I've been a member here for a while (a lurker mostly) with my 64 C10 "Ugly Truck"


But I've just brought home a brother truck for it:



I'm looking for a good Model A forum or mailing list. But so far I haven't found one. Is there a specific forum here for them critters? I saw the Ford forum...but that seems a little broad-based.

I've found MAFCA and ahooga.com but their forums are sorta disorganized.

Any ideas or help yould be appreciated.

Hey!

1930 or '31 model?

Were they a production item, or has that been converted some time in it's life?

Man, you are so going to have to get rid of those red wheels!

It's a 29 and it IS a production closed cab pickup. They made quite a few of them. Originally (in late 27 when the first 28 Model As came out) all they had was a roadster pickup with a soft top that wasn't designed to fold down. (Seems kinda screwy to me.) But in late 28 or early 29 they started the production of the closed cab or "phone booth" truck.

The weird thing is that the top was made from wooden "joists" or runners, then covered with chicken wire and finally a layer of leatherette material. The top on mine is completely gone, so I'll do the stock top construction and then maybe later convert it to a full steel top. I'm still thinking that one over.

I'll get rid of the disc wheels...but the wire wheels I'll use will be red, too.

The stock color for the original 19 or 21 inch wheels was an orangey-red. I'm gonna use 35 Ford 16" wires and have them posdercoated in about the same color red that's on there now, along with some wide whitewall tires and baby moon hubcaps. You know, the standard "classic" hotrod wheel theme.

That's a beauty! Forty-six years ago, in Arkansas, i had a '31 pickup that was red all over, more or less. i gave all of $40.00 for it, and had an oldtimer out in Abilene, Texas, build an engine for it, bored to 4.0 inches. In the end, it got away, but i wish i still had it, along with many others.

i hope you keep the four-banger, and make it run pretty. We should have a four-cylinder forum here. Several of us would be interested, and there are quite a few great eccentrics who still like to hear and see the early fours run well.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

I'd love to see a 4-cylinder...particularly and "old" 4-cylinder forum. I'm gonna be tearin into the 4-banger and gettin it running. That's phase one. Who knows where it'lll go after that?



But this is uncharted territory for me. I don't have any flathead experience at all. So it'd be nice to be able to ask questions and post my experiences as I climb up a steep learning curve.

Advice for Ford Flathead restorers...

Be very patient when lapping valves.

This company from Batavia,Ohio advertsises in 12 Port News. Maybe they can help you as their main thing is 4 banger Fords.
www.secretsofspeed.com

Thanks, Drew. I just ordered a buncha literature from them. If nothing else, I should get some book learning. Maybe I'll even be able to put it into practice.

Jeez fella, you have a nice website, seems to be very well organized and the photos are well placed for sure.

The 64 C10 article really brought back some personal memories, soon realized I lost a few hours reading some of your other articles.

So which do you prefer, Zero-Rust or Por-15?

Good luck with your latest toy!

Ray you are probably aware of this but for others who haven't had the pleasure of dealing with wire wheels I want to point out one thing. If you are planning on having them powder coated BE SURE the wheels are true and concentric and all the spokes are tensioned correctly BEFORE having them coated. With nippled spoke wheels, once they are coated you'll chip and destroy the finish if you have to make any adjustments and the powder coating bonds like glue to the spoke threads making the job even harder.

Even if painting a wheel it should be cleaned and adjusted before finishing although paint is easier to touch up when needed.

Hey, Ray!

Nice Web site!

Its kinda strange that you are just starting the banger "curve", and after several years of fooling with them, (and early V-8 Fords), I just boght a hotted up '36 stovebolt!

Go HERE, first, connect to ALL the links for some really good ideas. This will give you at least a start into the whacky world of bangers! Subscribe to their newsletter, it is excellent.

http://www.hotforhotfours.com/

Then, spend a little time here:

http://www.fordbarn.com/

Here are MANY good links with lots of information, particularly in the Model A links. Also, you already mentioned Charlie Yapp's site, (Secrets of Speed), which is another good place to find out what's going on. Their bi-monthly magazine is LOADED with good stuff.

I have a fair "handle" of some of the information you may be interested in. I know what I know, and I also know what I don't know, and ain't afraid to say, "I don't know"!

If there is ANYTHING I can do to help, just let me know. BTW, I just talked to a guy here in Wilmington today that has a Model A motor for sale, and, I think he said, 4 or 5, '32 up, "B" Model motors for sale, (which is the "one" most all the hot rod guys look for).

Anyway, good luck, HAVE FUN!!

GA

Inline300: Thanks for the kind words. The website is just something that's grown (and will continue to grow) over the past 8 years or so.

As far as POR-15 or Zero-Rust...well, they have different uses...at least for me. To provide a very hard, permanent coat of paint on something that won't see daylight, POR-15 works fine. TopCoat helps prevent UV damage if it will be subjected to light.

As a rust fixative and primer, especially since it can be sprayed, I like Zero-Rust. So I use the POR more for a finish coat on small parts that I can brush and Zero-Rust as a spray primer. They're both good in my opinion.

Mike G: I was aware of the need to true the wire wheels up, but hadn't considered what affect that could have with powder coating. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll make sure they're trued before the coating process begins.

6inarow: Thanks for the site references. I'd found FordBarn, but not thr HotForHotFours. That's an interesting site and it's bookmarked now for future reference.

I sure wish you and I lived a bit closer...I might be tempted to come see about one of those Model B motors. But one thing at a time. Ol Rufus (the truck's name) is still on the trailer while I clear the garage of its current project. I'm hopin that will be done or at least mobile soon. In the meantime, I've been conscripted into duty as a carpenter to build an enclosure for our back patio. I just spent the morning at Lowes draining my checking account. So I better breat out the saw and the router and go to work.

Thanks to everyone for providing all the great reources. I'm startin to think that I'll have enough ammo to tackle this project.

Ray,
A big "Thank-you" for your "Ugly Truck" project on your website! It has given me much needed inspiration once I get into my own truck project.I have both short term ( get it runnning,and clean it up,replace stuff that's cracked,chipped,broken,etc.)and long term goals.( replace rusted bed,body panels...eventual full restoration)A few years back I replaced rusted out floor in cab,and fabricated a few pieces myself...much like you did.Also gave it a Krylon paint job (spray can) just to keep the rust from getting worse.I'm one of those "lo tech" guys who can barely type, much less figure out how to post pic's on the web...but maybe one day I'll learn.I appreciate all your hard work in documenting all you did with pic's and writing.It has given me,just an average "Joe" a much needed boost of encouragement.Nice truck too!Like the theme you went with. God bless you, Frank

'69 Chevy C-20
292 3spd.

....Oh, I forgot to mention....my brother-in-law has owned several Model A Fords.I know he has wanted a pick up for many years.Right now I think he has a '29 Phaeton (not sure, he buys and sells vehicles like most of us change underwear)He is fairly knowledgeable about the old Model A's...I will have to give him a call.As of late, he's been reliving his old Chevy truck days.Currently,he's driving a '72 Fleetside.

Hi Frank. Thanks a million for the kind words. I appreciate that. I've sure gotten to love my ol Ugly Truck. And low-tech is my middle name. That may sound kinda flippant, but there's a serious bit to it, too. I really prefer the shade-tree approach to hotrodding as opposed to the 1-800, dial-a-hotrod, pure billet approach that a lotta folks have taken. That may be fine for them, but I prefer the "old skool" stuff. I can't quite put a finger on why, aside from the fact that I don't have cubic dollars at my disposal.

This is the approach I wanna take with my Model A, too. I'm gonna to pretend that I've closed my eyes and it's magically 1963, and I'm 16 years old again. And I have what I wanted at that time (and ever since), a Model A. The fact that it's a pickup is kinda incidental. But I'm gonna try to do things the way a hotrodder might have done 40-some years ago...but maybe with a little bit of common sense (I'll have to order a bucket of that from somewhere) and a little of the experience I've gained over the years.

I hope to get the critter in the garage here pretty soon and get to work on it, although I had to start a little earlier than I expected...one of the tires was in such a state that you could see the air in it...and I had to get that replaced. When I did, I found out that the rims on it are wrong. Oops! So one of my first projects will be to get those 16" wires and a good set of tires for it. I got some stuff called Evap-O-Rust and I'm gonna give it a shot on the rusty wheels. We'll see how that works out. And then it's on to other parts.

I'll be posting updates to my site as I make progress.

Interesting stuff here............ I'm just starting on my '29 A sedan, wanting to use late model Ford Duratec (see post in engines section) and am also de-rusting and will be paying close attention to any "A" posts!

ChevyAsylum, Good luck on the Model A build. I bought a '28 r/p in '56, my first car, when I was 14 years old. I am most fortunate to still have the truck and am nearing the running stage after many years redoing my feeble teenage efforts. I installed a '48 Merc and '39 trans in the late '50s and am using the same items now so it is not an inline project, but my '38 Studebaker sedan with 292 is. Keep us A-bone lovers up to date on your project. Regards, S