Here is the cowel and doors that I got from a friend. He said that he thinks they are from a Murray...It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but they have 30/31 lines, but the cowel pinches down smaller like a 28/29... So the questions are... 1. Is this stuff off of a Murray? If not, what is it? 2. Being that it was more than likely a 4 door sedan, are these doors the same length as regular A doors or shorter? Thanks, Jake
It's not a Murray since they had a gentle curve at the top of the doors, and yours are straight. Briggs was the other builder, so that is what you've got. If the cowl is narrower than the 30-31 it is a 28-29. Fordors didn't have the curved A piller. Sorry not sure about the door sizes. Check out the restorer site www.mafca.com Model A Ford Club of America. They have plenty of pictures and you can get a feel for the differences.
You can tell it's from a four door style by the extra "reveal" at the bottom of the door window opening. The coupes and sedan/pickup doors only have one "reveal". I don't know how the 4-door sizes measure up to the coupe. Somewhere on this internet is a page that has a ton of scanned drawings of model As. I will see if I can find a link for you. -Jay
Didn't all '30/'31 Model A's have removable gas tanks? That one doesn't look like it would come out without cutting it out. The whole cowl looks to be one piece. JH
The gas tank does not set down into the top of that cowl. It actually goes up under that solid cowl top, unlike all the other Model A's of 30-31. It is indeed a four door cowl. 4port has one of those cars, and it is a Briggs. LOTS OF WOOD IN THAT BODY.
Well, I looked for that webpage- no luck. It is some guys personal photo page. Maybe someone else has a link? My 30/31 coupe door measures 26 7/8" across under the top hinge. Sedan measures 29 1/8" in same area. 4 door measures 27 3/4". Jay
jay, quit acting like you know what you're doing. You'll confuse the poor fella. But the consensus is right. Briggs fordor cowl and doors, and it's a 30-31. So whatcha gonna do with it?
Sneaking around the web for a while gave me this pictures. A 1929 Ford Murray. Built in gastank. The -30 Briggs had a loose one.
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Svar till:</font><hr /> You can tell it's from a four door style by the extra "reveal" at the bottom of the door window opening. The coupes and sedan/pickup doors only have one "reveal". [/ QUOTE ] This is news to me, i like to learn everything about A´s, thats my favorite car, i like later cars too but A´s someting special, i like the simplicity all the early engineering, its fascinating to see what they did 75 years ago and that it still hold up today! I just have a 50 year old car but im starting to look back further, most of you probobly know what im talking about, i love my Buick but a cool lookin´A would be nice...
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Svar till:</font><hr /> Sneaking around the web for a while gave me this pictures. A 1929 Ford Murray. Built in gastank. The -30 Briggs had a loose one. [/ QUOTE ] I see that its a 30/31, but is there more differences between briggs and murrays? Maby this could be some tech stuff...
It is a Briggs or Murray 28/29. There was a Briggs 3 window sedan and 2 window sedan ( ie the 2 window sedan had no side window behind the rear door ) The real early Briggs 4 door 2 window sedans had a small vertical vent on the side of the cowl. The Murray body 4 door only came as the 3 window sedan ( ie it had the quarter window behind the rear door ), . From what I gather I doubt if there was a 4 door sedan built in 28/29 that had the conventional 28/29 cowl, say like a tudor etc. I hope l that makes sense. Something to note is that the fuel tanks from the 28/29 Briggs and Murray bodies are the most desireable as they were not subject to the weather as were the feul tanks in other 28/29 models. Geez looking at all that now I know why I am into '32s these days!
whoops forgot this, yeah loots of wood in the Briggs, fully coach built. Not sure about the Murray. My very first car was a Briggs bodied 3 window sedan!
After more research, then you get into town sedans a whole different thing again, re doors. But I am not going into this, research on a Sunday morning is not a good thing!
Wow, thanks for all the info guys. I need to find the back half of a 30-31 now so I can build it. It does have a lot of wood, which will probably be replaced with square tubing, but it doesn't have a single dent and no cancer. The only thing wrong with it (other than being incomplete) is a small rip in the top of the cowel that can be fixed easily. Thanks again for all the info Jake
there is some confusing and conflicting statements going on here...is there a website or book that explains all about the model As?
My reference is the book Henry's Lady " An Illustrated history Of The Model 'A' Ford, by Ray Miller, Evergreen Press, Oceandside, CA 92054 mine is the fourth printing 1975. Most stuff you need to know about model 'A's in this book
I'm positive that that cowl and doors are from a 28/29 Briggs. I had one before I bought the coupe project. The fire wall has the same shape as any other 28/29, but the cowl is not a bolt on like the other 28/29 cars. The cowl looks from the side as if it were a 30/31. What you have is a 28 or 29 briggs, without the back half it would be very difficult to tell exactly which model of briggs it was from.
Yo Jake...... if you ever decide to sell or trade those parts ..... I want them ......... or if you where I can find another A/ cowl and doors..
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