1931 Radiator shell Painted inserts

H

HS

Senior Member
I'm working on my 1931 Woody Wagon, Question, on the Painted inserts at the top and Bottow of the Radiator shell. Most 1931s that I see, have Body Color painted in the top insert and the Bottom/lower insert is painted black . The Standars say that both the top and Bottom may be painted body color.

I have not seen that many painted with both (top and Bottom) Body color,

Does anyone know if Station wagons were ever painted both top and Bottom Radiator inserts Manila Brown/body Color?

Thanks in advance,
HS
 
RG&JS Section 15 page 15-8 Revised 1997

RADIATOR SHELL
The 1928-29 radiator shell (except commercial) was
bright nickel plated. From October through December
1929, some were chrome plated. The 1928 shell had a
round, raised area for the crank hole cover. In 1929,
the raised portion was blended downward into the
bottom of the shell. The early crank hole cover had a
vertical finger grip on the lower portion. In January
1930, this was changed to a dumbbell shaped grip
centered on the cover that continued to the end of
production. The rivet securing the cover was nickel
plated. In March 1929, the holes in the radiator shell
were increased from 13/16" to 15/16" to accommodate
the conduits for the "TWOLITE" head lamp.



In 1930, the passenger car radiator shell was changed
to stainless steel with a black painted steel panel in the
lower section. With the introduction of the Victoria in
November 1930, the upper section became a steel
insert. A later design had a similar painted insert at the
bottom. Both designs were used with 1931 cars. The
upper panel was painted the lower body color, while
the lower panel was either black or the lower body
color.
 
Hasn't some thoughts been added since then that the belief is that only the upscale Deluxe vehicles actually had the lower panel painted body color? In other words, only the 68C, the 400A, etc. would have seen that, --and even then only a portion of them?? I have been told it is even questionable if the 180A or the 40B's had body colored lower panels on the shell. I would think the 150B would have been down lower on the 'pecking order' and would have likely only seen the black inset.
 
Hi Brent,
This is Hugh S 10-4
The kicker is , my 150B Is and early wagon in Jan 1931

Thanks, Hugh
 
The radiator shell that was on my late 1931 Deluxe Tudor (probably early July 1931 build) that was fairly unmolested had both panels painted body color. No cracks in the stainless either. :)

Ray
 
Since the shell on my Radiator when I bought it was a '30 rather than a '31 (Yes, it's a car shell), it only has the lower panel painted. But whatever paint the PO used doesn't stick real well to the stainless shell. Most of it has pealed off.
 
Last edited:
HS said:
Hi Brent,
This is Hugh S 10-4
The kicker is , my 150B Is and early wagon in Jan 1931

Thanks, Hugh
Click to expand...


Hi Mr. President! Good to see (???) you here. Call sometime when you wanna chat.


Arcieri said:
The radiator shell that was on my late 1931 Deluxe Tudor (probably early July 1931 build) that was fairly unmolested had both panels painted body color. No cracks in the stainless either. :)

Ray
Click to expand...

Ray, I forgot about the DeLuxe Tudor but I would think that bodystyle would have been a good candidate for a body colored lower panel. I have often wondered if they just had shells painted up in those colors, -or whether these were actually painted by the body vendor when the body was painted.
 
This was written by Chuck Christensen and material provided by Larry Sadosky

If you click 2 times on the picture you can read it better
 

Attachments

  • Scan_20150819.jpg
    Scan_20150819.jpg
    56.1 KB · Views: 122
Last edited:
The Victoria Bustle Newsletter
July, 2015 Volume 30, Issue 3
 
Last edited:
Victoria Radiator Shell ... and Script Emblem by Chuck Christensen

here is the article in a more legible form


I have heard many times that some of the first Victoria Coupes off the assembly lines had the 1930 style radiator shell, and I figure that this is probably true. Maybe that particular plant hadn't received the new style shell in time. But when was the new 1931 style shell available? U.S. Patent number 1,840,881, filed by Harold Blair of Ford Motor Company on May 6, 1930 and granted on January 12, 1932, covers this "four piece shell" we see on the 1931 models. Four pieces refers to the main shell, the bottom piece and the two painted inserts.

According to the Ford Motor Company Instruction & Assembly Change Letter #92 dated October 31, 1930, "A new design Radiator Shell is adopted for use on all Victoria Coupes, and is to be used on all other Deluxe Models starting no later than November 10, 1930. . .. It must be understood that all Victoria Coupes from the first must have this type of Radiator Shell assembled."

The Change Letter goes on to describe this new shell. "Instead of being entirely of Polished Rust less Steel, the new design Shells will have the upper and lower panels (wherein the name plate and starting crank hole cover are assembled) painted the same color as the body."

Instruction and Assembly Change Letter #103 dated January 29, 1931 states that the new design radiator shell is to be assembled on "all passenger types and the Deluxe Delivery, replacing the present one-piece rustles steel shell for production and service, when stocks are exhausted, (approximately February 5 ).

In addition to the change in the radiator shell design mentioned in the aforementioned Change Letter #92, it states; "The Name Plate is also redesigned so that the name "Ford", in script, and the groove around the name, are depressed. The word "Ford" and the groove will be painted at the Branches the same color as the body".


The change to having the emblems painted body color is also mentioned in the Ford Engineering Release dated May 5, 1930 for the Radiator Name Plate Assembly A-8212-B, "For use with A-R200- C (4 piece rad shell) released for models as noted. Note-Same as A-8212-Al except the background will not be enameled but painted by Ford to match body color."

I also have a copy of a Ford drawing of the newly designed name plate which indicates that the depressed Ford script and the groove around the edge is to be "primed by the supplier and will be painted by Ford. This name plate is to he assembled with the 4-piece designed Radiator Shell." The drawing doesn't have a readable date on it so we don't know when it was done.

From the information available it appears that the 1931 design radiator shell and name plate was in the works early in 1930 as Ford was preparing for introduction of the Victoria and possibly the deluxe models to help spur on sales. Obviously the Name Plate change to be painted Body color was changed at some later date prior to the Victoria being introduced.

Materials used for this article were provided by Larry Sadoski, with permission given for their use.
 
Last edited:
I wish Larry would come along and add his thoughts to this article telling first-hand of his research because what I am reading above seems confusing to me. Breaking it down, here is the jest I am reading. What am I missing?

On 10/30/31 it states that all Deluxe models are to have the new style grille installed. In addition it states that ALL Deluxe models are to have the upper & lower sections painted body color.

It speaks of the ER stating that the emblem script will be of body color also. It states that back in May of 1930 that this would be protocol. Again, is this only speaking of Deluxe models --or the Victoria Coupe? Why not the 400A or the 68C too?? Is there any ACLs or ERs that supersede that May ER or the January change letter???

Next, I think what I am reading is that the January '31 ACL mandated that all passenger vehicles & the Deluxe Delivery would use body-color painted inserts. I am pretty sure THAT never happened as I have seen more than several original shells retaining original paint that were not body color on the bottom nor was the script painted body color. Thoughts???
 
While on the subject.

There were the two types of 31 shells.

The one with the removable upper part and the bottom was spot welded on as a whole unit.

Then the other type with the removable top and bottom inserts.

I wonder if the non-removable type bottoms were painted black with the top body color painted on the line with the car. While the removable top and bottom would be body color top and bottom since the bottom would not require the special mask jig???

All the shells I have are either not discernable or have a black bottom. The couple of removable bottoms I have have no paint left.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top