1938 standard wheel pinstripe

38Tudor

38Tudor

Member
Is the 38 standard supposed to have a pinstripe around the wheel?
If so what's the correct placement?

I've heard if its a black car its supposed to have a Tacoma Cream stripe?

Any help would be appreciated.:)
 
Striped wheels in '38? Um, no.
In fact the standard models received black wheels regardless of body color. As an extra cost option, deluxe body colors could be had on your car as well as colored wheels. Still, NO stripes.
 
Early 1938 standard cars had a Tacoma cream stripe. This was replaced with the stainless trim in Jan. 1938. These cars also had the body color windshield frame and no horizontal grille stainless trim strips.
 
Gary in La. said:
Early 1938 standard cars had a Tacoma cream stripe. This was replaced with the stainless trim in Jan. 1938. These cars also had the body color windshield frame and no horizontal grille stainless trim strips.
Click to expand...

Gary, is there a way to determine what month the car was made?
Mine has the stainless so I now know its a later one.
 
There is no definitive way to determine the month of build. The closest that I know of would be to check the dates on the window bugs of original glass. These could also be several months off.
 
38Tudor said:
Gary, is there a way to determine what month the car was made?
Mine has the stainless so I now know its a later one.
Click to expand...
This is an age old question in regard to our old Fords. The simple answer is "NO".
You can however narrow it down a little. The serial number is nothing more than the original number applied to the transmission. The transmission was bolted to the engine and in turn this assembly was installed to a chassis. The number was subsequently transferred to the frame when the two were built up in to a vehicle. No telling how long that particular engine / transmission assembly sat around prior to being installed in to a vehicle. Typically not long. A week? A few weeks? A day? No one can say for certain.
Authentic glass dated in your car is another way to narrow it down. Obviously if you have April 1938 glass, your car could NOT have been built before April. However, if you car has January glass, it could in theory have been built ANY time after that date.
The fact that you have stainless trim and NOT a painted stripe narrows ity down a bit too. We do know that (if I recall correctly) the stripes were eliminated in favor of the stainless in January.
See? The best you can get is an "estimate"...
 
To give you an idea of the margin for error I just looked at my car to refresh my memory. It is an original 1938 standard with original glass, so it appears. All my windows are bugged "G" (July) with the exception of one quarter glass which is "I" (Sept) .
 
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