Back to HOME

1929 Ford
Model A
Pickup

My Oldest Vehicle Yet!

May 13, 2008 - I dug up a bit more history on the truck this weekend - another friend in the antique car club remembered that Det Whitlow, the fellow who did the original restoration on the truck 15 years ago, had bought it from a man named Bill Jolly who lives close to me - and a man I have known for almost 30 years!  Bill Jolly was very happy when I pulled up in his driveway tonight to show him an old friend.  The truck had been all black when he owned it, and it came to him in an unusual manner.  He got a call one day from a man who had heard Bill was interested in Model A Fords and had a truck he needed to sell.  Bill went on over and ended up buying the Model A for $5,000.  The man opened a restaurant in Suffolk, which did very well, and a few years later Bill happened to stop by when the owner was being interviewed by the local newspaper.  He had Bill come over and told the reporter that Bill had given him the last $5000 he needed to make the down payment on the restaurant!  I'm going to try tracking down the restaurant owner to see where HE got the truck. 
May 10, 2008 - The truck did fine on the long ride out to the Old Dominion Meet car show, and got quite a few 'thumbs-up' from cars passing me on the Interstate.  Happily, I was able to go fast enough that I didn't get any 'middle-finger-up' gestures.  I was able to make good on the "Firestone Road Service" logos by delivering a new water pump to a fellow who drove a 1962 Studebaker flatbed truck 200 miles to the show.  His pump went out on the way, and it's the same as the one on my 1951 Studebaker.  I had a couple of new spares courtesy of friend Ken Talley, so I shared the wealth.  I am planning to equip the truck as a working road service vehicle, with period tools and as much Firestone supplies as I can find or fabricate.  Besides being fun, it will be pretty useful on tours with other old cars.  I already have a nice period wooden toolbox for the bed, and Dewey offered a bead breaker.  Ah, but all of that is not really important right now.  For those of you who might have noticed the Hilton Head Concours d' Elegance page below, yeah, it's a fake.  Sort of.  I stuck a photo of my truck at the show today onto the Hilton Head web page.  BUT...  at the show, I was approached by a representative of the Hilton Head Concours - he wants me to bring my Model A down and display it with a selection of pre-World War II trucks.  Yeah, that's right!  ME, at Hilton Head!  Along with some other folks from my antique car club who were also invited.  Guess I better get busy fixing the truck up right!  Though I guess she looks good enough as-is to warrant an invitation.  Woo-Hoo!  And I was just hoping to get a second-place trophy for my class when I entered the truck in the show.
May 9, 2008 - The wood in the pickup bed was peeling and rough, so I pulled it all out.  I sanded the boards smooth and wire brushed the metal rails, then painted everything black.  New hardware came from Bratton's Antique Auto Parts (GREAT place to deal with) on Wednesday, and with rain predicted for Thursday and Friday night before tomorrow's Old Dominion Car Show, I was up until midnight getting the truck bed back together.  I also got in almost everything I needed to install a right-side taillight - almost meaning I got everything installed on Thursday night (another midnight mechanic project) only to find I needed bullet-type plugs to connect the taillight harness and light wires.  Where do you find bullet connectors for a 1929 Model A at midnight?  In my garage, of course.  Actually, they are MGB bullet connectors, but they look and work just like the Ford parts holding the left side together.  A Ford with Lucas electrical parts?  There's gotta be a joke in there somewhere, but I'll leave that to the Chevy guys. 
The new taillight had a correct red/amber lens, while the existing left light had an all red lens.  Bratton's had just the glass lens, so I was able to get everything matching.  I also decided to disguise the shifter better, and added a correct shift knob, boot and and retainer ring.  The shift knob threads were too small for the S-10 shift lever, so it ended up drilled out and stuck on with Gorilla Glue.  It's still not a correct shifter, but that 5-speed shift pattern knob was a red flag.  On the mechanical side, I changed oil in the engine and transmission, cleaned the points, installed new Autolite plugs (Advance had them on the shelf!), new distributor cap, body, rotor, and brass leads to the plugs, and checked air pressure in the tires.  They were all fine except for the spare, which had leaked down to less than 10 psi.  I was up until after midnight again tonight washing and towel-drying the old girl.  She's ready to go for the show tomorrow - should be a fun day. 
April 27, 2008 - A month with the A has turned up a few more warts, but I am pretty happy with the old girl.  The trip to Charlotte was fruitful - I picked up a new window regulator for the driver's door to replace the original that was letting the glass slide down on its own, as well as a rubber floor mat, some original-style Champion plugs, and an original starter crank/lug wrench tool.  I had some more brake trouble the night before before I was supposed to take her on her first real drive - the TRAACA Square Car Tour.  I had to pull the emergency brake because the main brake pedal went to the floor again!  When I made a check of the connections, I discovered that the right rear clevis pin had fallen out!  Happily, a Model A club owner less than a mile from me had a new spare which he gave me.  After replacing the clevis and ALL of the cotter pins, the brakes are firm and solid and will lock up the rear tires.  I refinished the wood bed extenders, got a new Quail hood ornament with the built-in thermometer, gave her a tune up, and installed a rubber floor mat I got at Charlotte. Then I took her on the Square Car Tour - about 40 miles for the tour and another 60 round-trip to the starting point.  The truck did fine, though she got sorta loud on the way home.  Turns out the back exhaust bracket bolt had fallen off, the the tailpipe was riding on the rear axle!   A quick trip to the hardware store and everything was snugged up and quiet again.  Her next big run is the Old Dominion Meet in Newport News - about 30 miles one-way.
April 2, 2008 - You know, I really didn't want to get another car.  The Packard is still covered with dust, the Crosley, TD, Jeepster, and Studebaker all have things to be worked on, and I keep harping on how I need to focus.  So I didn't buy another car.  I bought another truck.  Yeah, I know.  It's a sad addiction, but I suppose it beats lying in a gutter somewhere with a bottle of booze.  In any case, my newest acquisition is a 1929 Model A Ford Closed Cab Pickup done up as a period Firestone road service truck.  It was fully restored by Det Whitlow, a local AACA member, when he retired from operating one of the biggest Firestone stores in the area.  When he died, the truck went to good friend Bob Eddy, who converted it to a Chevy S-10 5-speed transmission and a 6-volt alternator for touring.  Sadly, Bob fell ill before he could enjoy it, and sold it to mutual friend Dewey Milligan not long before passing on himself.  Dewey already had a lot of projects, and being wiser than me, decided to sell it.  He had it at our club swap meet in early March with a 'For Sale' note posted in the window (you can just make it out in the picture above).  I'd liked the truck back when Bob had it, and after some soul (and wallet) searching I bought it Sunday.  The restoration is now probably ten years old, and is showing some minor cosmetic wear.  However, the truck is in great overall condition, and I am really happy to keep it in the club.  The brakes were terrible, but Dewey and I pulled the system completely apart (they are mechanical) and discovered that everything was brand new inside: shoes, linkages, hardware.  Just needed to be re-adjusted.  So we started from scratch and got it all working great in a few hours.  I got the truck titles and licensed Monday, with the personalized Antique tag 'BOBS 29'.  And I am off to Charlotte tomorrow for the big Auto Fair and antique car show this weekend, where there are at least 200 vendors selling Model A stuff!
.

 

Back to Caroholics Home