ford barn find

[History]

Keep an eye out for ordnance, seeing as it's a military car.

[glenn in camino]

Looks like you might need a few parts.

[holdover]

Best of luck with your project. There is nothing like saving a vehicle from the scrap pile. Every step in its restoration will be a reward for your effort, and when the engine starts for the first time and you put it in gear and ease out the clutch, well it is better than a bunch of candy on Halloween when you were a kid....

[Bob C]

Originally Posted by Steve_Mack_CT

Looks like a deluxe model judging by the top frame assembly, if you have a round speedo it is a later 30. Nice find!

The top bows look like deluxe but I don't see any holes for the cowl lights.

Bob

[wrndln]

It sure looks like a standard roadster to me. The top irons are for a standard roadster.
Rusty Nelson

[Keith True]

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The easy way to tell if it is standard or deluxe is to look at the side curtain snaps on the windshield stanchions.If there are two,it is a deluxe.If three,it is a standard.

[harvest]

more pics.

[harvest]

there is no window cranks, my brother said possibly standard roadster?

[Marshall V. Daut]

"there is no window cranks, my brother said possibly standard roadster?"

Based upon the presence or absence of window cranks, one can distinguish between a standard and a deluxe roadster? On a car that doesn't even have windows to crank up or down? Or are those supposed to be two separate, unconnected thoughts? 'Sorry. What am I missing here?

By the way, congratulations on getting such a great car to start with. We should all be so lucky. The stars were all in alignment for you on this one. PLEASE do not hot rod it! There are enough unfinished hot rod hulks around the country as it is.

Marshall

[Bob C]

Originally Posted by wrndln

It sure looks like a standard roadster to me. The top irons are for a standard roadster.
Rusty Nelson

Looks like deluxe top irons to me, the picture below is standard top irons.

Bob

[Marshall V. Daut]

Without the cowl light holes and with the three side curtain snaps on the taller windshield posts, I'd say it's a standard roadster that someone added deluxe top irons to it. Those are easy to install, as opposed to welding in and grinding down cowl light holes (and to what end?) and changing windshield posts AND the windshield frame to match. The standard roadster bows were hollow and easily bent, broken or rusted. Deluxe irons are beefier solid metal strap iron and probably weren't not all that hard to find decades ago, apparently the last time this car received any attention. I hope the new owner keeps it as standard roadster. You can't swing a dead cat by the tail at car shows anymore without hitting a "deluxe" roadster, real or not. By contrast, when do you see standard roadsters these days? Maybe not as glitzy as the deluxe roadster, but the standard roadster has its own charms. For one, it isn't like all the other '30-31 Model A roadsters out there - it ain't all deluxed up!
Marshall

[Chuck Dempsey]

What is the cutout on the firewall above the steering column? Is that standard, or custom?

Thanks

[Marshall V. Daut]

I'll bet it was for some kind of custom heater duct to reach the driver. 'Never could understand why all those heating devices were on the passenger's side. Isn't it more important that the driver doesn't freeze to death and go off the road - with the warm passenger unable to do anything to stop it?
Marshall

[Tom Wesenberg]

In the pile I see the headlights aren't Model A, and the exhaust manifold is the later style for the Model B. I'd also keep it original and restore it as a standard, which also has more headroom.

[Keith True]

I was given a couple of sets of standard top irons in the 70's by old fellows fixing up their A's.Their attitude was,who in their right mind wants a standard roadster?.They both had oval speedometer cars,and the round speedos came out months before the deluxe was introduced.That is something I do see a lot of at shows,deluxe cars with oval speedos.A combination that didn't exist.At a show years ago we counted seven virtually identical cars,washington blue,tacoma cream wheels,LB top and interior,wide whitewall tires,and dual sidemounts.Four had oval speedometers.

[JDupuis]

Congrats.....it is "Harvest" season. . Jeff

[Tom Wesenberg]

In the old days, before they had television, they needed something to do after the cows were milked, so they took their old cars apart, and left the parts scattered about the barn.

[aford193031]

Congrats, we all need friends like you have.

[Bleedblue4life]

Split rear bumper and no cowl lights...probably a standard and someone changed the top at some point.

[Bleedblue4life]

Originally Posted by Marshall V. Daut

Without the cowl light holes and with the three side curtain snaps on the taller windshield posts, I'd say it's a standard roadster that someone added deluxe top irons to it. Those are easy to install, as opposed to welding in and grinding down cowl light holes (and to what end?) and changing windshield posts AND the windshield frame to match. The standard roadster bows were hollow and easily bent, broken or rusted. Deluxe irons are beefier solid metal strap iron and probably weren't not all that hard to find decades ago, apparently the last time this car received any attention. I hope the new owner keeps it as standard roadster. You can't swing a dead cat by the tail at car shows anymore without hitting a "deluxe" roadster, real or not. By contrast, when do you see standard roadsters these days? Maybe not as glitzy as the deluxe roadster, but the standard roadster has its own charms. For one, it isn't like all the other '30-31 Model A roadsters out there - it ain't all deluxed up!
Marshall

That's why our second Roadster is staying a standard. Plus it's an early 30 and the deluxes wasn't out yet. Black tires, black wheels, thinking about andalusite blue.