How Was It Done?

[Bob Bidonde]

An idle mind is not a good thing, so to keep mine busy at the moment I started to wonder how the various suppliers of Model "A" bodies got some things common to other Model "A" body styles. These questions should be wonderful food for conspiracy thinkers!

Gas Tank
A. Did Ford build the gas tanks and ship them to the various builders of Model "A" bodies such as Briggs, Murray, Budd, Baker Rowlang, etc.?
B. Or did the body builders get sets of Ford's tooling to make gas tanks?
C. Or did Ford have its gas tank supplier ship tanks to the various body builders?

Firewall
Keep in mind that the body builders used different fastener systems. For example, Briggs welded "D" nuts onto their body structures and Murray used cage nuts on its structures.
A. Did Ford stamp firewalls void of any captive fasteners and ship them to the various builders of Model "A" bodies such as Briggs, Murray, Budd, Baker Rowlang, etc.?
B. Or did the body builders get sets of Ford's tooling to make firewalls?
C. Or did Ford have a supplier ship firewall stampings to the various body builders?

Windshield Assemblies
A. Did Ford supply them with installation parts?
B. Or did the body builders get sets of Ford's tooling and glass to make windshield frames?
C. Or did Ford have a supplier ship completed windshield assemblies to the various body builders?

Paint Match
Briggs and Murray shipped completed bodies including paint and upholstery to Ford's branches to feed Ford's final assembly lines.
A. Did the body builders also supply painted hoods to Ford?
B. Or did Ford paint hoods to match the already painted bodies? If this is the case, then color match wold be a concern.