1928 Radiator Shell Crack - Common?

[rackops]

Greetings all:

I have an early 1928 Australian-made Phaeton. On the radiator shell, there's a crack running from the top of the hand crank hole to the top edge of the lower frame (tough to describe; see photo below).

My question: Is this a common crack? I've been looking through hundreds of photos of Model As and none seem to have this same crack, but I don't know if it's something that might be common to Australian-made Model As or maybe early 1928s.

The reason for the question is that I believe I've found the owner-by-owner history of this car. However, in 1977, the engine was changed out, so the car's number was changed (there's no frame number) and thus, no way to say it was the same car (it finally had a VIN applied in South Africa in the 80s).

That said, in the many photos I've seen of this car, all of them show a definite crack in the same location on the radiator shell. The original owner of the car (I've been in contact with him via his son) didn't remember the crack, but it's definitely there in the photos of the car as far back as the late 60s.

I'm thinking that this is the key to saying that the cars are one and the same - or if it's a strange coincidence that both very early 1928 Phaetons would have the same crack in the radiator shell.

Any help is appreciated!

Dave

[rotorwrench]

A previous owner may have had a fight with the hand crank and likely lost the fight. Kick back can be pretty violent if someone forgets to retard the spark.

[J Franklin]

Maybe he didn't remember the crack 'cause there isn't any crack that I can see. I do see a nice repair though.

[katy]

That "crack repair" gives the car character.

[JayJay]

I had a crack in exactly that same place on my 30 Town Sedan. I think it came because the two arms on the radiator where the shell attaches were too close and the shell bowed out (towards the front). That being the thinnest place, that's where it cracked.

Nice repair job. A buddy of mine at work is a precision welder and he fixed mine for me. His weld, along with me doing a lot of detailed work with a file and dremel, fixed the issue.

In this post I put some photos of the repaired shell. Look down to #8.

JayJay

[Dino's A]

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I had a crack on both sides, down below the sides. Find a good welder
that can heliarc (TIG) it back. No cracks yet, 8 years going.

[updraught]

Old cars had a hard life here in Oz.

Most radiator shells end up with the bottom missing altogether.

[CT Jack]

The weld repair appears to be correctly done. The appearance of the weld looks like a TIG weld made with stainless filler rod. It also looks like the shell material is stainless steel which was used on 30,31 shells. The cause of the crack could have been from crank kickback or a high impact from something sharp. To properly finish repair the present condition the shell would need to be removed, the welds need to be blended, and then the entire shell nickel plated if it is a vintage 28, 29. I am not familiar with the 28,29 shell details but the lower section of the 30,31 can be removed. Use a magnet to identify the shell material.