that anal. If it was to be associated with this site, it had to be good!

Here are some screenshots for the visual and to show how it works:
 

This is a shot of the READ ME file on the CD. This is the first page you need to read before doing anything else. It will give you a lot of tips and tricks on how to understand the basic Ford parts numbering system, how they're arranged in the MPC and how to quickly find them in the Digital MPC.
   

This one is just a demonstration to show how you can highlight the text and then copy/paste as needed. This the first of the four PDFs. You can see the bookmarks that were added (along the left side) to make finding each section quick and painless.

   
Here is a view of Part 2.
   
A shot of Part 3.
   
A shot of Part 4.
   

Here's how it works. While viewing the PDF in Adobe Acrobat (or Acrobat Reader), click on Edit > Find (or just hit Control F) which will bring up the search window in the upper-righthand corner (red arrow). Then just type in the number you're looking for and hit Enter. The entry in the text will be highlighted as pictured once it's found.

So let's say you're not sure which of the four PDFs has the info you need. Rather than search each one individually, you can search all four at the same time. You'll also notice that right below the Find in the dropdown menu you see the Advanced Search option. Clicking that will allow all files in a directory to be searched. So by simply placing all four PDFs in one folder/directory, you can search the entire 5,000-page MPC with a single search query.

   

This is a screenshot of one of the pages of the Help section I put together, which is a quick-reference guide of what basic parts groups are in each section. Since each PDF has bookmarks, finding the section you need is extremely simple.

   

This is another page of the Help section. This is the Quick Reference Parts Guide that will show commonly-researched parts, the part's Group (Basic Part) Number (that you'll search for in the Digital MPC) and the section it can be found.

I'll be updating this Quick Reference Parts Guide on a regular basis and will post the newest version here so you can save it to your computer for easy access.

 

1969 Ford Standard and Utility Parts Catalog

The 1969 Ford Standard and Utility Parts Catalog contains detailed listings of the misc. parts not normally detailed in the MPC. This includes (but not limited to) nuts, bolts, washers, screws, grommets, pins, rivets, snap rings, woodruff keys, fittings, etc. Like the Digital MPC, the entire 122-page catalog has been digitized by scanning each page and then running it through OCR software, getting proofread it (twice) and saved as a single searchable PDF. This is the PERFECT companion for the MPC...and it works great!

   

If you're looking up parts in the MPC, you'll notice that often at the end of the Group Number listings, it will often list the attaching hardware and gives you the part number(s) and sometimes basic measurements. And while this is helpful if it's just a basic bolt, sometimes for a specialty piece you need more size info. So, you can highlight and copy the part number (as I've done here)...

   

...and then open the Standard and Utility Parts Catalog PDF, select Edit > Find (or just hit Ctrl+F on the keyboard) to bring up the search window and paste that number...and then hit Enter to begin the search. In a couple seconds it will go right to the listing, where it shows an illustration of the piece and detailed measurements. Now that you have this detailed info, you can find the necessary appropriate replacement locally.

   

Now...because it's the 1969 edition, this catalog obviously won't have year-specific hardware for '70-later vehicles. But I guarantee you'll be using the heck out of this one too!

YOU NEED THESE IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT '64-'72 FORD TRUCKS!

 

Finally...let me say I've been messing with vintage Ford trucks for many years, and I can't begin to tell you how many hours have been spent trying to find things listed in the MPC. Because of the way Ford listed parts in places that aren't always entirely intuitive, it's often very time-consuming to actually find what you're looking for. The value in these documents is the ability to digitally search them...to let the computer do the work for you! If something like this had been available when I was needing it, I'd have purchased it in a heartbeat and never regretted it for a moment!

And it's not just part numbers that you can search! In many instances, ID tags or other identification markings/castings are listed with the part, so if you're trying to identify a specific part, you can search the tag/casting/ID number to quickly go to the relevant listing. You will find so many other ways to use this to your benefit.

So what are you waiting for? I can almost guarantee that with these documents on your computer to use, you'll wonder how you ever got along without them!

 

 
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