MTFCA Forum

23 Coupe? Not taking it to dinner and a movie, i wanna know how old it is. The engine is stamped with 8077073 which makes it July 23? The other number is just inside the passenger door on the metal that is next to the wood floor. That one is 3890738.
Any help appreciated.

What number is on the title. That number should be the original number.

Barteldes wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 30, 2024 4:00 pm

23 Coupe? Not taking it to dinner and a movie, i wanna know how old it is. The engine is stamped with 8077073 which makes it July 23? The other number is just inside the passenger door on the metal that is next to the wood floor. That one is 3890738.
Any help appreciated.

If you want to "date the car" then you need to date the sum of its parts (body, front & rear axle assemblies,engine etc. The engine number only dates the engine and the title may have the same or different serial number since engines were often replaced. Even if the engine & title numbers match is no guarantee that the rest of the car is what it is. Most Model T lack a record of modifications made to them in the course of their lifetime. The best way to day the car is to post some pictures for the experts to critique.

Should be an easy one to date, it's right on a body style change, doors open at the front, then the last of the 23 Model, if the doors open at the rear, then the first of the new 24 Model.

Kerry (Frank v E) hits the main point. The style change made at that point is often debated about the year model of cars made in the latter part of 1923. And, the coupe is the worst of the lot because of its significant and early changes. Some areas of the assembly process began producing 1924 style cars earlier than others. And the new style coupe was one of the first offenders.
However, like the 1964 Ford Mustang, it was originally considered an early production 1965 model, The early production model Ts built in mid to late 1923 were generally considered to be 1924 style/models. While Ts built in late 1923 are widely accepted as 1924s, early production 1924 style cars built before September or October of 1923 are often argued to be 1923s. There is no really right or wrong answer to that. But no matter what you decide to call it? If it is a really early production 1924 style car? Know that you will run into people wanting to tell you that you are wrong! Just ignore them and move on.
The sometimes called "true" 1923 coupe will have the doors opening at the front and hinged at the back just like all the standard factory T couplets and coupes since 1917. They have a turtle deck/trunk that looks like it was stuck onto the back of the body, whereas the 1924 style coupe has a more integrated body and trunk panel.

For a hundred different reasons, thousands of model Ts have been misidentified as years they clearly are not. Engines get changed. Titles got changed. Registrations began years after the car was built and faulty memories assumed a wrong year.
You are doing right by trying to sort out the cumulative total of the car and determine what it really mostly is. To that end, good photos of the car, both overall from different views, as well as closeups of specific details, can help us to help you.
Good luck and we hope you can really enjoy your model T!