1935 Fordor Header Panel

[Dave/Green Bay]

Is the 1935 and 1936 header panel for a Fordor sedan the same?
Thanks Dave/Green Bay

[flatheadfan]

Dave-

I think you will find them totally different. Note the picture below. The top panel is a '36, the bottom is a '35.

Tom

[Dave/Green Bay]

Thanks Tom exactly what I needed, the picture really helps. Dave/Green Bay

[JM 35 Sedan]

Tom, I know the speaker mounting area, the overall height, and top contour is slightly different on '36 vs. '35, but since the bodies are basically the same for those two years, including the interior areas where those panels mount why couldn't a '36 panel be used in a '35, and visa versa, IF car is not being built for concourse show, and judged for points?

[KiWinUS]

I believe that either will fit & the only difference is the speaker hole,35 used the housing for speaker. I believe either will work for either car& you wouldn't know the difference once upholstered other tha you couldn't put a 36 speaker in a 35 header without cutting a hole.

[Dave/Green Bay]

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Would the cutouts "notches" on the bottom of the 36 be covered with the windshield trim or would that be visible?

[rich b]

....and you would need to put some sort of piece across the roof of a '35 to match and accept the screws along the top edge of the '36 header panel.

[flatheadfan]

Jim-

I suppose anything given time or money can be done but, to put a '35 panel in a '36 or vice-verses involves a LOT of work. The brace that the '35 panel is attached to isn't found in a '36. For that matter, the '36 brace is not found in a '35. The braces are NOT interchangeable. So, for starters you need to fabricate a brace (metal clad wood). Once this is done you need to reorganize the front headliner wood which in turn requires a different headliner pattern. It has been some time since I got involved in one of these swaps so there is probably more to do than I can recall but this gives you an idea. Others may disagree, but in my opinion it is not worth the effort

Tom

[JM 35 Sedan]

I will totally check this out tonight when I get back home. I just picked up a '36 header panel this Wednesday night. I have several '35 header panels that were removed from the cars I personally own. Also, have a gutted out tudor sedan body that I can try the '36 header panel in to see how it fits.

[Brian]

Flatheadfan is exactly right. They are nowhere near each other!

[Ball and Chain]

Which on do you need/have? I have one of each that i'd sell or maybe trade.

Kevin

Originally Posted by Dave/Green Bay

Is the 1935 and 1936 header panel for a Fordor sedan the same?
Thanks Dave/Green Bay

[Karl Wescott]

The research I did when making our fiberglass ones is that with the speaker hole filled a 1936 header cover can be simply cut down to fit a 1935. So we sell them for 1935-36... cut to fit for 1935. To make a 1935 into a 1936 would involve adding substantial material. though the finishing would not be critical as they are covered with upholstery.

[Dave/Green Bay]

Kevin:
I have one that looks like the 35 picture that Tom posted but it doesn't fix right. Did the 35 headliner have screws at the top to hold it in place or just the mirror holes? Thanks everyone for your help.
Dave

[rich b]

There are tack strips attached to upper edge of the header stamping, the headliner is stapled to the strips and upper row of screws on the header panel go thru the tack strips also.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by Karl Wescott

The research I did when making our fiberglass ones is that with the speaker hole filled a 1936 header cover can be simply cut down to fit a 1935. So we sell them for 1935-36... cut to fit for 1935. To make a 1935 into a 1936 would involve adding substantial material. though the finishing would not be critical as they are covered with upholstery.

As mentioned in post #9 on this thread yesterday, I wanted to compare the '35 and '36 header panels that I own to determine if I could correctly answer Dave's original question. Based on the comparisons of these actual parts, I found several interesting differences between '35 and '36 header panels, and also to my surprise, several differences between header panels used only in '35. The differences in '35 header panels are most likely early vs. later production within the '35 model year. I thought some of these differences would have been covered in the EFV-8C/A's 1935-36 Book, but also to my surprise, there is nothing whatsoever on header panels for any '35 or '36 vehicles in the book, at least I was unable to find anything last night when I looked through the book twice.

Any who, long story short, Karl Wescott is 100%, dead nuts on the money, with the information he posted yesterday regarding the differences between '35 vs. '36 header panels.

Dave/Green Bay, I have some good news for you on some of the things I mention above, and will share this with you privately via a Fordbarn PM later today

Here are a "few" pictures that I took last night. Some are not as sharp or bright as I had hoped they would be. If I retake these in better light, I will repost them here......

[JM 35 Sedan]

A few more pictures.....

After reading Karl Wescott's post #12 and doing an overlay of a stock '36 header panel with a stock '35 header panel, IMO, it would be rather simple to make a '35 panel from a '36 panel, and not really that difficult, with some basic sheet metal working skills, to make a '35 panel into a '36 panel by adding the additional material to the top of a '35 panel. With this approach, it all but eliminates the need and concern of trying to install a '35 header panel into a '36, or a '36 panel into a '35, and as Karl said, once the panel is covered with upholstery, who would know or care.

[Dave/Green Bay]

John
Outstanding
I also looked in the 35 V8 book with little reference to the header panel or the tack strip behind. Do you have picture of your original 35 header panel. Again John your efforts are greatly appreciated. Thanks Dave

[JM 35 Sedan]

Thank you Dave. I have heard so many "stories" about '35 & '36 Header Panels, as to which fits what, and what doesn't fit, and these myths have perpetuated into total falsisms in most cases, with some who have no idea what is correct firmly agreeing with those who are posting more falsisms. I apologize in advance to those who "think" I may be talking about them. I am hoping to work with Don Rogers on what I know to be facts based on actual parts in my collection (6 stock original unaltered '35 closed passenger car Header Panels from (2) Tudor sedans, one std & one dlx, a Fordor std sedan, (2) dlx 3w Coupes, and a 5w std coupe, ranging from early to late '35 model year production. With the information and pictures I can supply Don, plus the information he can find during his next visit to the Ford Archives, Benson Research Center, all this information can be used to update the existing (or maybe someday in the future a new reprint?) of the EFV-8C/A's 1935-36 Ford Book.

[Randy in ca]

So does anyone know what, if any, differences there are in the inner body structure in the area where the header panel attaches? Here's a couple of pictures of an early 1935 coupe I took when stripping it several years ago - anybody anything to compare it to? Also recall there were a couple of different styles of the windshield garnish moldings - are there body differences in that area also? Are the moldings interchangeable?

-

[Dave/Green Bay]

Randy: Those pictures helped me identify the tack strip I am missing. After looking at your pictures I was able to find a set of the tack strips in the shed. Are those tack strip the same through out the 35 production run on closed car bodies? Thanks for the pictures Dave