1932 Ford Deluxe 3W Coupe, Murray Body # informal registry,how many are still around?
 

The 1932 Ford Book by David Rehor shows the total 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W Coupe production at 23,411. All 3W Coupe bodies were manufactured by either Murray Corporation of America in Detroit, or Canadian Top & Body Corporation, Ltd, in Tilbury, Ontario.

Along with some other body types that were manufactured or assembled outside of Ford, the 3W Coupes had a tag riveted to the RH side of the front floor crossbrace of 3W coupe bodies.

I'm curious how many original 3W Coupes and the tag #'s can be accounted for and how they correspond with the month of production according to the frame number.

I'll start things off with mine. I have no idea if my car is on the original frame, but my frame # shows to be an October production car and the Murray Corporation body tag number is 7538.

Even if your body tag is missing or illegible, chime in if you have a '32 3W body that was manufactured by Ford. Let's see how many we can account for. Pictures would be a bonus!

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...d/IMG_4762.jpg

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Mine's 9424 and the engine number is from June, 1932 production. It has no late body characteristics.

While anything is possible, 7538 doesn't correlate very well with an engine production number from October. Does your body have any of the late body characteristics (sun visors, number of screws in the rear window garnish moulding, and number of attachments of the glove box to the front belt rail finish panel (dash)? Presumably not, given the body number.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

mine is body #8830. frame #18-106xxx, which is May production, I believe.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Randy,

The early sun visor brackets are sort of dog-leg shaped (please see page 11-47 of the book) with the two attachment screw holes at an angle to the center line of the car; that would seem to be what you have. The late bracket holes (two per bracket) are parallel to the center line of the car. While the early visors and brackets are shown in the book, I did not include a photo of the late ones and I should have done so.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Yep, that's what mine is setup for, so I guess it doesn't have any late body characteristics either.

Great job on the book, by the way, thanks for all the work you did. Do you know what the difference between B520A and B520B on the tags?

I also posted this on the H.A.M.B. for anyone who wants to see the response there:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=560252

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

I've got a gennie 3 window bodied car but by the time it I got it the tag was long gone!

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

I just looked mine is 267.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Dick,

Isn't yours Canadian?

Dave

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

eh!

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Hey Randy, here is the body tag #

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Dick: Wow, 267, that's low think we'll find #1! What month was your car produced?

DavidG: Any ideas on the B520A vs. B520B?

"matt": cool, thanks for posting it, I know your #5652 is a June car.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Randy,

Dick's car body was built in Canada by the Canadian Top & Body Corporation, so the number cannot be compared directly to those made in the U.S. by Murray. As you'll note in the '32 book on page A-8-2, there are two Canadian tags there that bookend Dick's number. Both tags are attached to surviving cars.

As for the difference between the A and B suffix, I haven't a clue, except to guess that it perhaps had something to do with the running changes that were made to these bodies relatively late in the production year (revised sun visors, etc.).

Dave

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

I guess it must be something other than early/late. This B520B 483 was posted by "Deuce Roadster" on the h.a.m.b. and we've had A's with number both higher and lower. I wouldn't think they would have had two manufacturing facilities, would they?

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

This one is B520A-7622. You can view a video of the car on youtube, search 'denson2003wcoupe'. Also my 1932 Ford Roadster has a number stamped directly into the front floor crossmember R1253....

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Randy,

There's no reference to two different Murray plants making the bodies that I've encountered, but that's a reasonable possibility. Another possibility is that they started the numbers all over from zero when the prefix changed from B520A to B520-B.

Dave

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Now why didn't I think of that? That's a good point!

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Forgot to mention my 3 window body #B520A-7622 has early style sunvisors. Also trunk not rumble. Could trunk-lid bodies carry B520A and rumble-lid bodies carry B520B? Of course now many years later quite a few have been converted to rumble and even a few probally converted the other way....

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

Another good possibility. My B520A is an original trunk car and I know Andy's car is a B520A with original trunk although it has been converted to a rumble now.

Re: 1932 Ford Deluxe 3W, Murray Body # informal registry, how many are still around?
 

We may have an answer, Deuce Roadster posted on the h.a.m.b. with the B520B tag says his 3W is an original rumbleseat car, whereas all the other examples that have chimed in with the B520A claim to have original trunk cars?

Any other examples to confirm this?

It'd be cool to use the power of the fordbarn and the h.a.m.b. to discover something that was previously lost to the ages!

What do you think DavidG?

Carl, Ron, Dick, do your cars jive with this or contradict it?

Randy