Are My Cowl and Hood correct?

[Certimafied]

Hello Everybody and Happy 4th!

I joined the local MAFCA club early this year and have made fast friends with a couple of guys. I was hesitant to go at first to the club but have to say I extremely happy I did now.

Any how Ive had my new friends point out that something about my 28 Fordor cowl and hood doesn't seem right for it being a 1928. They pointed out that my Cowl doesn't have the recessed bit in the body work that runs down the cowl in front of the doors. It rather has the smooth cowl work from door to hood more like that of the 30/31 models. Ive looked into it some and have searched the forum and found a thread that seems to indicate that my cowl is correct for a 28 fordor and the difference they bring up is difference between a Tudor and fordor of the same year. However like anything with the internet that source I found may not be an accurate source.

Id like to ask some others if they could help clarify the cowl/hood situation. I included some photos of my car and the photo I found online that shows differences in years and body makers that I was drawing my conclusion from.

 

[Bill G]

28/29 Fordors did resemble the 30/31's. Yours is likely correct because I cannot conceive of a way a 30/31 could be retrofitted to a 28. It would not be easy.

 

[jb-ob]

No worries, looks the same as my October 1928 Briggs bodied Fordor.....same colors too.

Always be somewhat suspicious of self proclaimed authorities, they mean well, but generally fall short.

Enjoy your car.

 

[w.michael]

The ‘28 and ‘29 Fordors (and the ‘29 cabriolet) have a smooth or rounded cowl which resembles the ‘30-‘31 cars. All of the other ‘28-‘29 body styles have the squared off cowls at the door pillar. Your Fordor is just right!

W. Michael

 

[Keith True]

Also,the top of your gas tank is not the exposed body of the car like other A's.It is actually fitted up under that formed cowl panel.with a ring of padding where the gas filler neck pokes through.Lots of fun to wiggle out of there if you need to.

 

[Certimafied]

Ok, great !Thanks for the clarification you guys!

jb-ob that was my exact thought when asking the question. The internet is great as long as sources are good. And me being new to model a's I know that I know just enough to know I don't know enough! Haha

Keith I hope I don't have to mess with the fuel tank any time soon!

Thanks again you guys. It didnt really matter to me, heck I didnt notice it until yesterday Ive had it for a couple years now.

 

[CHuDWah]

I'm surprised MAFCA members don't know 28-29 Fordor cowls are different from other body styles - wonder what they'd say about the early-28 with the vent in the cowl?

I had an early-30 with the oval speedometer (before the mid-year change to round) - "experts" told me it was a 28-29 tank! Course, they also told me the glass sediment bowl was incorrect (it wasn't).

 

[CHuDWah]

The ‘28 and ‘29 Fordors (and the ‘29 cabriolet) have a smooth or rounded cowl which resembles the ‘30-‘31 cars. All of the other ‘28-‘29 body styles have the squared off cowls at the door pillar. Your Fordor is just right!

W. Michael

And just to complicate matters ...

The Town Car, which has four doors, has the smooth cowl but the taxi, also four doors, has the raised "coupe pillar."

 

[Y-Blockhead]

I'm surprised MAFCA members don't know 28-29 Fordor cowls are different from other body styles - wonder what they'd say about the early-28 with the vent in the cowl?

That surprises me also. The doors are the same on all four years of Fordors also, as long as you are matching Briggs with Briggs and Murreys with Murreys.

 

[Bill G]

That surprises me also. The doors are the same on all four years of Fordors also, as long as you are matching Briggs with Briggs and Murres with Murreys.

It's actually kind of a surprise to me that given Henry's tendency to standardize things that he would allow Murray and Briggs to vary on some things that were pretty standard on all the in-house built bodies. Another thing I have often wondered about is that Ford seems to have adopted that cowl style for all of 30/31. Maybe he was getting push-back that the Ford designed cowl and A pillar resembled too much the 27 T.

 

[rotorwrench]

Briggs and Murray were the subcontractors that built most Fordor models. They both were limited on metal forming capability so they still used a lot of wood for the body structure. This affected the cowl structure and even the windshield as well as a lot of other parts of the bodies.

 

[Will N]

The only 4 door body style in 28/29 that has the coupe pillars in the cowl like all the other 28/29 bodies is the taxi cab.

 

[SAXBY2]

Perhaps purchase the Ford Model A book by De Angeles ,Henry ,Francis. A great resource showing photos for each year and tech./ info.

 

[rotorwrench]

The Taxi Cab body started production in late 1928 as a 29 model. Briggs was the only manufacturer to make them for Ford. They used the Tudor/Coupe front section and the Town Sedan body for the rear section. There is only one front seat since they needed room for a rear facing jump seat in the back section behind the separator wall & glass plus the big meter next to the driver. With two other companies purchasing Ford chassis' to build their own cabs, Ford came to the conclusion that it was not a big seller. They only completed and sold 5,354 of these cars from January 1929 to February 1930.

 

[frank55a]

Hello Everybody and Happy 4th!

I joined the local MAFCA club early this year and have made fast friends with a couple of guys. I was hesitant to go at first to the club but have to say I extremely happy I did now.

Any how Ive had my new friends point out that something about my 28 Fordor cowl and hood doesn't seem right for it being a 1928. They pointed out that my Cowl doesn't have the recessed bit in the body work that runs down the cowl in front of the doors. It rather has the smooth cowl work from door to hood more like that of the 30/31 models. Ive looked into it some and have searched the forum and found a thread that seems to indicate that my cowl is correct for a 28 fordor and the difference they bring up is difference between a Tudor and fordor of the same year. However like anything with the internet that source I found may not be an accurate source.

Id like to ask some others if they could help clarify the cowl/hood situation. I included some photos of my car and the photo I found online that shows differences in years and body makers that I was drawing my conclusion from.

Your internet source is correct. You have what appears to be a nice looking later 28 or early 29 Briggs Fordor. I have included a few factory photos of 28 and 29 Fordors. The first 4 are 28, 5-7 are 29, and the last 4 are 30. Notice the tops of the door windows, the flat tops are Briggs bodies while the ones with the slight arch (that resemble an "m") are Murry. The photos with the cowl vent are early 28s. While the 28/29 Fordor cowl does resemble the 30/31 cowl, the hoods are much different.

 

[katy]

Are the cowl lights mounting brackets correct for a 1928?

 

[Certimafied]

Thanks for all the info guys. Sounds like my car is correct for a late 28 Briggs fordor! It looks like the sun visor also went through some changes through the years.

Frank55a thanks for the compliment and the photos. Helps me to clarify better!

katy I've had someone comment on the cowl lights as well, wondering if they were correct for the year. That I couldn't answer either!

 

[rotorwrench]

Cowl lights were an accessory in that time frame. There were two types that come to mind. The real early types were different than the later types that were common to the 28/29 Fords. The early types attached to the A pillar of the Tudor/Coupe. The most common type attached to a metal reinforcement frame that is bolted in with the standard model A fuel tank & lower cowl panel. The Briggs and Murray fordor sedans used wood supports in the cowl. I've never seen the type that are on the OP's car. All I can say though is that they are definitely not common but I don't know where that design came from or how popular it may have been.

 

[Dick Carne]

I may stand corrected, but my understanding was that all body components of the taxi were unique to that particular body style. All doors and the rear body section, only had a single raised panel around the belt line, similar to that of the 28-29 coupe and tudor.

 

[jb-ob]

The only Ford offered with cowl lamps in 1928 was the late Town Car.

Your cowl lamps are very unique era accessories, something you should be proud to have on the car