Body to frame welting...

That's an interesting photo that Jim posted above - appears to be a very early chassis - even looks to have the straight side rails on the frame?
 
That's an interesting photo that Jim posted above - appears to be a very early chassis - even looks to have the straight side rails on the frame?

Good observation! Yes, the photo is essentially pre-production. Things were changing very rapidly "on the fly' at that time.
 
I believe that photo is much earlier in the process. Here's one from after Marco's photo..still no sign of welting....

Sure enough...I wish we could find a description of the 1930-31 assembly line like the one you found in the magazine for 1928...

Well, tomorrow night, I will have more photos and then we can convene the jury, maybe....
 
I have not studied this at all, but would it be possible that the 'frame' welting was actually pre-attached to the fender / running board prior to installation??

Just a thought!
 
I have not studied this at all, but would it be possible that the 'frame' welting was actually pre-attached to the fender / running board prior to installation??

Just a thought!

No. That would be far to difficult and time consuming. To do so they would have manufactured the webbing with some sort of "stick-um" on one side which they didn't. Also, try aligning them on the bottom of your fenders and shields and you will find it's not as easy as it sounds as there are only a few reference points for alignment.

Why go to all that trouble when you have gravity on your side and simply setting it down on the frame is simple. They weren't trying to slide the shields under the body as is commonly done during a restoration. They were lowering the entire fender and shield assembly straight down from above. If they were going to "stick" the webbing to anything it would have been the frame where alignment is obvious.
 
To further Marco's point, the anti squeak webbing that I have has pre cut holes that are oblong in pattern to fit over the holes where required fasteners were located. OK, now if the bolts that hold the running board aprons are installed with threaded side up, bolts and washers on top, how did the wood sills fit over that...were there holes drilled to clear those fasteners?
 
To further Marco's point, the anti squeak webbing that I have has pre cut holes that are oblong in pattern to fit over the holes where required fasteners were located. OK, now if the bolts that hold the running board aprons are installed with threaded side up, bolts and washers on top, how did the wood sills fit over that...were there holes drilled to clear those fasteners?

The running board shields were bolted to the frame with carriage bolts matching those that held the rear lamp bracket to the fender except with hex nuts. The bolts were inserted from the top.
 
Gary,

As I said in my post, there was no rear section until the aprons were changed in mid '28. My best guess is that when they transitioned to the later configuration they shortened the length of A-16540. And of course the "A" suffix wasn't used until the "B" version was introduced for the 1930 models.

The one thing that still confuses me is just why they chose to segment the anti-squeak at all. I've not yet found the logic in it.

It had to have been cost since much of the anti-squeak is sitting there on the top frame rail doing nothing, but I wonder if they glued it on during assembly to keep it on.
 
It had to have been cost since much of the anti-squeak is sitting there on the top frame rail doing nothing, but I wonder if they glued it on during assembly to keep it on.

The "glue" that was used was refered to was Aphaltum...This was a black, tar like substance that was heated to 185* and added to the anti-squeak strips. Not know if the strips were punched with holes first or not.

Pluck
 
16540
16541
16542
16543

16540-A is for 28-29 front fenders. 16540-B is longer as it extends to the front tip of the fender @ the apron. 16541 was introduced with the new running board aprons in mid '28. I think that answers all the questions that would have arose when looking them up.

That is true...only up to, according to the Part Releases, February 1928 when the length went from 55-1/2 inches to 43-1/2 inches and remaind the same throughout production, according to the drawings.

The only difference I can see from A-16540-A and A-16540-B is when Ford specified that the the "A" be the strip with "round" holes and the "B" was the "strip" with "elongated" holes. This change was implimented on October 15, 1929 according to the Part Releases.

Pluck
 
I am the second owner of a 28 AR convertible that I bought from the Ford mechanic that bought it new ,# 8149 .I can take a look at it and see what it has for webbing .It still has it's original spare tire ' seats ,top .and will never be restored
 
Does the welting on the 1932 Ford extend front the front fender through the fire wall to the rear of the gas tank in one continuous length?
 
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