Gas Tank Date on Firewall question...

Steve Plucker

Steve Plucker

BANNED
For some of you who are not speciffically aware of or understand the gas tank dates on most May 1928-September 1929 gas tanks, could you please shed your thoughts on the following MARC/MAFCA Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards statement, Area 1, page 7, Revised 2011: "From mid 1928 through September 1929, the date of manufacture was stamped into the firewall on the left side".

What do you think that statement is telling you?

Are the Standards telling us that the date is the date of manufacture of the vehicle or the gas tank?

Pluck
 
Last edited:
When just the body with the gas tank was built up? My August '29 [motor/vin number] roadster has { 7 8 29} stamped on its gas tank.

Bob-A
 
Steve Plucker said:
For some of you who are not speciffically aware of or understand the gas tank dates on most May 1928-September 1929 gas tanks, could you please shed your thoughts on the following MARC/MAFCA Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards statement, Area 1, page 7, Revised 2011: "From mid 1928 through September 1929, the date of manufacture was stamped into the firewall on the left side".

What do you think that statement is telling you?

Pluck
Click to expand...


the date that the tank was MANUFACTURED.....NOT put in you car..when it was made!!! and then stamped in the front of the tank firewall side..:eek:
 
Is this not the date of assembly? That is what I was told,But I am new to this hobby.My car is dated 12-18-28. I thought this was the build date because of the three easy clues Red steering wheel, hand windshield wiper, & the squeeze grip parking brake lever
 
Well let's take this to the next level. Why do we suppose this dating was necessary? If the date stamping was just necessary for inventory purposes, why not just use a piece of chalk on the backside of the tank (between the tank and the backside of the firewall) and mark it there? How much (wasted) time was needed to punch this date stamp?

I have a theory but I would like to hear from others.
 
I have looked for this stamp on my tank several times, is it on a metal plate or dirrectly on the tank? I have a small plate tacked on the left side but there is nothing ledgable there either. Can someone post a pic?
 
Steve,
If I remember correctly the date was stamped on the tank to track the gas tanks in the field. Ford was testing welding processes on the tanks and wanted feedback on failures.
Tom
 
Steve Plucker said:
For some of you who are not speciffically aware of or understand the gas tank dates on most May 1928-September 1929 gas tanks, could you please shed your thoughts on the following MARC/MAFCA Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards statement, Area 1, page 7, Revised 2011: "From mid 1928 through September 1929, the date of manufacture was stamped into the firewall on the left side".

What do you think that statement is telling you?

:cool: My early 29 tank has no numbers on the inside left side cowl or on the left side on front of the tank, have checked it numerous times . so I think the statement is wrong ,may not always have it stamped .Mine is a SFA built sport coupe or my tank was replaced but showed no signs of that
Click to expand...
 
Lance,
According to Steve Plucker's website, the gas tanks dating stopped in the September time-frame. Since your car is an October 29, I probably wouldn't have a date stamp on the firewall. His website states his last recorded gas tank date is late August 1929. That doesn't mean there couldn't be some a little later, but he has a lot of data, so August/September is when the dating was stopped. Steve has done a lot of model A research - thanks Steve, if you are reading this.
Rusty Nelson
 
Steve,

Not sure if your question is about the tank, the stamping, or the way the sentence is written.

Being really OCD, that statement you quoted from the JS implies that the stamp is found on the firewall, and not the gas-tank.

?

SC Frank
 
I take this implies all of them were stamped during this time frame. I have found some afew during this time frame with no stamp. This seems to be mainly after April of 29, so not likely very many that were not stamped. Rod
 
Special Coupe Frank said:
Steve,

Not sure if your question is about the tank, the stamping, or the way the sentence is written.

Being really OCD, that statement you quoted from the JS implies that the stamp is found on the firewall, and not the gas-tank.

?

SC Frank
Click to expand...

Technically this is the firewall because there is a couple inch air space behind it, then the gas tank. This part of the firewall is however welded to the gas tank.
 
I'm guessing the date indicates when the tank/firewall was manufactured. At that time one man could stamp it. If it indicates date of car manufacture one person would have to backup the stamping inside the car and one do the stamping from the engine side. If it was for date of car completion it could be done on an accessible area of chases in the engine compartment by one person. Way more efficient for one to do it.
The date on my firewall is 6-13-29 and my engine number puts it "mid" June 1929 and I've heard 90 days was not uncommon to complete car assembly. In this case it could be either.
Just my two cents but I'd like to know what it real answer is.
 
My coupe is dated 6-17-29, engine is mid June also and matches the frame. I am wondering how long it took to get the stamped engine from the Rouge to the assembly plant to mount and stamp in the frame. I heard there were 45 assembly plants and the total output was roughly 7000 units/day. This was before computers, must have been a scheduling nightmare. I would assume the tanks were stamped before painting otherwise the paint would be chipped in stamping.
 
My 1929 Tudor has engine and frame number 1040640. Indicating from Steve's charts that the motor was built Feb 13 1929. The date on the upper left of the gas tank is 6 26 29. I have no idea why there is such a wide variation between these dates. Possibly the tank is a replacement. Another anomoly is that the tail light bracket is for the drum tail light. Numbers in front of the seat indicate that the car was built at TC the Twin Cities Plant. Many things could have happened to this car in the 84 years since it was built. I will probably never solve this mystery but I'd like to.
 
The Murray Fordor cowl I picked up last weekend has 5-10-29, lightly stamped. Did Ford install the tanks on the Fordor bodies Briggs and Murray supplied? This cowl is for a 60-C or later Fordor, it has the unique soldered on visor. Bob
 
walt jones said:
My 1929 Tudor has engine and frame number 1040640. Indicating from Steve's charts that the motor was built Feb 13 1929. The date on the upper left of the gas tank is 6 26 29. I have no idea why there is such a wide variation between these dates. Possibly the tank is a replacement. Another anomoly is that the tail light bracket is for the drum tail light. Numbers in front of the seat indicate that the car was built at TC the Twin Cities Plant. Many things could have happened to this car in the 84 years since it was built. I will probably never solve this mystery but I'd like to.
Click to expand...

I suspect someone replaced you gas tank.

However, Feb of '29 is not too late for a drum tail light.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top