I found a Model T that the owner says is a 1922 touring. The motors serial number is for a 1924. The car has a slanted windshield and is set up for a one man top, which is all missing. The cars is all there except the top and is in good shape. It needs to be repainted because someone painted in a ugly red color. It has the rear spare and has a starter.
My question is; How do you know if its a late 1922 or another later year car? Is there a way to tell if it is a late 1922 by something on the body? I have seen cars in magazines and on the internet listed as a late 1922 with the slanted windshield and a one man top and I’ve seen them listed as 1922 with a straight windshield and a two man top. When did the cars change during that year?
Any help would sure be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
Post some photos, especially of the front doors and the cowl area. It is easy to tell the difference between 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1925 if you know what to look for.
The slant windshield makes it no earlier than 1923 model year which began in the fall of 1922. But there are lots of other differences which may make the car obviously 1924 or 1925 model year.
Do I have my head on square Auto Inn?
The slant windshields can be grafted on the earlier bodies? I swear I’ve seen it done but could be hugely mistaken.
Oh yes please! Post some photos if you would Chris. 
The cowl and door hinges are some of the give-aways.
There is widespread confusion over the difference between calendar year and model year. The calendar year begins with January 1, of course. With some exceptions, Ford’s model year typically began with August 1. So a Model T produced in October of 1922, for example, is a 1923 model with all the features of a 1923 Model T. But some people will insist on calling it a “late 1922” because it was made in that calendar year. But I’ve never heard of extending “late 1922” to include 1924 or 1925 cars.
I agree with the suggestion to post some pictures. You’ll soon find out what’s what.
Simple direct answer to a simple question. Yes, it is possible to put a later slanted windshield onto an earlier car.
Actually, almost all parts from about 1917 through 1925 (model year!) are directly interchangeable in spite of the fact that nearly all of them changed in some significant way during those same years. Many model Ts have been “reassembled” from scattered parts since the official end of model T production. And many of the people doing so made no effort whatsoever to keep the car to any correct year. Most model Ts have had parts changed over the decades for a wide variety of different reasons.
To really know what you have? Would take personal visits to look it over closely by people that have spent years learning the (literally) hundreds of minor changes. Or, in lieu of personal visits, many good photographs, both of the whole car from several angles, and a bunch showing closeups of certain areas. Front of radiator and fenders, firewall, front of body, coil box and dash area, rear end (showing center pumpkin and pinion bearing casting), both sides of the engine, a few wheels, top, windshield, etc, just naming a few of the most important ones.
Then, we can tell roughly what year most of the pieces are, and within a year or two, what year to best call the car.
In the USA, Ford changed the top and windshield, to the “one-man” top (no forward irons that needed to be physically moved to the front seat when putting up the top), and the slanted windshield, for the 1923 model year. In Canada, that change was made a few years earlier ('20 or '21 as I recall). Both USA and Canada changed to the higher radiator, hood, and cowl for the 1924 model year. Again, as previously said, that model year changed usually about August the previous calendar year. Another thing that confuses the issue a lot, is that the main (Highland Park) plant and the many local branch assembly plants around the country did not simply wake up one morning and say “Today, we make 1923 model cars!” Some model changes on some body styles occurred at different times or in different plants. Regardless, the model year or style year is generally considered to be based upon the style or design, not the month it was made.
Just like today. In the '10s and '20s, marketing often brought out “next year’s” model early. This was true not only of Ford, but many (if not most) major automobile manufacturers (including Buick, Hudson, Reo, Packard etc etc).
One exception to that year model versus manufacturing debate, but it shouldn’t affect your car in the least. For 1915, Ford planned a major style change. However, problems in production of the new cowl design delayed it for about six months. The previous year’s style continued in production until the problems were slowly resolved. This was such an extreme delay, that nearly half of 1915 fiscal year’s production was in the 1914 style. Arguably, those cars should be called 1915s and noted as early '15s. They are not quite like the true '14s, and few today are recognized because restorers have tried to “correct” them (or rewrite history) so they can be called something earlier. But that is an exception, a whole another issue and a whole another debate for a whole another day.
1922 is an interesting year. Although I don’t own one, I try to observe stuff. 1922’s still have the straight windshield, but now have the top and fender irons going through holes in the back of the body. The old style L arms for the top saddles are no longer used, and the saddle support rod goes through the body too.