1966 MirroCraft 12’ “car top” boat

[user 36243]

i acquired a forgotten 12’ MirroCraft F32 boat. It is advertised as a car top boat with a 50” beam. It weights in at 125#.
O At first glance i was ready to pass but digging in it looked pretty solid. Goal for this season is to strip & clean the hull, replace the transom wood, and buff out the outside of the hull. The previous owner reported testing it and no leaks ( will see).
No holes or major dents and a normal amount of bottom rash. I need new oar brackets. Next season i will re do the seats and add non skid to the walk area inside. The zolatone inside looks pretty good so i will leave well enough alone for now.
My question for other MirroCraft owners. I found a HID inside on the port side under the transom wood. Another fella told me that the pre 72 boats did not have any HID stamped into them but this looks pretty factory like to me.
We all live out our hobby thru others projects. I will share photos as progress is made. Has anyone else found HID numbers on your pre 1972 MirroCrafts?

A couple of photos when i picked it up and another after stripping the paint, sanding and acid wash the hull.

 

[LDUBS]

I don't have a Mirrocraft but really like that last pic of the boat on top of what I think is an IH Travelall.

I wonder if that could be a serial number.

 

[user 36243]

MirroCraft confirmed some boats had an id number stamped on the transom.
No idea where the other tag came from.
Found a company in Texas to reproduce the data tag with the correct hull number.
Waiting for polishing supplies…….
Still looking for original oar brackets
(ad posted in classifieds with photos)

 

[mbullen]

1972 is when the Federal HIN program began.
Late '72 and forward, all manufacturers were required to permanently attach a 12-digit HIN plate to the transom configured in a Coast Guard format.

Factory model/serial numbers were always present, however. Most brands, anyway. Some were consistent in their locations and some were random at best.
Not all can be decoded for info, though.
Duracraft, for instance, numbered all boats sequentially through all years regardless of model. Nearly impossible to glean any info without a known boat which to compare.
Feather Craft used a format that is easily decoded into model, production, year, and even trim.
Alumacraft is able to be decoded with the factory cheat sheet on production numbers.
etc...etc...
I'm unsure about Mirrocraft's format.

edit: Yet another scenario is a state-produced HIN plate. Different states treat the older boats differently.
Some states use the boat's model/serial number (if available) as the HIN requirement on modern paperwork. It's already an unique number to the boat.
Some states create their own 12-digit number to comply with the 12 boxes available. These are identified by a "Z" in the third position proceeded by the state's initials. No other manufacturing info in included in these state HINs.

 

[1pc@atime]

My 1978 Mirrocraft has a riveted tag on the right rear of the transom with the HIN on it. The CG plate is on the inside of the boat on the port side near the transom.