hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Need a little help identifying this body number tag. I have looked all over net, that marc site, numerous other sites with the charts for body tag numbers and here. But i can not find this, please help. As i am thinging of possible making and offer on this but want to be certain as to exactly what it is. pic showing its not a slant wind shield, and of body number tag. i could not find 164

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

it is a 30-31 Briggs 155-D fordor town sedan . the question does it have an oval or round speedometer.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

It sure looks like a straight windshield Briggs town sedan.

A huge expensive and complicated woodworking project.

Good Luck;

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Another view

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Before you offer and buy same, you might ..... or might not .... want to go through a Model A parts book to estimate the rough cost for restoring this car.

I went to buy a wood 4 dr about 10 years ago and was "warned" about "wood" bodies which was one of the best warnings I ever received on any Model A associated purchase, and the 4 dr wood material rough cost w/shipping today is over $7,000.00 for "only" wood .... e.g.:

a. Top wood = $1,400.00
b. Body wood = 2,300.00
c. Sub-rails = 1,200.00
d. 4 doors = 1,800.00
e. Seat frames = 200.00

Besides of needing Model A parts & painting, if you count your restoration time at $20.00 per hour, in just one year, this amounts to about $40,000.00.

Compare the above to cost of a fully restored 4 dr and make your own decision because we never know what is going on at your house ..... who are we to decide?

Each to his own in this Model A hobby .... please remain happy.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

if you want a nice car after words dont buy anything with trees in it. check out rufusranch.com he seems to have some solid fordor projects for around 5k. or watch your local craigslist and surrounding areas. and some one will have a decent car for 5-7k that needs minimal work. that car needs tons to be restored. and it needs more than 5k to be a car that would cost 5k. I started with a car that was solid and running ok. And after a lot of work and 1-2k I have a decent driver. but miles and miles from restored. you can see my starting point on my youtube. i think my car was a 5k solid needs restore car. It was given to me by my grandpa because I would work on it even though it was promised to some one else who wasnt working on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y9anzJLKks edit: i just looked at rufus he doesnt have any fordors right now but he moves these cars most times i look its a different line up.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Looks like that pillar and door has been crunched. They should pay you to cut down the tree and take the car. You can do much better. There are a lot of A's out there. Keep looking.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

I'd like to see more pictures of the car, but it does look like only yard art from the one picture.
It's always nice to save another one if possible, but we need more pictures.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Nice looking fordor up in Maine on CL 4995.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

thanks, after posting this I came across a chart that did at least tell that.
is there any other numbers to look for to get more info about it?

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Not to rub it in with living under our Modern 2016 Dictatorship, but:

Besides Model A body wood & parts cost, maybe also check with Federal/State Environmentalist prior to cutting this tree.

This car may be sitting there because the Government Fine for cutting this protected tree species is more expensive than the car's asking price.

Nothing like a thorough investigation to avoid surprises.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

the guy that has it is the son of a gentleman that recently passed away and is selling off his dads life collection on old cars/trucks, he collected for like 40+ years, he helped him growing up and he has a list, so its a pretty safe bet if he says its a 31 its a 31. I have already bought couple off him over the last month, and have lined up at least 2 more, and now thinking about this one. I'm pretty sure the gas valve is on engine side of fire wall. I brought one home today and just had to take some quick pics of it, and yes its alittle rough, but there isn't anything that cant be fixed. ill be posting all the pics further down as I get to all the responses. ill even post pics of the two I have already brought home from him if you all would like to see.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

I didn't get a pic of dash area, I just had to take some quick pics as we had just got done loading another car up and it was starting to get dark. ill post all the pics I did get to take alittle further down.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

it is a straight windshield, and as far as woodworking, yeah NO! wont be no wood in it, be all steel.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Well I'm collecting right now, building up and inventory you could say. For something bigger down the road if all goes as planned. and there wont be no wood going in it, itll be all steel. and yeah its not gonna be like the ones I see posted on all these profile pics, not original more custom.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

Well id be buying this just to save it, have bought 2 others so far and got at least 2 more lined up possible more. from an estate, son is selling off his father that recently passed collection of 40+ years. ive been building up a collection of my own, kind of an inventory for something bigger down the road if it all pans out. and the kind of prices you mention above aren't even in the ballpark for something I would consider. not for what the kind of prices I pay for everything I have, and I got something like 20 I think. everything is fixable, and everything should be fixed when it comes to any of these old ones...ill post the pics I was able to take alittle further down, and if any of you want to see the 2 I have already brought home from him ill post those separate.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

You might be surprised at needing to add some wood unless you are going very custom.

The very nature of these fordor bodies as they are just sheet metal panels nailed on wood. So all the shape and structure is the wood.

Not trying to discourage you, but I have looked at these bodies and saw the amount of work one would need to do get away from the wood (I used to own a 30 fordor). Take a real close look before you make your plans. You might find yourself making a steel structure to mimick the wood body. Not a trivial as one might first think. All the modifieds I have seen had wood structure except some very professional high end builds.

Just keep that in mind when you get a close look.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

they aren't all that bad, ive seen a lot worse in not as old cars as this. and no he cuts the trees down and out for free. I have been collecting for couple of years now, building up an inventory you could say for something bigger down the road if it all pans out right. I have some really cool stuff, I collected up somewhere around 20 or so different year groupings, and even before I was actually able to start buying all these over the last 2 years ive always been looking for stuff like this since I was 14, I'm 39 now by the way, and one of the two things I always wanted the most that whole time was a Model A of some sort, and until now I had never come across one of any kind. ill post the pics I was able to quickly take after we got done loading one today and it was getting dark. ill post pics of the 2 I have already gotten from him if anyone wants to see in a separate post. I have 2 more lined up already to pick up.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

one more response to go then I will post the pics I was able to take quickly today when we got done loading another car before it got dark. it may be rougher than a lot of people would want to mess with but the way I look at it is everything is fixable and everything should be fixed when it comes to these old ones. I'm collecting right now building up a inventory of sorts for something bigger down the road if all pans out right. got something like 20 right now. got 2 more lined up with this gentleman, and what I buy stuff for is nothing compared to the kind of numbers ive seen on here alone, not to mention other groups and such I belong to. ill also post pics of the 2 I already got from this place if anyone says they want to see them.

Re: hi, new here with question before i buy. 31 fordor briggs body
 

LOL....too far for me to travel, and if that number is the price, I wouldn't even be looking at something priced like that, even if it was running driving no problems with it...lol....I make deals way lower than that. I'm collecting up an inventory of such for something bigger down the road if it all pans out. I go for the builders, everything can be fixed or saved no matter what and should be. pics coming next