Low radiator- high radiator production cutoff

[Dave Young]

I have a newly acquired 1924 Coupe and am having difficulty with the fit of its hood. The car is a "bitsa" and has a high rad and shell. The hood is a high hood, recently purchased by the previous owner, and it sits wrong.

The bottom of the hood overlaps the shell by a good 1-1/2" and sits away from the firewall as much. It looks like a low rad, shell and hood would be correct, but the Coupe's doors have the hinges at the front, not suicide. Were any 24's made that used low fronts?

[big2bird]

The cowl tells the story. Post a picture.

[Dave Young]

I will, tonight thanks.

[TRDxB2]

Here are pictures of firewalls , hoods and shells to help you figure out what you have.

[John kuehn]

If you Coupe has the cowl vent it’s at least a 24. The 24-25 Coupes look identical body wise.

[rickg]

my 24 Fordor had the same problem and we found that the frame was bent down at the motor mounts, check the squareness of the frame and it may fix your problem, it could also affect the door fit.

Rick

[Rich Eagle]

If it has a low cowl it was from an early Fordor. Part 17019ARX is listed for 1923 for the Fordor only. Later Fordors have 17019BRX (23-24) and 17019CX (24-25) listed. The Coupes have 17019BX (24) and 17019CX (24-25) listed. I'm not sure we can make any assumptions from that or if it is just the way it got listed. The Body Parts List is odd. It doesn't even list a cowl for the 24-25 Tudor. It shared the same BX and CX as the other two or BRX if you prefer.
I can find no evidence of the Coupe or Tudor having the low cowl.
Rich

[Tim Rogers]

All you need to know is where the wire harness comes through the firewall- above or below the terminal block? No need to worry about pictures or measurements.

[TRDxB2]

All you need to know is where the wire harness comes through the firewall- above or below the terminal block? No need to worry about pictures or measurements.

You left out what that would tell him with respect to the original question
"I have a newly acquired 1924 Coupe and am having difficulty with the fit of its hood. The car is a "bitsa" and has a high rad and shell. The hood is a high hood, recently purchased by the previous owner, and it sits wrong.
The bottom of the hood overlaps the shell by a good 1-1/2" and sits away from the firewall as much. It looks like a low rad, shell and hood would be correct, but the Coupe's doors have the hinges at the front, not suicide. Were any 24's made that used low fronts?"

[John kuehn]

24 Closed cars were all high cowl cars. The high cowl closed cars have the cowl vent which was an identifying feature for high cowl closed cars. If your car has a cowl vent it has a high cowl.

[Allan]

If the hood overlaps the shell, and is away from the cowl at the back, the radiator is too high. If the side of the hood is about the right height at the back, I would be checking the radiator height. A simple check is to take a look at the top outlet. A tall radiator has a conical outlet to the pipe. The low radiator outlet is almost flat.
I have little experience with US closed cars, but if a low radiator would solve the problem, your car is not a 24 model.

Hope this helps,
Allan from down under.

[Dave Young]

She does in fact have a cowl vent. The bent frame concept was one of my initial thoughts. I'll post some pictures if I can fumble my way through that.

[Norman Kling]

Measure the length of the cowl and the radiator and compare with the length of the lower panel of the hood. Is the length correct at each end that it would fit if it were to lay straight? If so you have the correct hood for the car and either the cowl is too low because of a bent frame, or the radiator is too high because it is mounted incorrectly.
Norm

[Dave Young]

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[Dave Young]

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Does anyone know this coupe? It was in the Hagerstown, Maryland, Blue and Gray Chapter of the MTFCA and Participated in the 2008 Centennial Parade. It was involved in a front-end accident and bounced around in Pennsylvania recently through a few owners before I got it. I have a lot to sort out. I haven’t got a name to go with the Blue and Gray Chapter decal.

[John kuehn]

Your car is a high cowl 24 or 25 going by the cowl vent and appears to have the correct parts on it. You could obtain a better fit between the cowl and hood by shimming the 2 front body brackets a little. Try starting by using two washers. You may need to loosen the 2 center bracket bolts to get it to move up some.
If you suspect the frame has a dip in it because of a collision shimming the front end of the body would be an alternative to trying to straighten the frame itself.

[Dave Young]

Thanks, John. I’ll go ahead and loosen the body attachments and see how that begins to correct the problems. I did similar shimming on my Model A to get things to line up and used rubber discs instead of steel shims. It actually made the car very quiet as the body became isolated from the chassis. If need be, I do have other frames to put under this body.

[Dave Young]

Thanks, John. I’ll go ahead and loosen the body attachments and see how that begins to correct the problems. I did similar shimming on my Model A to get things to line up and used rubber discs instead of steel shims. It actually made the car very quiet as the body became isolated from the chassis. If need be, I do have other frames to put under this body.

[Allan]

David, all looks OK as far as correct parts go. Your 1 1/2" looks more like 1/2" and a sagging frame will do that. If your radiator shell is a nickel plated brass shell, it is imperative that the poor fit be corrected. The steel shell hood will wear through a brass shell if it is allowed to rub on it. New hood lacing may be the order of the day to help with this.

Hope this helps,
Allan from down under.