Help Identifying a Cabriolet

[The Lucky Star]

Hello,

Will you please help me identify this Cabriolet? I've notice that there is a lower belt line behind the door but the door itself does not have one. The inside of the doors are a mostly wood structure as well.

Thank you.

[jw hash]

68 A or B what does the insides of the doors look like. the early 68 A had a different inner panel. the later 68B had a different inner panel and door latches.

[Juggler]

This is a June 1930 68B Cabriolet (door lock on left door as RHD)

[Kevin in NJ]

All cabriolet quarter panels are the same.

The only difference is the 68C has a 1" hole (yes it is round) for the lower landau bracket to go through.

I do not know about the doors for the 68a/B but I believe they would be the same for 68A and 68B. The difference is the cowl. The 68A will have the town sedan cover to make it flush.

Just locate a 68A or 68B cowl and build away. You will have to make some decisions based on the wood as there are some differences in the seat wood and floor panels.

The upper and lower panels are the same for all cabriolet. As well as the rumble riser which is a trimed for the wood coupe panel.

Over at Bob Johnson's Cabriolet website he has many cabriolet pictures of the parts that would be needed. The 68C article which is reprinted in Vol 6 of the How to Restore series shows details which would apply some to the 68A/B. Get your wood from Classic. If you need ideas on how to build one from nothing contace me.

[Aerocraft]

The 68A and B cowls and doors can be made from Briggs three window Fordor cowls and front doors of the same year. The only difference in the cowls is at the top of the windshield where the folding top attaches. The belt molding below the doors is a stamping the covers the subframe. That stamping continues the belt molding of the cowl and quarter panel. Take a look at a '29 or '30 Briggs Fordor (not the 60 series "blindback") and you can see how the cowl, door and moldings are formed.

Gar Williams

[figment]

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Join the Cabriolet club. There news letter is small but you can buy all the old copies and you would have all your answers. There is even a step by step instruction to install the wood in the doors and building from the wooden base up to the windows. Priceless if you don't have a car to copy!!!

[john charlton]

The 68A and 68B have the same body and doors from the cowl back . The cowls are different as the 68A has the gas tank under the cowl same as the 28/29 fordors . The 68B has the regular 30/31 cowl with the gas tank not cvered same as all 30/31 vehicles so you can build either year depending on what cowl you have .

John in sunny Suffolk County England .

[Marshall V. Daut]

One other trivial point to ponder: early 1929 Cabriolets did not have the rolled bead above the rear fenders. It appears that the quarter panels in the poster's photos do have this bead. Approximately at the same time that the bulky early Cabriolet top assembly (with solid one-piece arm across the door window) was replaced by the more common one (with folding middle arm) seen late 1929-early 1931, the bead over the rear fender was introduced. There is, of course, some cross-over as existing supplies of each were used up during the transition.
Marshall

[figment]

There is also one more cowl that was used in early 1930 where the cowl band was longer and went all the way down to the splash apron. The cowl band is extremely hard to find.

[The Lucky Star]

You guys are the best! Thank you for the info. I really like the lines of the 68B. here's the requested photo of the inside of the door. Rough!

[figment]

This door is from a early Cabriolet. The wood area where the window crank is metal on the later 68B. The wood around the door sides and bottom are most likely the same?

[The Lucky Star]

So, early '30 68B with the regular '30-'31 cowl? I'm guessing this from the wood in the doors and the belt line over the rear fender.

[jw hash]

the door are 68A`s, the 68 b`s had steel inner panel both early and late.

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by jw hash

the door are 68A`s, the 68 b`s had steel inner panel both early and late.

A 68A, I think so, too.

My August 1929 cabriolet actually had door panels with one side wood and one side metal. During the early stages of rebuilding it, and gathering parts, I found a Briggs Body metal inner panel at a swap meet and replaced the wood panel. Of course it is possible that many, many years ago one door was damaged and replaced, and that was what they got from a junk yard. ...but generally, minimal body damage was present when I got my car in 1958-59.

Anyone know if the transition to metal inside door panels possibly occurred starting in late 1929??

[Marshall V. Daut]

Russ B -
I would say you are probably right. I have restored two 1929 Cabriolets: an early and late one. My early Cabriolet has wooden upper door panels and the bulky top assembly, while my friend's late 1929 has metal upper door panels and the more streamlined top assembly. 'Can't say when the change in door panels was made, but I agree that it was probably in late 1929. It doesn't surprise me that your car has door panels of each. Remember that Cabriolet sales were slightly disappointing in 1929, probably due to the relatively high cost of this body style and the April-May introduction date, which effectively left only about 8 months to market it in 1929. Add to that the fact that autumn and winter came around only a couple months after its introduction, so sales dropped off on all convertibles as the cold weather approached, including the Cabriolet. The Wall Street Crash in late October may also have played a part in declining sales, but that would be across the board on all body styles. Ford had a large supply of 1929 Cabriolet bodies left over going into the 1930 model year. So, Ford being Ford, he only changed the cowl configuration in 1930 in keeping with the new styling and kept the rest of the Cabriolet body unchanged from the doors back. I assume the updated decklid and latch was installed on the 1930 models, though. Anyway, with that much stock left on hand in late 1929, it's easy to see how the older doors with wooden upper panels could be mixed in with the newer steel door panel doors during this transitional time frame. I'm guessing that in the Briggs plant, the appropriate doors were on either side of the body as it was being built. The doors were removed from their storage racks and installed on each side, probably by a different man. That would make it quite easy to mix and match door configurations until the supply of ones with wooden upper door panels was exhausted. I just can't say the exact month that this would have happened, nor when only steel door panels were used exclusively. If you saw signs of different colored paint between your doors during the car's restoration, you're probably right that one door was replaced later. If the paint was identical, however, that would give credence to my theory that both doors were used during the assembly process, regardless of which upper panel was present. With the upholstered interior door panels in place, who'd know the difference back then?
Marshall

[SteveB31]

If you need better doors, or need a cowl for it, let me know as we have some.

Steve Becker
Bert's Model A Center
800-321-1931

[PO51]

My August 29 cabby has the wood in the doors and the later folding top. Sadly it still sits under a tarp waiting for a full restoration.