Hood and Grille Shell as well as a few other minute details I'd think. 33 had one handle on the hood and '34 had two.
'34 has the pocket at the back of the window opening so that the window can go back first before it goes down, creating a sort of vent window.
The interior door handle is in the middle on one year and to the front on the other year....I forget which is which. Also, the '34, when the window came back a little, that was for the smokers.
33's have smooth inner fender wells, 34's have 3 beads that form a "V" shape. Although I understand some late 33's had them as well.
There's about 65 difference, although some are very minor. Starting at the front, the '33 bumpers have bolts that are 22" apart, '34's are 26. The '33 grilles are finer framed and curved as are the hood louvers. The '33 hood tops have a raised bead at the front. The '33 front fenders and inner fenders have a poker chip sized recess on the edge that fit together, the '34 doesn't have this. The '33 headlights and cowl lights are slightly more bullet shaped. The '33 hood latch has only one handle and the recess in the firewall is different shape than a '34. The '34 has notches in the firewall to hold the hood when it is open, the '33 doesn't. The '33 cowl vent has no screening, the '34 does. The '33 dash has a removeable instrument panel section, the '34 doesn't. The '33 ashtray has a hinged lid. The early '33 inner door handles are mounted close to the front and have a looped ring door pull. The '34 doors have a vertical bar to accommodate the vent window operation that the '33 doesn't have. The '33 door lock is the same as a '32, while the '34 is different. There's lots of other minor differences, but those are the most significant that I can remember at the moment. Bill
Bill covered it damn good... Formed into the cowl there are two beads to support the hood lace. On a 33 the beads are continuous on a 34 they are interrupted at the screw holes. Smokey
The sheetmetal and interior differences have been covered well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but werent 33 sun visors like a 32 in that they only hinged down, whereas 34 they hinged down and pivoted so that they could be moved to shade the door window as well? There are also several differences in the ch***is: - 33 front crossmember and radiator mounting brackets are different than 34 which were substancially "beefed up." - 33 front shocks were mounted inside the frame, 34 on the outside. For both years the rears are mounted inside. - 33 pedals mount with 3 bolts, 34 pedals mount with 5 and the pedal shaft is about an inch higher and the pedals themselves are about an inch shorter. - 33 spring leaves are tapered at the ends, 34 are cut straight. - Early 33 steering gear ratio was 13:1 (like 32), later 33 and all 34 was 15:1. - I believe the styling of the front brake backing plates are different between the two years as well? - 33 engine used the single throat Detroit Lubricator carburetor (like 32), 34 used dual throat Stromberg "97" carburetor. There are some other engine differences that I can't recall. My Dad has had several '34 Fords over the years that have interesting "transitional" features. His roadster has smooth rear wheel wells. His Sedan Delivery had the forward mounted inner door handles like 33, yet had the correct '34 rope door pull. His 5W was built in November 33 and featured many 33 items such as: - Inside mounted front shocks - Narrower front bumper bolt spacing - Longer headlight and cowl light buckets - Forward position inner door handles - Dashboard with seperate instument panel, although the panel was flat and woodgrained like a normal 34 would be It's amazing how many differences there are for how similar the two years are. it also goes to show that Ford didn't let anything go to waste!
33 radiator has pocket built into the upright supports to hold the hood corners when the hood is open, 34 hood sat on a indentation on the cowl lip. 33 and early 34 doors, the inner door handle is forward, late 34 inner handle is middle of door. 34 cowl has an upside down crescent punched in the cowl side for the hood latch, 33 had a single round hole. There are major differences in the header panel where visor would mount.
34 inside door garnishes are slightly different than 33's, to accomodate the 34 "rollback" feature. Also, a few very early 33's came with "skirtless" fenders (much like 32's the had no skirt following the whellwell opening).
Both the 33 and 34 are very desireable....but I have always thought it is best not to mix the parts that are different (like the hood). Keep it a 33 or 34, not some combination of the two years.
I beleive the instrument cluster on a 33 is engine turned and not on 34, also there are chicken tracks in the rear wheel wells on 34
I put 33 hood sides on my 34 5w. They are one inch longer at the top where they meet the grille. Hood latching is different but can be made to work. As to which year is better is a personal choice, I like them both.
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDo***ent> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <wunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDo***ent> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> This is a wonderful opinion. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone. Lopezz.
Isn't there also a difference on how the door hinges attach to the B-pillar? On 33 they go "inside" the pillar, and on 34 they mount on the outside. To make things even more confusing, my 34 Cabriolet have a 33 style door hinge mounting and rear inner fenders and all the rest is like on a 34. Does anyone know why?
It's expensive but one of the best sources to learn all the differences between '33 and '34 Fords is Cliff Helling's book written for The Early Ford V-8 Club; https://www.earlyfordv8.org/store-product-item.cfm?id=37&pid=2
The Jalopy Journal
