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Old 02-16-2020, 02:24 PM   #1
wkvasnicka
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Default Briggs Body Number

The Briggs firewall plate on my 31 Slant Window Cabriolet is 68C 4028. From that number is there any way to determine the approximate date the BODY was built? Thanks
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Old 02-16-2020, 03:25 PM   #2
Gary WA
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

Here's my Briggs Body Tag
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Old 02-16-2020, 06:55 PM   #3
rotorwrench
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

I'm not sure if Briggs kept records all that well and they didn't last near as long as Ford Motor Co has. Other 68C owners are your best source of information on these types.
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Old 02-17-2020, 12:15 AM   #4
Tudortomnz
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

If there is an owners group, see if they have a register of body numbers. Yours is number 4028 of whatever is lowest & highest made for about 6 months in '31.
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Old 02-17-2020, 11:57 AM   #5
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

I have body number 3629 on my 68C and a late May engine and frame number. I figure the body to be a July assembly. Most of the cars were built July thru August.
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Old 09-29-2020, 02:55 PM   #6
Jason in TX
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

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Hi there. Tom Moniz was keeping track for a while. my old email addresses for him are
[email protected]
[email protected]

Here is what he replied back to me regarding my 68C with a 500s number back in October of 2010.


your car is a very early one
most likely made in late May or early June
the first approximatly 700 cars had a indented firewall,then for some reason,maybe a supply of flat firewalls were left over,they switched to installing flat firewalls so approximatly 500 went out next with flat firewall,s then Briggs went back to installing indented firewalls

I have confirmed about 225 existing 68Cs in all states of restoration ,from just cowls to best of show cars
but im sure there are at least that many still out there that i dont have the information on
i see them sell on ebay or hemmings and the new owners dont contact me,nor will the old owner give me the information
i just lost one up in Maine,i got word it was for sale and called the next morning,i got the owner who was in line at the bank cashing the check as he just sold the car 10 minutes earlier,he "couldnt"tell me the new owners name,or where he lived but did confirm it was a 68C ,it still hasnt shown up
i know of one in Florida,its in the same club another ford ban member is in ,but he wont give me the guys name,as he feels its a privacy issue
frustrating
I have 11 cars earlier than yours,,not all of them are complete cars,some i suspect are tags only
its hard when someone buys a tag then puts it on another body
i have to trust what information they give me
they are scattered all over the US and some foriegn countries
one of the reasons i like to find out the previous owners is i can trace the migration of the cars
i believe almost all the foriegn ones except maybe three have been exported from the US,thers one in Canada i cant get the owner to respond,one in Noprway that came from england and at least one in south america maybe two
the black rear view mirror like yours is by far the most common,about 4,500 had them out of 6,800 cars

Noone is doing what im doing for the 68A or B
i was asked to do it ,but it is just too hard to do them all
for a while i was doing it for the A400,but lost interest in that
the cabriolet club is in Texas and they take overall information and publish a newsletter
they try real hard,but dont get much help
you are so luck to find the body style you want like this at such a young age
i saw my first 68C in about 1970 and fell in love with it
i searched for one for many years.i even had one stored in my barn owned by a friend of mine
i could never find one for sale or if it was it was out of my price range
finally about 10 years ago i got a call from a friend telling me of TWO of them being sold about 3 hours from me
so i hopped in my car and went to see them
one was complete,not running ,,and the other was missing a passenger door and top
both needed complete restoration ,as the wood was bad,but the sheetmetal was in decent shape
one was a very early flat firewall,and the other was a very late on
the early one is only 11 cars known, different from yours but 271 numbers higher
i have them both apart and trying to finish them up,i have most of the body work done the running gear is done
but my daughter bought a house earlier this year and ive been working on it since May
i should have had the body mounted and in prime by now ,but kids come first
again thanks for the info on the car
you will probably contact other 68c owners at shows,please get their numbers and send them on to me,i dont know every car out there
tom moniz
68C record keeper
[email protected]
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Old 09-29-2020, 10:18 PM   #7
CabrioletDon
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

Hi, wkvasnicka...Jason's direction is a good one, and the current e-mail address I have for Tom Moniz is 68c@frontiernet. net,... if anyone has records that would indicate when your car was built, it would be Tom. Yes, The Cabriolet Club is still very active and it is a good way to know who has Cabriolet's like yours and get info that is Cabbie-specific. The gentleman to contact about that group is Tom [email protected].
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Old 09-30-2020, 07:28 AM   #8
Bob Bidonde
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

The bottom line regarding this topic is that there are no records of body tag numbers relating to body build dates. What can be done to estimate car assembly dates requires information from car owners, especially from the owners of original cars and those who have actually seen the frame number of their car. So I urge all Model 68 owners to help Tom Moniz and body specific clubs by giving data about your car.

I keep a record of surviving 190A Victorias for the Victoria Association. To reasonably estimate the assembly dates of cars at a Ford plant, a few cars having frame numbers that match the original engine number are necessary.

I also have not been able to find any records relating body tag numbers to body assembly dates. What can be rationalized is the time period that the body was assembled onto a frame (the car assembly date).

The probable car assembly date is estimated to be within a period of 90 days from the date of the engine number stamped into the frame or the number stamped into the original engine's cylinder block. The frame number and the engine number did match when the car was assembled by Ford. However, the frame number takes precedence over the engine number in the determination of the car assembly date because few cars have their original engine.

Steve Plucker has done extraordinary investigations about the output of Ford assembly plants, and perhaps Steve can comment about this post. By the way, Steve has published his explorations in a entitled, "The 1928-1931 Ford Assembly Plants And Their Production Of The Model A Ford Passenger Cars, Part1."



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Old 09-30-2020, 09:46 AM   #9
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Default Re: Briggs Body Number

My Briggs Body number is 3629 with a frame number of May production. I would say your car was a June or later 1931.
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