'33 vs '34 Fords

[Robert/Texas]

My 1934 roadster has an early January 1934 serial number which shows on the driver side front frame and on the clutch housing. I bought the car in 1995 from one of the inheritors of a small, now extinct European car museum in Spring Texas.
Several of the unique things about the car are:
The serial number includes the number 40 where American made cars show 18.
The brake system is the 4 rod rear, 2 rod front type.
It has 2 latches on each hood side but the firewall sides look like they had been modified as they are a just a bit wavy when you examine them closely.
The air vent on the cowl and the front and rear bumpers are the 1933 style.
I'm not aware of any other differences but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some.

[deuce lover]

Originally Posted by rockfla

Nope, they attach differently AND the 33 has a spring loaded lid that pops open when you pull the ash tray out. Just learned about those this weekend. Here is a 33 ash tray

Here is a 34 ashtray

[rockfla]

Petehoovie
Side by side comparison of 33 to 34 ash trays

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by rockfla

Petehoovie
Side by side comparison of 33 to 34 ash trays

Outwardly, they look the same to me. This, looking at the pictures I posted. Weren't we talking about their outward appearance?..

[DavidG]

In an open position, they look different given that the '33 has a lid and and the '34 does not.

[Cool 33]

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33 cowl lights are longer than 34's.

[Cool Kat with Hot Car]

As far as perceived favor, many of the hot rodders of the 40s through early 60s converted 33s to 34s by changing hoods and grilles as they thought they looked better. Same with 35 and 36 roadsters, the 36 being considered much more desirable.

[DavidG]

While well short of a statistically valid sample, which would be about 20,000 cowl lamps, of the dozens of both years' cowl lamps that I have had there has been no consistent difference in the dimensions of their housings. And they all have the same part number.

[DavidG]

Robert/Texas,

Given that Ford had only two engine plants producing V8 engines during the 1933-34 model years and that no open cars were manufactured outside of North America with the exception of some exotic drop-head coupes made in Germany, your car's engine number with a prefix of '40' means that its engine was made at the Dearborn engine plant. That plant's log cites that some '33-'34 V8 engines had a '40 prefix but were still in sequence numerically with those with the usual '18' prefix. Your car's body was manufactured by Murray in the States and it and the rest of the vehicle was shipped to Europe eithe completely built up (BU) or slightly 'knocked down' (SKD) or more or less completely 'knocked down' (KD) with final assembly there.


The changes to the bumpers and their brackets was not a Job#1 '34 model change, but rather a post-Job#1 running change, as were a number of other changes like the shape of the ends of the spring leaves and the shift from Champion C7 spark plugs to 7s.

The six-rod brake system was a local requirement in a fair number of European countries at that time.

[BLACKNRED]

I have a 33 5 window coupe.

after studying all sorts of things to do with the Model 40, and by no means claim to be an expert or even an authority on early Fords and in particular the Model 40.

I believe due to the lateness of the introduction in 1933, the Model 40 effectively evolved to become the 1934 version, I feel the 33 had so many issues ie grilles cracking rear wheel well cracks etc, etc

[Robert/Texas]

David, Thanks for your information as I am always interested in any 1934 Ford information that I can get. I should have mentioned that the body number on the firewall is 710-LB-4758 which I assume means that the car was assembled in Long Branch plant.
I was born in 1934 and owned another 1934 roadster back in the 1950’s. I sold it in 1959 about 3 months after I was discharged from the army. I wish now that I could have kept it.

[DavidG]

All of the U.S.-made '33 and '34 passenger car with bodies not manufactured by Ford had such a body number tag on the firewall (or were supposed to have) and with the letters LB in the middle. They had no connection with Long Beach. The first group of numbers on the tag were the body type code as in your case, 710 for roadsters.

[Newc]

I've run into an issue with the third bolt [for grills] on top of the radiators. My '34's need it, but the '33 radiators lack it. ?? Newc

[deuce lover]

Third bolt ? There is a plate soldered to the top of the radiator.That plate supports the grill,hood hinge bracket and the brace rods that extend to the firewall. .Here is a much better pic.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by deuce lover

Third bolt ? There is a plate soldered to the top of the radiator.That plate supports the grill,hood hinge bracket and the brace rods that extend to the firewall. .

[Graham Freeman]

1933 & 1934 radiator side straps are different at the top?

[deuce lover]

Not to my knowledge.He spoke about the 3rd bolt and no mention of side strap of which there is no 3rd bolt.

[Newc]

I have found the third bolt hole [and bolt] in 34 grills car/PU It is a long nut secured by those clips. Photos= Chrome PU grill and the radiator with the hole for the third bolt. The nut has a broken bolt in it. checking my core radiators about half of them have the clips for the long nut. [34's?] Newc

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Newc

I have found the third bolt hole [and bolt] in 34 grills car/PU It is a long nut secured by those clips. Photos= Chrome PU grill and the radiator with the hole for the third bolt. The nut has a broken bolt in it. checking my core radiators about half of them have the clips for the long nut. [34's?] Newc

[deuce lover]

It must be a truck application?