Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / ENGINE NUMBER

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion << previous || next >>

Posted By Discussion Topic: ENGINE NUMBER -- page: 1 2     Fuimus 02-26-2015 @ 9:41 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 2015 By resolving the engine number, we now know it is a 1935 chassis. All we knew previously was that the car was bodied by Jensen in 1935 and so assumed it might have been a 1934 Chassis. The car was delivered in South Africa in February 1936. The Jensen Brothers were talented stylists and coach builders who worked for WJ Smith in the UK from 1931. They took control of the business after Smith died and renamed it Jensen Motors in 1934. The first car of this style was reportedly built in 1934 on special order for Clark Gable, whose agent sent over 2 Ford V8 Rolling Chassis to be bodied as sporting four seat tourers - one for him and one for Gable (another story!). The style attracted strong interest and so with some styling improvements, a few more prototypes were made by special order. This car is one of those prototype cars marketed as the Jensen Ford V-8 Close Coupled Drop Head Coupe, of which just a handful were made to special order in 1935. The first production Jensen was the restyled S Type from 1936, initially powered by a supply of Ford V-8 engines delivered in an agreement between Jensen and Edsel Ford himself. trjford8 02-26-2015 @ 5:22 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Thank you for the photo. Very nice car and very interesting. I did not realize they made Jensen's in 1934. Fuimus 02-26-2015 @ 12:57 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 2015 It's a pleasure. Was in same family for 80 years since new, before I acquired her recently. We are commissioning her at present (usual problem removing the heads). Picture attached trjford8 02-25-2015 @ 5:29 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Brian, when you have time it would be nice to see a photo of your Jensen on this site. Fuimus 02-25-2015 @ 9:30 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 2015 I have been pouring thro' a lot of faded detail and info that has come with the car as well as trawling the internet. The car has been registered from new in South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) with the engine and chassis number 2120. The car was fully restored in the early 1980's and it is likely now that this is a replacement gearbox, probably from the 1952 USA series, if I understand the sequencing correctly. In its post-restoration life, the chassis number has been recorded as C18-4F-2120 which is in the Canadian style. However, the "4" is incorrect and I have today found the evidence that this is a misread of the letter "U". This makes it a late 1935 series which fits the revised timeline I am busy constructing from original correspondence. The fourth digit F is reported to represent RHD for export. So my query is resolved through this engagement and I thank you all for your participation. Regards Brian trjford8 02-25-2015 @ 7:43 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 If you are a V-8 club member it might help you to contact some of our members in the UK. Check your club roster. They may have some information on those numbers. Does your Jensen have a body number? Could the number on the transmission represent some form of the body number? Fuimus 02-25-2015 @ 6:27 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 2015 Here is the photo of the number stamped on the Transmission. The second digit is not well stamped, but it is a "B" Regards Brian Fuimus 02-24-2015 @ 9:49 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 2015 No problem David, I am here for help and did not see it as a dig! I will take a photo of the number and post it later in the day. 3w2 02-24-2015 @ 7:42 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 835 Joined: Oct 2009 While the Canadian engine numbers were unique, the castings were not. That some early V-8s manufactured there had fundamentally different castings than their U.S. counterparts is not borne out by the available evidence. (The photo below is of Canadian V-8 #1 and it is the same in all respects to the U.S.-produced V-8s at the same point in time.) There were no V-8 engines produced in the United Kingdom during the subject period, only four-cylinder engines. David J 02-24-2015 @ 3:28 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 136 Joined: Jan 2014 Can't help with UK numbers but someone here should be able to pick up the ball on this . ADDING The first part of my first reply was a question - not a dig . I have had folks tell me my keyboard manners can be lacking at times . I can see some truth in that and sorry for making it look like a dig . That said pics of the numbers and motor would help a bunch . This message was edited by David J on 2-24-15 @ 4:51 PM

<< previous || next >>

PAGE: 1 2

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

EFV-8 Club Forum Home | Back to Home Page | Contact the Webmaster

Copyright © 2009 - EFV-8.org
Powered by < CF FORUM > v.2.1