Blind back briggs,

Adam-had'em

Adam-had'em

Junior Member
Hello ford barn!
Just joined up not to long ago and after connecting to the community have located / purchased my first model A,
Most every man wants his car to be unique but my situation goes a little deeper then that, (primarily in the department of my own ignorance)
Here is the question.
I have a 1930 model A, two window 170b(blind back) early 30 deluxe (oval speedometer) original paint-full black, interior-green moe hair. Rear mount spare. Is it possible that car even existed? I am told the deluxe was not built till after April 1930, that seems to contradict what I see, the motor dates to November of 29, I believe it is all original wood interior and paint, the body has the rear splash shirt, (namely a deluxe feature? ) the car was barn kept for most of its life in Oregon and was kept 20years in a Arkansas barn and the last 10 outside. It is a hot rod rescue at this point as the man I got it from had paint brushed it candy apple red while waiting to build it,
This is a question of authenticity I am new to the model a and need a hand working this out, I am trying to be detailed (long winded) so multiple q and a can be partly avoided ,
Thanks for your time!
 
I have the same car, but my lower body is Maroon. The 'green' mohair is due to fading of the original color, but mohair interior is correct, and all black was available.
 
Thank you, as for the interior mohair, would that have been camel when new? I have planned to put that in,( original is to far gone) it actually was my plan to paint the lower body maroon, I wanna keep it very close to original, or at least make the trip back to original very easy. Did the two-tone maroon lower body cover the entire hood or just the louver panels?
 
Lower body paint would be for the whole hood. Then the horizontal ridge running along the bottom edge of the top halves, this raised portion would be black, or upper body color.

Part of the belt molding
 
It's hard to say if the engine is original to the car or not. Do keep in mind that your car could have a build date as much as 3 to 4 months after the engine was stamped depending upon which plant it was assembled in. Engines were built and stamped at the Rouge plant in Dearborn, the body built, painted, and trimmed out at the Briggs plant, and the car assembled in any of the US plants.
 
Camel/Brown- yes I suspect so. My mohair has faded to a greenish hue, but in some areas more shaded from the sun it has stayed brown.
 
Welcome to the Barn! A fellow "Blindbacker" is always nice to see. k
According to the book The ford Model A as Henry Built it the interior for this car was offered in Brown Mohair or Bedford cloth. Also according to the book I am assuming that the '30 Blindback came into production late March or early April.
It says "production of the 1930 Standard two-window Fordor sedan was very short. On February 28, 1930, the Production Department ordered its replacement in production with a new body type to be know as a Deluxe Fordor, as soon as the existing stock was used up. This resulted in a production of 1,041 cars in March and only one in April for a total of 5,279 of this rare 1930 body".
Hope this helps a little! As to the motor number I would guess it is a replacement.
 
I had the same thought on the engine myself by date it barely fits the “original “ narrative. The reason I’m curious if it’s possible is because the car has only 2000 original miles and everything on it supports that as a Accurate reading, shocks all steel move, sheet metal is perfect fenders are uncracked interior was relatively un-worn and just dilapidated by age/moisture. Fairly sure the original top is still in the car…. I’m no expert but I know what is old and in relatively good shape… shackles seem OK. Transmission shifts very smoothly.. and the car starts up on the slightest tap. It just doesn’t fit the story or what I see for the motor to have been changed unless something went very wrong early on in the car‘s life. The owner “original owner” put an auto light heater on it for Oregon weather.
that is essentially the only modification before the The gentleman I bought it from did a tuneup
Also it has never been restored…. Just repaired.
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome,
Hope to be part of this community for a good long while!
 
Last question for this thread, Is there any way to know how many of these 30dux blindbacks were made by Briggs, or Murray? In the south the Briggs is uncommon but I have read in more then one place that Briggs made most of the bodies between the two?
 
Yes there are the figures for each year and model somewhere. I have a 29 blind back and I've noticed they'er kind of scarce. You see a lot more Town Sedans (3 window) than Blindbacks. Good luck with it!
Terry
 
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