I'm pretty sure somebody can tell me but I'm not clear on the differences. Any other pics required to nail it down? Thanks Greg
Looks like an emergency brake handle by the drivers door. If so it is early 28. I think they call them AR's
Many 28-29 Model A's are stamped on the lower left of the gas tank with a date code. Of course there is the serial number on the frame, which requires the body to be removed and the engine number if it is original to the car.
From the location of the emergency brake, it is an early 1928. Some call them AR's, there are lots of differences, red steering wheel, drum taillights, fenders slightly different shape.............. The experts on here can expound.
With the brake lever on the left, it's early 28. If you're rodding it, save all of the emergency brake parts. They're pure gold. If the engine has a multiple disc clutch & flywheel behind it, I'd be interested in those parts.
The front fender bracket is cast, not certain when Henry went over to stamped steel, could have been even '30 or '31.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the quick id It's really clean- I don't find a spec of rust on it. It was one of my Dad's projects. I am working on deciding what to do with it as far as rod or not. It may just remain a stocker.
It's a '28. Left hand emergency brake was used until July 1929. The motor has a "powerhouse" generator discontinued in June of '28. Oval gas gauge face was used from June '28 thru mid '29. Cast running board brackets, discontinued in Dec. of '28 also cast fender braces discontinued in April '29. I am a hot rodder at heart but it's an early car and should be restored. Can you get the engine number, it's located on the DS of the engine near the water outlet.
The running board and fender braces are forged, not cast. They can be bent without breaking. But, Ford did make some of those for the 30/31 cars as well, so they don't indicate it as an early car. It's a few other things that show it's early. Does your sedan have beavertail rear fenders? How about the early hood sides? Take a close-up pic of the roll on the bottom edge of the hood side, from the end, so I can see if it's an uppie or a downie. Lots of parts I'd like to have off that car if you decide to not use them. If you are stripping it down, give me a PM about your leftovers.
Those should help, great detail pics. The Speedometer face type also has some legacy. Tough is; the different mfg's who made Ford bodies, certain runs, certain years. You might check w/Ford Barn, our own Rev. Bruce L. may bless us w/wisdom. I wouldn't know a beavertail (fender) if it came up and bit me! They exist however.
Serial number is from June 1928, the left hand emergency brake is also early 28 and was discontinued in June of 28.
Where the front fenders meet the running board apron is also an indicator. On early 28's (AR's) the fender curves out where it meets the apron. Pretty rare fenders.
Please add me to the "Restore it" group, that is one nice solid car that has survived this long. Is the starter rod the bent type, choke rod bracket just a flat piece of strap not a forged piece? Does the light stitch have on & off stamped in it? Wheels look like AR's so I'm guessing it has all the early brake parts as well. Note how the rear brake drum has only one pair of shoes, no seperate parking brake. Thanks for posting the photos and info. Bob
I've gone home for the day so I'll have to check the fenders, light switch and anything else somebody thinks I should check on in a day or two when I get back over there. I should've know it would be something special. Pops was more into Pierce Arrows and Brass cars but all of his friends were in the local Model A club- that's the reason he had this car. When he found he was sick he finished the Pierce he was working on and messed a bit with his Oldsmobile Touring car.
Rear fenders are regular, not beavertail. Hood sides are early. Probably a later AR. If I had it, it could go either rod or restore.
fourspeed, I think with everybody's help here, we have established that you have a very desirable 1928. I do have a question, what is the touring car pictured in front of your Model A in the first picture?
The most unusual and to me valuable thing here is that the car seems to be pretty much intact, with all the main unusual bits, apparently original engine block, etc. Engine date is when engine was assembled and accepted at the Rouge...car could have been assembled over a considerable range of time depending on when it reached one of the 30-odd assembly plants. It could have been in a running car in a few hours in the Detroit plant, 2 weeks later in the far west, or Lord knows when in a tiny overseas plant like Denmark. On this, it begins to look like engine date is very close to car date. On Model A stuff, most of the bigger changes happened in '28 as brakes, clutch, etc. reached final form. After that most of the zillions of refinements in the A were minor details of interest only to fanatical restorers. If you care to explore, the changes during '28 that affected mechanics and parts suppliers are laid out in the readily available Service Bulletins. If you want exhaustive detail, the rather expensive restoration standards books attempt to lay out the history of every part down to the cotter pins.
Correct- and again, thank you to all that pitched in. The touring car in the shop is a '24 Oldsmobile in similar condition. Half restored and absolutely rust free.
Thanks Bruce- That's funny. Reminds me of Dad swearing that some Model A guy could look at the car and tell you if it was a day or night shift build. Millions made but so many changes.
Look!! All of the cotters on that car are cadmium plated except thezinc plate one on the left rear shock link! Obviously, this was assembled on June twenty fifth, and the assembly guy picked up a lost pin from the floor before starting into the bucket of new cad ones that had just arrived!!
That's a good point. All the parts that were sent to distant assembly plants were crated and shipped in groups of different quantities. Detroit may have sent out 100 hoods, but 1,000 generators. So a car built in St. Louis could have a different mix of AR parts than a car from California, or Detroit. And some plants may have been using up AR parts clear into 1929 if they got a huge shipment of them to begin with. Look on the front cross rail of the subframe between the seats for a stamped letter/number code. It will tell you which plant it was made in, and what number tudor body it was coming down the line there. I've got a '32 tudor built in the Des Moines plant that has a bunch of early '32 parts, but other stuff is just regular. It was the 180th tudor down the Des Moines line in 1932.
[ ] Hey Tim, long time no see...Met you in the late 70's at Evansville Frog Follies...you had the chopped '34 sedan then...I'm still driving the 32 Stude President hot rod...completely restored it between '99 and '01...Has 90,000 hot rod miles on it now. Don't know if you remember me or not...that's been almost 40 years ago...Joe Klinkhardt.....look thru my profile 32STUPRES for more info and many pics...
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