Strange Cowl

[Jim1930]

I have this spare cowl I was going to use on my 30 town sedan restoration here in Australia, but I have since decided against it due to the beltline moulding being a single curve and therefore different to the 30/31 type. However there are a number of other things that I find strange about this cowl.

I'm just wondering if anyone has seen one before and what vehicle it could be off, The only thing I was thinking is that because of its somewhat rugged design, and the fact it has stud holes that it could be off a comercial vehicle of some kind. It may be local Australian coachbuilt item, I really have no idea.

It is in every way (to me) a 30 cowl, it fits my 30 town sedan, everything lines up including hinges, dash panel etc BUT these things throw me:
The belt line moulding pattern
The pillers are solid wood from the base of the cowl to the header with sheet metal wrapped around them (rather than a steel skeleton on the original cowl)
The pillars have stud holes on the outside indicating that this may have been off a vehicle that had canvas windows.
The main difference is that the crossmember that the fuel tank normally sits on (and the dash screws into) and the garnish/filler that sits on top of the fuel tank at the bottom of the windshield are the same piece: a piece of solid wood wrapped in sheet metal. The only way to get the fuel tank in and out is to insert it up underneath from the back, but over time this splits the metal where the cowl meets the pillar and fuel tank as theses pieces are welded together. The fuel tank still sits on top of the firewall at the front, but at the back it is screwed up (not on) into the piece of wood. The wood header screws directly into the pillars (there is no steel bar atop the pillars as on a all steel cowl.)

I don't have a clear photo of the cowl with the fuel tank in place, I'll take one later of how it screws up.

In the photos the cowl in question is the green one, and is now stripped to bare metal. The blue/white/rusted cowl is the all steel 30 cowl of my car. The visor is off the blue cowl, I was seeing if it fit the green one and it does.

Jim.

 

[1931 flamingo]

There was a posting a while (quite a while) about this and I believe it was on a 29 that had a cowl like a 30, I remember seeing pictures also. It was a two man job and took quite a while if I remember correctly.
Hope this helps and someone else will chime in I'm sure.
Paul in CT

 

[lookin-backtexas]

There was a posting a while (quite a while) about this and I believe it was on a 29 that had a cowl like a 30, I remember seeing pictures also. It was a two man job and took quite a while if I remember correctly.
Hope this helps and someone else will chime in I'm sure.
Paul in CT

Paul, I believe you are right, it's a '28-'29 Fordoor cowl. The Fordoors were unlike other Model A's in '29 because they didn't have the early style door pillars and the "smoothness" of the sides hinted at the styling coming later in the 1930-31 models.

Below are a couple of side-by-side photos for comparison showing the smooth sides of the cowl area on the Fordoor compared to the other Model A cowls that year. Also photos of the complete cars for better perspective.

The hood on a '28-'29 Fordoor was also different than the other body styles; it had a raised bead running horizontal to the ground and carried the body bead forward across the side of the hood. Compare the hoods in the two photos below.

Fred

 

[James Rogers]

The thing is with the 29 fordor the cowl top was part of the whole cowl. The gas tank, which was a normal 28/29 style, went in from the inside and all of it that showed was the filler neck and the front of the tank. I have not seen one like this. I don't believe it is a 29 fordor or cabriolet cowl which shared similar construction.

 

[James Rogers]

BTW, Jim what year is your CJ2A? I have a 46 and love the flat fender jeeps.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

The 28-29 fordor cowl had a concealed tank. The gas tank was mounted under the top of the cowl . The cowl pictured uses the common 30-31 style tank that is not concealed.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Paul, I believe you are right, it's a '28-'29 Fordoor cowl. The Fordoors were unlike other Model A's in '29 because they didn't have the early style door pillars and the "smoothness" of the sides hinted at the styling coming later in the 1930-31 models.

Below are a couple of side-by-side photos for comparison showing the smooth sides of the cowl area on the Fordoor compared to the other Model A cowls that year. Also photos of the complete cars for better perspective.

The hood on a '28-'29 Fordoor was also different than the other body styles; it had a raised bead running horizontal to the ground and carried the body bead forward across the side of the hood. Compare the hoods in the two photos below.

Fred

The belt line is still different;

 

[Purdy Swoft]

The belt line on the strange cowl is similar to the 30-31 roadster and phaeton.

 

[Roadster62]

Could this be a 30-31 commercial cowl? The windsheild posts look taller to me. Bob

 

[Jim1930]

The belt line on the strange cowl is similar to the 30-31 roadster and phaeton.

This was my thought as well, its so similar to normal cowls yet so different.
I should clarify, the fuel tank that came out of the strange cowl is a 1930/31 type tank, it is identical to the one I took out of the normal cowl, and they interchange. The 1929 cowls that insert the tank from below normally have a removable portion of the firewall don't they? or is that a different type again. The firewall on this is the normal 1 piece.

James, the jeep is a 1943 Ford GPW, my father and I restored it and the Ford CMP truck behind it (we have a Ford theme going). Both vehicles are ex Australian Army, used during WW2, and sold post war to the public. Both came off farms. The photo is my fathers shed, I still live at home while I'm saving to buy a house, I'm 25, buying and restoring the Model A is not a great way to save money but it is a lot of fun

 

[Purdy Swoft]

There is a narrow removable panel in the firewall of the 28-29 fordor, town sedan, town car and the convertable cabriolet cowls. Other than being a RHD cowl and having different belt molding, the strange cowl looks like a 30-31 cowl, to me.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

After a close second look, I can see what you mean, the windshield posts look taller than passenger car posts. It could be some type commercial panel truck cowl.

 

[Tudortomnz]

That is a 1930'31 cowl. I do not know why someone would call it a '28 '29 Briggs. The only model sold with this cowl in Australia was the Briggs Fabric Fordors.
The first pic does look a commercial but the other pics , a bit confusing. Ford Australia built some commercials in the '30 '31 style[ most were '28 '29's even after this period] which could have used a wood framed pillar eg. the Geelong design Panel Van.
I would ask local model A guys what they think it is from as this is all Ford Australia stuff.