History 30/ 31 Model A differences?

OK early Ford experts are there any differences between the 1930 and 1931 Model A?

 

Yes there are a few. The main one ones that I know of are the grill shell is different. They will interchange but there are some differances. Also the late 31 has an indented firewall. Probably more that I do not know about

 

Radiator Shell...
1930 Smooth Upper and Lower Face
1931 Recessed Upper and Lower Face (Painted recess)

Splash Aprons
1930 Running board attached to splash apron
1931 Running board is separate from splash apron

These are the 2 major differences body wise that I follow...

Bodies to the best of my knowledge are identical.

Rich

 

Which body style ??, lots of differenes in 4 door bodys

later kb

 

'30 and '31 had different radiator shells and splash aprons. '30 Fordor had a straight windshield while the '31 was slanted. You can tell whether its a Briggs or a Murray by the door windows. The Briggs had a straight top window opening and the Murray had a arched window opening. There may be more differences that I am not aware of. Hope this helps.....

 

Yes there are some additional differences when you get into the 4 door sedan models.... Bodies were made by Briggs and Murry and supplied to Ford assembly plants.... My ref to bodies being the same were base on the coupe, tudor, roadster, Etc.

WHAT body style are you refering to????????

Rich

 

Poke around the site below for more info. Click on "read more" for pictures. '28 and '29 shared virtually the same styling ... '30 and '31 A's also use their own basic body styling (changed from 29/29) with different details as mentioned. You'd have to be really good to tell the difference between a '30 and 31' coupe, for example, by the body alone.

http://www.modelarestorers.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=93&Itemid=407

 

You kinda opened a can of worms with that question. As I restore Model A's, I would let you ask that question in my shop without more info......like which models you talking about mainly. Ryan would ream me a new one if I tried to list all the differences as it would take up so much band width.

 

I believe that the 31 is the only Model A Ford to have a silver emblem on the radiator shell.

 

http://www.mafca.com/whatyear.html

 

One difference (if the car has the correct parts) is that the splash aprons are one piece on 31's. On 30's there is a separation below the leading edge of the front doors. I've also heard that the Murray bodies have a lot more wood in them and less metal in the inner structure.

 

One more point, so many Model A's have survived that they did so by undergoing many repairs. Don't bet on the grill shell ... or the splashes. Even so-called "original, unrestored cars" have items that do not agree with the MARC/MAFCA Restoration/Judging Standards.

Do not be surprized at finding 28/29 items on a '31 ... happens all the time.

Trick is to be able to identify features that are highly unlikely to have been changed or swapped out. Plenty of bodies on different frames, etc., ...

(Should've asked what he's looking at ... )

 

Exactly. Who knows what you'd really find. For example, Ford used 3 different center front bumper clamps just in 1928, though the 30-31's theoretically used the identical piece(that was different from the others in 28/29. My favorite BTW, is the early 1928 clamp that says "Ford-Made in USA" so that's what you'll find on my '31.

 

Thanks for them. It may seem pedantic to some but I find it quite interesting. A Model A is still near the top of my wish list. One i did hear about, which may or may not be true is that the rear seat in '31 sedans was shortened for "increased legroom" but it could be balls.

 

Fortunately plenty of information is available. and the Model A is very well documented. There are a lot of cars and a lot of avid, well-informed owners.

The H.A.M.B. is an excellent reference as are two dedicated Model A sites, www.Ahooga.com and www.Fordbarn.com, with individual posters on those sites having their own sites full of Model A specific data.

 

One thing we noticed once on a roadster was the door jamb carried the body line and the other body did not. No idea which was what year, could of been 31 early.

 

On an early thirty the cowl band goes all the way to the bottom of the side cowl panel, after that the cowl band stops at the lower bead. Subsequently all the cowl patches that you can buy are the latter. If you want it to look like an early thirty you need to remove about an inch off the front of the bead.....

 

Many of the general rules for identification can be tricky. The 1928-29 phone booth pick-up was actually built into the 1930 model year. The 2-piece aprons on the 1930 vehicles ended in september of 1930, the 1931 style grill shell came on the Victoria's only initially. Early 1931 cars had the 1930 grille shell. The indented firewall did not show up until May of 1931. The wide bed pickup came out in May 31, and the all steel roof in August 1931. The seat risers in the pickups in 31 are different from early and late year trucks. I'm sure there are many more things. Basically, Ford used whatever existing stock they had on hand until it was used up and did many running changes.

 

The dash or instrument cluster on early 1930 is the same as a 28-29, late '30 and '31 hade the wide panel with ribs, this mand for two different gas tanks, then thete was the late '31 gas shutoff under the hood that called for a third gas tank. Radiator rod brackets on the cowl got reinforcement padsor backups late in 1930 I believe. Door hinges on some roadsters had mpre screws than others. The list goes on.........

 

Anyone know if a 28 briggs cowl is interchangable with the 28-31 coupe or tudor?

 

late 31 has Threaded dust cap on front hubs

 

How about this one. Is there any way to determine the difference between a 30 or 31 Vicky body only other than the firewall?

 

I don't believe any Fordor cowl is interchangeable with the Cupe/Tudor/Pickup bodies.

 

The firewall would only be an indicator of late 31 if it was indented, otherwise you wouldn't know 30 or 31.

 

What about a roll down rear window? Wasn't that a 1931 only option? I'm referring to coupes here... I know little about anything else.

 

The nose piece of the splash apron on early 30s is spot-welded to the front fenders.
The rear portion of the splash aprons is one-piece with the runningboards on early 30s.

 

I found fordor hinges are about an inch off from pickup, you can hang the fordor doors on a pickup cowl but they'll leave a gap over the top of the door. The doors themselves are the same length, though, so if you swapped the entire cowl with windshield frame and both doors, you might be able to make it work.

One other difference, pickup only, late 1931 pickups and AA trucks have an all steel top, no cloth insert.

 

Was it 31 or 32 that ford stopped overlapping the doors to the body and started the recessed door jam so the the body and doors where flush with each other?

 

My late 31 Model A coupe body did not have a front seat riser. The front seat was attached to tracks on the floor.

 

Wow! and I thought the only difference was the grill shell.