I've always wanted a model A truck, but just couldn't find one I could afford. Also After sitting in one found that it was too cramped to enjoy driving (at least for me). I thought about buying one and extending it but even if I found one I could afford I don't think I'd feel good about cutting it up. I'm also not crasy about the ones with the extra coupe window, they look too much like a ranger to me. I decided to dig through the pile of left over parts and see what I could do. I found a cowl with the doors still attached that was half buried and very rusted. I had a sedan back section that someone long ago cut off with a torch that I got with another car I bought a while ago. And was lucky enough to buy a tailgate for 25 bucks. I had my truck! The first two pictures are of the cowl and doors just after unloading them. It took a couple of days of soaking the hinges with penetrating oil before they would even budge. At this point the doors did not have any of the wooden frame left on the inside so they were pretty fragile. They also needed to be drawn in on the bottom but pushed out at the top. When I had them where I wanted them I tracked some inside door panels in place to help stiffen them up a bit. I screwed the doors to the sedans door jambs to help keep things in perspective and also to a wooded base to keep it all together. The big moment! Bringing up the sedan back to see if it would fit! You can see it was cut off pretty rough. It was also welded onto another sedan that was even worse.
After matching it up it was obvious that it wouldn't be so easy. The sedan back was too wide to just tack it together. The doors were opened up 1" each to make things look right. Like I said in the beginning I wanted to extend it just a bit but not make it too obvious that it the truck didn't come that way originally. I opted for 3" added to the length. The parts above the body lines were pretty straight forward but the bottom needed compound curves to make it look right. I spent a little time cutting off the torch cut and making the cut straighter so I could get a more accurate measurement. Then after measuring twice and cutting once several times I spent few minutes on the helve hammer and then the english wheel until I had a pretty good fit. This by the way is a part where a lot of people get frustrated, don't worry if it doesn't come out right the first time. If it doesn't fit take it back to the hammer and try again. I chose to make the relief on the bottom in two parts basically because it was easier. If you mess up the bottom relief you can just make another without scrapping the whole panel. The body line in the middle of the door was also made at this time. Believe it or not. No special tools here. Just a couple of hammers and the tree stump in my front yard! Something I need to add here.Don't think that you can't do it because you don't have all the big buck tools, all this can be done without any fancy tools. The helve hammer and the english wheel just make it faster. I spent alot of time beating metal on a stump before moving on to these tools. The last picture here shows the other side of the of the cab ready to go and the beginning of my bed!
I didn't have a model a bed to measure so I downloaded a bunch of pictures of model a trucks to see what needed to be done. Then used the tailgate to make the actual measurements. The sides and bottos of the bed were made from 2" square tubing. The bends were made by drawing a circle the right size on some 16 ga steel and then a smaller circle inside (to get the 2" width) then cutting them into quarters. Then welding the quarters to the tubing. No bender was used. Once these were welded in place it was just a matter of bending some 16 ga steel to the tops and bottoms to make it look like it was all one piece. After the front and back bed frames were made I cut some 3/4" square stock to the length I wanted to bed to be and welded them together. By the way it pays to have buddies help sand while your doin' this stuff! Thanks Pat! I made the sides of the bed out of 18ga steel. I didn't have acces to a brake big enough to bend them so I just clamped them to my welding table with a heavy piece of angle iron and bent them by hand. Go slow and tap it gently with a hammer and you will be amazed at how easy it will bend. The bottom of the bed sides were bent the same way but instead of angle iron I just used a piece of pipe. The model a truck pictures showed the tops of the bed were square instead of round so that made it easy just clamp a piece of 3/4"square tubing in place and weld it up! Last the tailgate in place!
The frame was made from 2x4"rectangle tubing. I traces the profile of a model a frame onto the tubing and added 5" to the section just in front of the cowl. I do this so that I have the extra room. I only use Ford engines and as you know the water pump sticks out too far. I guess I could just cut the fire wall but I like the way they look stock. Just my opinion here! After you cut the profile it's just a matter of filling in the top and bottom the same way the bed frames were done. I also like the way the frame horns look so I make all my frames this way. Unfortunately I can't find the pictures but the frame also has an x member made from 2x3" tubing to stiffin things up and hold the tranny in place. The
Here's a few pictures of the unfinished finished truck as it sits now! The 32 grille shell is also made completely from scratch. As is the air cleaner. I will be building a grille shell for a 1930 Pontiac roadster pickup I'm building and depending on how this tech post goes I'll Do one on that grille shell. I hope you all enjoyed this post and understand that I'm a much better fabricator than a writer! Also this is just the way I did it and certainly not the only way to do it! Eddie
That is a project well done, nice to see so much heart and soul put into such a neat original rod. It is real steel saved from the crusher. I am building something less adventuous making a closed cab pickup from a tudor cowl using tudor doors and repro back panels and home made bed. I joined the front of a model A chassis to the rear of a 29 chev chassis and use rear semi eliptic springs. I tried to find a photo, but just can seem to locate it right now, if you are interested let me know. Regards, Russ.
Eddie, That is some awesome work ya done there. Nice looking truck. I love it when someone puts together a car like that from pieces. Its just too cool. Paul
WOW! Great job man, There is nothing better than seeing something cool made from near nothing. I know what you mean about those Model A, phone booth cabs, I outgrew em a long time ago, that one will be a comfortable fun driver
Very nice job. Thanks for posting the tech. I've been driving my '29AA for over 35 years and nothing is wrong with size of cab. 'course I' 5'5" 140 lb. Just the right size for standard A cab. I do like how you extended cab, and the frame setback to run stock firewall. Earl
Ha Ha, yeah those cabs were made for you, when you try to sqeeze my 230 lb. body into one though, it aint a pretty sight.
Thank you one and all for the compiliments! Russ, I'd love to see some pics of your truck sounds really cool! Also if any of you guys make it out to Viva this year I'll be there with my truck. Look forward to meeting some fellow Hamb'ers Eddie P.S. Don't forget tp vote on the paint!!! Thanks, Eddie
That's why I decided to do an extended cab. Carrying around a set of keys is one thing but hav'n to carry a plunger and then trying to find someone to stuff me into a regular cab just seemed to be too much! Eddie
Awesome truck. You did all the good by building this one. Most any average person would've chunked those pieces in the scrap pile w/ the old water heaters & black gas pipe from the plumbing business they own. ( my crazy father-in- law, ha) Looks real good, man. If we go to VLV, we'll give ya a heads up.
BTW, what about a flat, or semi-gloss white. kinda like an eggshell. That's definitely jus' my opinion. I thought about doing mine that way, once all the drastic mods get done. Currently, it's gonna stay jus' like it is, natural born patina. With acouple of red oxide primer on the patches of weld & panel inserts. Then, maybe next year I'll have time to shoot it.
Thamks for the compilements!! I had a white car once that I had the worst luck with! Everytime I turned around something was going wrong with it. I blamed it on the color white. It probably wasn't but it made me feel better! Eddie P.S. I'd love to see some pictures of your truck!
I love your truck! Built with spare parts!! That's awesome!! I need to build a Model A truck like that, but maybe an RPU!
Great tech,it will come in very handy,my nephew(youngrodder1929)will be building a box for his ride in the near future.
Hey everybody this truck looks even better in person! Thanks for posting the pics and the tech Eddie! This guy does great work!
I broke the tie with an "as-is" vote. You already have your door lettered, and you can always go back and paint it later. In other words, drive and enjoy it. Thanks, Kurt
Nice job, nothing wrong with avoiding a firewall hatchet job. I'm for the gloss black paint since you've done so much good work. May as well show it off as let it get funky and no one will believe you didn't find it that way.
I'm leaning towards gloss black as well. As for the lettering I did it myself so I can just do it again. I did it as a test to see if I like it. I do. I have to say in all honesty... THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE COMPLIMENTS!!! They are much appreciated! Eddie
The Jalopy Journal
