Date stamp?

KMBeers

KMBeers

Senior Member
I posted this in another thread and I did not want to hijack the other persons post so I am reposting it here…. My car is a 1929 Tudor 55-A with a car and engine serial number A163xxxx which is May 1929. I did find the date on the bottom corner of the fuel tank, just next to the firewall, 12-23-28. I haven’t sen any documents on how long parts “hung” around the plant but there is a pretty big difference between the motor date and the date on the fuel tank. Is this difference normal? Is the fuel tank a place all of the cars are marked?

Below is a picture of the date stamp on the tank.
 

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KM,

In Judging there is the 6 month rule.....6 month 'fudge factor' for parts on a dated engine number such as yours.

More specifically to your car, there should be no visible welting between the gas tank & lower firewall, indicating in the least your tank has been out of the car. Could it have been changed during a restoration or over 90 years ??

That gas tank date is when it passed inspection and was ready to be installed in a body. With exceptions, usually that gas tank date is very close to the engine number = build date.

All that said, remember the first rule of the old car hobby. Every car has a story and if yours doesn't, make one up. Enjoy
 
I have a thin strip of cork between mine. I put it there on purpose when I put my car together.
 
Thanks jb-ob, that is good information. My car has been in the family for +50 years and when it was purchased it was “original”, there were a few things done to it but I don’t believe the tank was changed. I was a little suprised the dates were so different, I guess I have a mystery on my hands.
 
I agree with Jim (jb-ob) that there shouldn't be any cork material between the firewall and the gas tank. On the cars I have restored, I use contact cement and glue friction tape between the sides and front of the cowl and gas tank to eliminate any squeaks. The friction tape can't be seen once installed, as it is very thin.
Rusty Nelson
 
KMBeers said:
I posted this in another thread and I did not want to hijack the other persons post so I am reposting it here…. My car is a 1929 Tudor 55-A with a car and engine serial number A163xxxx which is May 1929. I did find the date on the bottom corner of the fuel tank, just next to the firewall, 12-23-28. I haven’t sen any documents on how long parts “hung” around the plant but there is a pretty big difference between the motor date and the date on the fuel tank. Is this difference normal? Is the fuel tank a place all of the cars are marked?
Click to expand...


If you are interested in getting deep into the weeds on precisely dating the production of your gas tank, Steve Plucker has written an excellent deep dive scientific research paper titled "EVOLUTION OF THE 1928-1929 MODEL A/AA FORD GAS TANK", where he documents the various minor changes in the gas tank and when they occurred. You can read his research paper at this link: http://www.plucks329s.org/pdf/gastank/Evo28_29gas_tank.pdf

Brad in Maryland
 
As stated earlier my car has been in the family for +50 years. It was on my wife’s side and was restored by them in the 80’s as a driver. I believe the cork material folks are seeing is the A-9299-S anti squeak material as supplied by some of the vendors. I have all of the receipts for the restoration so I will dig in and check what was purchased.

Brad, thanks for the link to the Plucker document, lots of good information there. In the Plucker doc it states the tanks were stamped at the Factory after testing and before body paint. At least now I know where the date comes from. Seems the age of the engine and frame date (which are the same) are months later than the fuel tank. Still seems like a long time due to the production rate if you consider in those months there were +300k bodies and engines made to meet production. Unless I am missing something I have somewhat of a mystery in my car. Perhaps there was an issue that pulled the car off the line delaying things?
 
50 years ago puts the back date in 1974 or so. That is still 35 years approximately from manufacture. Corrosion and the cracking of the steering wheel mounting area were as common then as it is now. A person can push the fudge factor only so far. The reality is that there wouldn't be much long term pigeon holing of parts even with assembly at branch plants that were half way across the country from Dearborn. Car parts that shipped from the Rouge were by the train load and it would only take a week at most for parts to reach even as far as California. The rail cars had to be unloaded quickly at the rail head so the parts didn't set around long. They would immediately be positioned for feeding the assembly line no mater where they went. In 1930 and 31 the depression finally started taking affect but that would be later than an earlier tank.

I won't say it couldn't happen but the chances are slim that parts would set around for two or more months. The production rate was too high in 1928 and 29.
 
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