Dovetails

flatheadfan

flatheadfan

Well-known member
I need a couple (left & right) off-set dovetails for a '36. Off-sets are getting hard to find as most repos are not off-set. However, they are being made for a Model A. Does anyone know if they will work on an early V8?

Thanks

Tom
 
Here's a typical dovetail and an offset dovetail. NOT FOR 36 PASSENGER
 

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I appologize to taking this thread on a slight turn. On a related issue; what do people use to rebuild the female part of this dovetail? I believe that I've seen the parts in Model A catalogues. How is the rubber and spring removed and replaced? The female section is NOT a screw on plate like some but an integral part of the "B" pillar on my 1936 Club Cabriolet.
I'd appreciate any help
Bruce/CT
 
Royal-

The pictures Don Rodgers posted give you an idea of what I am looking for. I have seen a factory variation of them on some '35 Fords. Evidently, they were used at the factory to correct alignment problems of doors. Supposedly, Murray bodies were more susceptible to door alignment problems than Briggs bodies. However, I have no direct knowledge supporting that fact. What I do know is they would be handy when dealing with 75+ year old cars especially open bodied cars, today.

Tom
 
My 36 Ford 5W Coupe has an offset dovetail on the drivers door and a centered dovetail on the passenger side. I found the difference when I was fitting the drivers door. Could not find an original and made one from a centered dovetail. Later I found an original one and it works fine. The location is a function of where it was installed in the body and the door does not effect the location.

Thanks
 
The Model A male dovetails, centered or offset are barely adequate on '32 closed cars where the raised V portion is longer than that of the Model A version and not at all adequate for nearly all post-32 model years' vehicles. One exception is the '33-'34 station wagon which uses dovetails carried over from the '32 model year.


Gary Tosel,

With respect, I cannot agree with your statement that the misalignment always occurred on the body and not on the doors. That suggests that the doors were always 100% perfect in this regard, which would put them on a pedestal apart from every other part of the car. Ford was and remains a human enterprise and humans make mistakes, even in the manufacture of doors.
 
With due respect to all, a Model A dovetail does not necessarily fit a Model A. There were at least 6 different male dovetails on different Model A body styles.


Several do directly interchange to 1932 and later.


B-76819-A or B, Common 2 hole Model A Coupe and Tudor, 1932-34 Roadster Pickup. (1938 Hardware & Trim, 1932 Ford Book p. A-11-7). This is the one that could be mistook for the 1932 open car or 1933-36 open car dovetails.



BB-336850-A, Model A Slant Windshield, 1932 School Bus BB-330 rear door.
(The 1938 Hardware and trim shows no longer supplied... supply B-46421). This is the wedge style that is obviously close to the 1932 closed car.



B-151428 1928-31 Station Wagon, 1932-34 Station Wagon.

I hope that separates the fly crap from the pepper.


Note that the wedge shaped dovetails 1932-36 closed and 1937-later have two offset versions, one "up" and one "down".
 
Not to hijack, but would anyone be kind enough to post dimensions of the B-151428 1928-34 Station Wagon dovetails?


Thanks
 
Karl,


Also with all due respect, I was referring to the available reproduction Model A closed car male dovetails, the Model A equivalent of the three B-46421 versions, which is not a renumbered Model A part nor has it been reproduced. I was not referring to all Model A male dovetails some of which were carried over, but far fetched for any '36 application with the not-to-close possible exception of the B-35582 versions for phaetons and roadsters nor to all '32 male dovetails, just the B-46421 versions.


The base of B-151428 measures 3/4" x 1 5/8". The raised center is 5/16" thick and 5/8" high measured from the bottom of the base. The two countersunk 7/32" attachment holes are 1 1/16" apart on center. Approximately centered on each side of the raised portion is a 1/8" diameter hole for oiling the felt insert that was originally contained within the raised portion. (B-46421 male dovetails were used on the front doors of '33-'34 station wagons and two B-151428 dovetails per rear door.)
 
Would it be possible to repair a worn dovetail by welding and grinding to correct contour?
I think they are steel.
 
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