Re: Production months of the 1930 Closed Cab Pickup

Posted by Rick Black on August 30, 1997 at 01:10:08

In Reply to: Production months of the 1930 Closed Cab Pickup
posted by Ken Smith on August 29, 1997 at 21:27:06

I'll take some guesses to help you narrow down when your '30 Pickup was produced, but remember, only guesses.

We also have to assume your car has never been apart!The engine may have been replaced; that's okay (a lot were), but I'm going to assume things like the firewall and gas tank are as they were when the truck was new.Also understand that when it came to trucks, the Ford assembly plant took some real liberties when putting them together.If it fit, they used it.Examples of '30 trucks with '29 features were common - Ford just used up old parts on the truck lines.

That being said, here we go:
A '30 Truck should have the two piece splash aprons.They could have also been used on early '31s (left over parts), but probably one piece '31-style aprons wouldn't have been on any trucks produced in '30.

If your instrument panel is ribbed, the gas tank would have been introduced in mid-1930.Actually, Ford produced the '29-style pickup well into May of 1930 before assembly branches were instructed to phase them out and prepare for newly designed bodies. The chances of an earlier instrument panel and oval speedometer are slim.

If your gas shut-off is inside the car and the firewall is flat where the gas line comes through, the vehicle was produced before April 1931 (when the indented firewalls were introduced.)

Radiator shells on most pickups were not rustless steel but were painted black.Again, all '30 and many early 1931's were of the "1930-style" with an insert panel only at the bottom and a blue Ford oval.

Perhaps your biggest clue is the identification number on the Ohio Title is MA40479992. If you take away the letter "M", you get A4 047 999 2 (the spaces are mine).Perhaps that's close to the original engine number. An engine starting with A4047.... would have been made in October 1930.Assuming it would take several weeks to find it's way into a chassis and you have December 1930.

You'll never know for sure until you take the body off the frame and remove the left runningboard splash apron.The original engine number was stamped on the frame.Knowing the original number will get you within 2-3 months of the actual assembly date (in most cases.)

Dave Sturges has been doing some research on body numbers, stamped into the floor cross members of bodies.His research appears on the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA) web siteand will soon appear in The Restorer Magazine.Feel free to contact him with any body numbers you find.




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