Back to Year-by-Year 1908-1927 Ford Model T Reference Guide

ENGINE SERIAL NUMBERS:95,550 to 183,563 approx., and B-1 to B-12,247 calendar year. 69,877 to 157,424 fiscal year (October 1, 1910 to September 30, 1911).

MODEL YEAR DATES: January 1912 to September 1912 approx.

MAJOR MODEL YEAR FEATURES: See component listings for details.

BODY TYPES: Touring, Runabout, Town Car, Coupe, Torpedo Runabout, and Delivery Car.
   Bodies were supplied by several manufacturers. Metal panels over wood frame. Again restyled. While similar to the 1911, the side panels were now relatively smooth and the front compartment was enclosed with removable ?fore doors.?
   The Torpedo Runabout was now based on the standard Runabout, except for the enclosed front compartment, and the fuel tank and tool box on the rear deck (instead of the ?mother-in-law? seat).
   Touring cars came is several variations, depending on the body manufacturer and time era. Some were similar to the 1911, with the two-piece firewall; most had rear-opening rear doors, with and without outside door handles.

COLORS: All cars were painted a very dark, all-but-black, blue. Black is reported as an available color but Ford records do not indicate black as a standard color. Delivery cars came in Red (or unpainted) with the standard blue fenders. (Fender color is listed as ?black? in the 1912 Factory Facts booklet; both blue and black seem to have been used, based on existing, seemingly original, cars.)

UPHOLSTERY: Full leather in the open cars, in a diamond sewn pattern. Imitation leather began to appear on some cars in some pieces of the upholstery. The front and rear seats in the Town Car were leather.

FENDERS: Front: Same as 1911 with top section that flared inward and the splash apron area now a triangular insert. No embossed bead on the apron, or across the wide part of the front fender and dad a front bill. Rear: Similar in style to the front. Support irons were now attached to the body framing, extending out the side of the body, through a hole in the apron of the fender, and were clamped to a single plate under the fender.

SPLASH APRON: Now longer, with bulge at the rear to clear the brake and radius rods, but less pronounced than in the 1911 cars. Fenders and aprons were painted body color, an almost black blue. They may have been painted black, based on surviving seemingly original cars.

RUNNING BOARDS: Pressed steel with embossed diamond pattern. The Ford script ran parallel to the board. ?Made in USA? appeared during the year.

HOOD: Aluminum, with no louvers. Hinges were separate from the panels, and riveted in place. Hold-down clamps had two ?ears? and were of forged steel. Handles were aluminum.

DASHBOARD (Firewall): Wood, with brass edge trim that now overlapped the wood. Board was now higher and square, eliminating the need for the separate section used on the earlier cars to match the windshield.

CHASSIS: Rear body support was a separate forging bolted to the rear of the frame. Painted black.

STEERING COLUMN ASSEMBLY: Brass quadrant, brass-plated spark and throttle levers, with hard rubber knobs. Gear case was brass, riveted assembly. Wheel was 15? outside diameter, wood, and painted black. The wheel spider was bronze at first, then iron and painted black. Column was now 56? long on all cars.

FRONT AXLE: Same as the later 1911 cars. The right steering arm was modified to include a hole for the speedometer swivel gear assembly.

REAR AXLE: ?Twelve rivet? style introduced in July of 1911. The axle housings were again redesigned in late 1912, with the cast center section now being fatter, and with the axle tubes flared and riveted to it. This new axle then continued into early 1915.

DRIVESHAFT HOUSING: Pinion bearing spool was a casting and was held by studs and nuts, the studs being enclosed (not visible) in the housing. Separate front housing for universal joint assembly.

REAR RADIUS AND BRAKE RODS: Had forged ends. Brake-rod support brackets now folded down along the side of the clamp, then out and wrapped up around the brake rods.

WHEELS: Used 30 by 3 tires in front; 30 by 3-1/2 in the rear. Original tires were an off-white color, with no tread. Hub flanges are 6 inches in diameter. Front wheels used ball bearings. Hub caps have ?Ford? in script letters. ?Made in USA? appeared during the year.

SPRINGS: Tapered-leaf, front and rear. ?Mae West? style shackles.

RADIATOR: Supplied by Ford with the standard Ford script on the top tank, but no ?Made in USA? until late in the year.

ENGINE: Closed valve type as in later 1911. Serial number moved to the rear of the water inlet location, at about 100,000, then to a position above the water inlet.

ENGINE PAN: Typical ?three dip? with narrow front ?snout.? The ? seven-rivet? mounting arms were replaced with ?three-rivet? arms during the year.

OIL FILLER CAP: The mushroom-shaped cap, of brass, with six flutes and the Ford script appeared on all models. ?Made in USA? stamped under the ?Ford? later in the year.

ENGINE CRANK: Aluminum formed handle, painted black.

ENGINE FAN: Driven by a leather belt from a pulley at the front of the engine. The fan hub was brass (bronze), with the blades riveted in place. Adjustment was by means of a bolt/nut arrangement now located on the right side of the front plate and bearing against a boss on the mounting end of the fan bracket.

MANIFOLDS: Exhaust is cast iron; pipe fitted inside the threaded end and was packed with asbestos and held with a brass nut. Intake was aluminum of the typical design.

CARBURETORS: Kingston ?six ball? in very limited quantities, or Holley Model H-1.

CARBURETOR STOVE: Several designs, all of which rose vertically at the rear of the carburetor and mated with the exhaust manifold at the rear area.

MUFFLER: Cast iron ends, mounted with pressed metal brackets. Longer, curved rear exhaust pipe extension integral with the rear cover plate. Wrapped with asbestos, secured with three steel straps. The asbestos was specified to be dyed black.

FUEL TANK: Cylindrical, under the front seat. Mounting brackets were riveted to the tank. The outlet was at the center, right above the drive shaft, and screwed into place. Later, the outlet was moved to a location between the center and the right side, between the frame rails.

TRANSMISSION: Three pedal standard-design. Pedals were marked with ?C,? ?R,? and ?B.? Transmission cover was cast aluminum. Tapered inspection door, held with six screws. The door was embossed with the Ford script. ?Made in USA? was added after April 16, 1912.

COIL BOX ASSEMBLY: Kingston of new style, or Heinze. A smaller version of the Jacobson-Brandow box has also been seen but it does not appear in Ford literature.

LAMPS: All lamps were now standard except on the closed cars. Made by Edmond and Jones (E&J) or Brown.

HORN: Bulb type, double twist, all brass. Later cars used the single twist horn, all brass, and then the black and brass (1913 style) before the 1913 models appeared in late 1912.

WINDSHIELD: Rands or Vanguard. Generally steel with brass plating.

TOP: (Open cars). Top color was black on all open cars. Top irons were similar to 1911. Front support was now by means of short straps to the center windshield hinge.

SPEEDOMETER: Stewart Model 26.