Great Grandpas car ID

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2015: Great Grandpas car ID
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Corey Helweg on Monday, May 04, 2015 - 08:25 pm:

This is my Great Grandfathers car when new, my Great Grandmother in the back holding my Grandpa, and his sister standing with them and Great Uncle on the passenger running board. Can anyone figure the year of this car? Grandpa was born in 1918 so that is what I was thinkin but just not sure. Still have the farm where this was taken and remember the "car house" as they called it, before it was torn down, wish I was older and was able to grab some of the 'T' junk that was cleaned up and taken away.
Thanks,
Corey H.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Monday, May 04, 2015 - 09:12 pm:

That car is no earlier than a 1918 Model T Ford touring. I'm using the horn button on the steering column as a major clue.

Based on the shiny new condition of the car and the age (appears to be less than one year) of your great grandfather in the back seat, I would say that it is most likely a 1918 Ford, or possibly a 1919 Ford. If you gave us the exact birthdate, we could pinpoint it better.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker in Sumter SC on Monday, May 04, 2015 - 09:17 pm:

Corey,

I agree with Erik on the most likely dates. If you can provide a higher resolution photo (the one you posted is only 64mb and you can post up to 190ish mb, or if you can provide a higher resolution shot of the top bows and the wheels that should allow us to better date the car.

We can see the car has an above the axle wishbone that means it is an early 1919 or earlier Model T. Ref: which says: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/doc19.htm

APR 14, 1919 Acc. 235, Box 39, #385, Ford Archives
"From this date two distinct designs of front radius rods, together with front spring perches, right and left, one on the Model T and the other on Model TT.
"The Model TT design will be assembled beneath the axle, instead of above the axle through the spring perch as heretofore.
"Although it would be possible to use the Model T design on the Model TT, we request this be resorted to only in case of a shortage serious enough to threaten loss of production."


And it has the combination horn and light switch which was typical of the 1918 model year cars produced Aug 1917 to Jan 1919 ref: http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/1918.htm see model year and horn/light switch.

But I cannot tell what type of top bows it has. I would guess they are the rectangular top bows introduced with the 1918 cars also.

Based on what I can see I believe it would most likely be a 1918 or early 1919 model year car – approximately Aug 1917 to May or so 1919. In the slim chance it has oval top bows – it would be a very early 1918.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Corey Helweg on Monday, May 04, 2015 - 09:59 pm:

July 1918, I'm trying to get a larger picture up but proving difficult as the original is only about 2x3. I have a running chassis with no sheet metal and would like to duplicate this car as close as possible, I believe the motor serial number is 1924.Thanks for the answers so far.
Corey H


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker in Sumter SC on Tuesday, May 05, 2015 - 06:47 am:

Corey,

Your Grandpa's birth date of Jul 1918 also fits well with that same dating. And of course how well they kept the car up would make it look newer or older etc. When I was growing up, my Dad's cars always looked much nicer than a neighbor's car down the street even though the neighbor’s car was newer. Dad liked to keep the car looking good and for the neighbor -- how the car looked was not a priority. Not a right or wrong just different.

Concerning your small photo -- I carried a similar size photo of my folks in my billfold for years. It also was small so it would fit in the wallet. And it developed more and more wrinkles etc. over the years. I’ve posted it before and below is a low resolution version of the photo (note it also is a 1918 – in this case a May 1918, Beaudett body, with a few accessories, and later demountable rims on the front so all the tires are the same size, Mom & Dad in the front seat with my older sister, my Mom’s parents in the back seat, I’m not in the photo – they said I wasn’t born yet, but I’ve often wondered if it was because I took the picture). Below is a compressed 73kb version of that photo.



And below is a Zoomed in shot of the license plate at that same 73kb resolution:



But at a higher resolution the same photo that was scanned at 300 dpi provides some additional details that I cannot make out when it is at the lower resolution or when compressed so it will post on the forum.



Note we can now easily make out the date in the upper right hand corner of the license tag as “50” for a 1950 Texas tag. No it won’t make black objects in the dark shadows visible, but it really helps with details that were captured by the camera but not easily seen at the lower resolution.

If you have a chance, please scan your photo or ask a friend to scan it a 300 dpi or even a little higher 400 dpi and e-mail me a copy. You can click on my name at the beginning of my posting and it brings up my profile. My e-mail address is the third line down.

For creating a similar car, any 1917-1922 black touring with the two man top and straight windshield will work. For that matter, most folks don’t see much of a difference between the 1923-1925 slant windshield cars with the one man top, when the top is down. And if you want to get closer, using a 1917-1920 touring body with the wide arm rest, 5 piece rear seat tub, would give you even more of the same details. The cowl lights indicate the car was NOT equipped with a starter, which for a 1918 model year – none of them had a start. But even as late as the early 1926 model year cars – if they were not equipped with a starter & generator they came with the oil side lamps and tail lamp.

Note if your chassis is a 1924 with the higher radiator that also came with the 1924 cars (continued to 1927) you will need to be sure to collect the parts (body, hood, radiator, etc.) so they will line up properly (i.e. low radiator with low radiator hood & body or high radiator with high hood and body). While the 1924-25 bodies will fit on the 1917-1923 chassis [and also the 1909-1925 chassis] – the hood will not line up properly with the earlier radiators. It would be even easier to replicate if you can located a 1918-1920 car. They are relatively easy to come by compared to some of the earlier ones. And for that matter if you are patient, you will see 1918 - 1919 cars coming up for sale from projects to fully restored.

Good luck with your project, and have fun. That is why it is called a hobby.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Larry Smith on Tuesday, May 05, 2015 - 11:29 am:

It appears quite a few Fords of that period came with white wall tires.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Barker - Dayton, OH on Tuesday, May 05, 2015 - 03:16 pm:

Larry - Those may be gray tires that have mud/dirt on them from the barnyard. Looks like the ground may be a bit damp.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 01:24 pm:

It's the standard type of tires that likely all Fords got from new from about 1916 through the 1923 model year. WW1 rubber import troubles gave the tire manufacturers a reason to experiment with filler materials and they found carbon black that not only was cheaper than rubber but also gave the rubber much better wear characteristics when mixed in. But there were no reason to mix it in the rubber in the sides, so only the wear surface got the black mixed rubber. Thus the tires looked like they had white sides but it would be more correct to say they had a black thread area. Photo technique at the time was bad at catching colors in rubber so you have to look close to see the parting line between black and natural colored rubber in most era photos, but this photo shows it well for some reason? Only difference during the years was that the tires got threaded - about 1917 for the rears, 1918(?) for the fronts.
The Rip van Winkle 1917 had smooth tires on the front wheels when photographed for Vintage Ford in 1978(?):

rip tire

And this picture with a 1924 and '23 style Ford side by side while they were still new dates the beginning of the all black era in tires:

24 and 23

And how comes the parting line between black and whitish natural rubber was so uneven?
Well, tires were produced like this back then - and the last layers put on in the middle were black rubber:

tire manufacturing


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Wednesday, May 06, 2015 - 02:38 pm:

A guy could forego an expensive gym membership with a job like that !


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration