Hood Type - 3 Swing Out Side Vents

V

Vic in E-TN

Well-known member
For the first time in a long time I have seen a '30 hood with the side 3 swing out vents. What is the reason for these and the possible source? How common are these and how useful and possible value? I like the way they look.


Vic
 
Doors in the hood side panels mimic the Chevrolet's hood. The hood for the Model "A" is an aftermarket accessory that is made by Rootlieb. The doors function the same as the stock hood louvers do, they let air flow out of the engine compartment.
 
I was looking up what years Chevy made those vented hoods (1932/33) and I found this interesting factoid in an article about the reason so few Chevys survived relative to Fords:

"The V-8 was the big attraction, but Ford had also switched to all-steel construction some years before, while Chevrolet still used wood and steel framing... Worse than the wood rot, though, was the parts supply in the Thirties. “Mr. Ford would not let his dealers return parts, and GM had a parts return plan,” Pinky said. So by the time you needed a new intake manifold, the dealer had cleaned out his old stock, while the Ford shop still had it on the shelf."

So in those crucial years when a lot of Model As were being preserved as farm trucks or beater hand-me-downs for high schoolers, Chevys from the same era were being scrapped because you couldn't get parts for them.
 
Hello a long time Buick service manager told me about GM giving dealers credit for older parts, as mentioned, so another reason Fords survived longer .GM would give credit on newer parts, say in 1950 take 1940 fender against the current model year fenders,GM was never too concerned about previous models rather sell you a new car .
 
alexiskai said:
...... “Mr. Ford would not let his dealers return parts, ....... while the Ford shop still had it on the shelf."
Click to expand...


When I was a kid we'd visit my dad's aunt and uncle on their farm in MI. We'd play on the old Fordson tractor in the barn.
My dad said it had been a bad deal. The parts were hard to get. Henry was so busy selling new tractors that the replacement parts were hard to come by.
 
There is an excellent book about the tractor wars in the early part of the 20th Century. A friend pressed a copy of it on me 10 years ago, so I dutifully waded through it as an act of friendship (I couldn't care less about tractors). I don't recall the title. It may actually have been "The Tractor Wars". The background history of the major tractor brand names we all know was given and the fierce competition between the tractor makes was discussed in great detail. Lots of manufacturing casualties along the way. Naturally, the Fordson tractor was included - and with not too many complimentary remarks. I never realized what a dogfight existed between the various tractor kings back then.
If someone is really interested in reading this book, I can get the title from the widow of my friend, who was killed two years ago by a school bus while he was legally in a street crosswalk. Anyway, I'm sure the book is still in his widow's possession. But be forewarned - if you are a dedicated Ford fanatic, you might be disappointed how poorly Henry fared in the author's opinion, both from questionable business ethics and from a below par product in the Fordson tractor ("Ford's Son", meaning Edsel. Get it?)
Marshall
 
WOW! Someone else read Tractor Wars! I read that one & one other like it, interesting but , like you, I'm not into tractors. As you say some interesting stuff & another facet of our American history. No, I won't be reading it again.
 
"No, I won't be reading it again."

That makes two of us. The ONLY reason I "plowed" through this book was because my friend was a gentleman farmer and had a small collection of antique tractors. He also asked me to find him a 1924 Model T Coupe in 2017, which I did. I figured that since he dipped his toes into MY hobby, I'd reciprocate and support HIS interest in old tractors.
The things we'll do just to keep a friend...
Marshall
 
Bob Bidonde said:
Doors in the hood side panels mimic the Chevrolet's hood. The hood for the Model "A" is an aftermarket accessory that is made by Rootlieb. The doors function the same as the stock hood louvers do, they let air flow out of the engine compartment.
Click to expand...

I think there was a comment by someone who had measured the airflow through the Model A louvers with the car driving that said something like the first several louvers actually drew outside air into the engine compartment and the last louvers had air flowing out. Sorry I can’t locate the thread.
 
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