Hot Rods My Hot Rod 29 AA Express AAV8 Build

I forgot to post the last round of pictures I took of the truck!

Here's some more from, jeez, like, July 4th I think.

I think the front still needs to go down another inch and the rear will lift up a little once the rear radius rods are mounted proper. I am planning to put the rear end back another 6" to hit the short AA wheelbase number which will make the 6' bed look right.






The little flatbed I put on there makes a great worktable as well as party deck for me to drink beers on and blast metal with the dog. He prefers bluegrass though.

 

not sure if you have seen this, neat write up on AA express box plans
https://aafordscom.ipage.com/aafords-pdf/229awd.pdf

 

WOW, that may come in handy, thanks!

 

It's been a long, cold, gloomy winter, but I did add a loose mockup of a camper top for the AA (out of a bit of covered storage necessity).

Otherwise, I have been focused on trying to finish the Thundercasket and building the Basura-T (Basurati, get it?) with @justa170

 

UPDATE! The AAV8 is back in progress and relieved of shed duty! I dug what turns out to be an old Express bed tailgate, TT or AA, with the three hinges (& no logo), out of the rotting earth in a woods cleanup pick. Unfortunately, it's too far gone to really save, but it will make a nice reference & decorative piece once it's done disintegrating.



Driveway cleanup is ongoing but we got the AA cleared out & the wood bed taken off. I got a bit of excitement about all that & started working out where to set the 34 pickup tank. I decided to try some extensions for the frame & found some loose T rails in my pile that I cut a little off of to make them. I was able to line up existing holes in the T rails to existing holes in the the AA frame to make life WAY easy with this. I only had to open 2 holes to 1/2" to get them on there tight enough to match the angle, then clamp/mark/drill into the T rail to get two half inch bolts holding it together. This will give me plenty of room to work out tank placement without having to worry much about how far back I'm going to move the rear crossmember to get the wheelbase where it will look good on a 6' or so bed.

 

Good to see you back at this. I just finished rebuilding the AOD for my '29AA. Soon I'll install it in the truck frame, hook it up to the 351W and connect everything for an engine/transmission break-in. I've just finished up a battery box that will fit between the rear of the passenger-side running board and the front shackle of the rear cantilever spring. I mounted a '69 mxxxxx stainless steel tank between the rear rails by removing the rear-most stock crossmember and replacing it with U-channel, which serves as the forward mount for the fuel tank.
I've been thinking about running the battery cables up to the engine area. What size should the positive and negative be? I figure single naught on the positive cable, 1 on the negative going directly to the engine.
Also, what bed are you planning for your truck? Wide bed or standard? I'd love to find an express bed but that seems to be only fantasy at this point. I probably will cobble something up in the general shape and volume of an express bed using 16-gauge sheet. I'll need to find someone with an 8-10 foot sheetmetal brake, preferably also with the ability to bead roll that thickness.

 

Was it you that needed spring brackets from me? I've totally forgotten who needed them but I did get them off the frame cleanly if anybody remembers asking me for them.

No idea what to tell you about battery cable but length of run is a consideration with gauge choice iirc.

As for the bed, the wood one I built was meant as a visual aid and temporary utility deck. The end goal is to mimic a cut-down Express bed by cutting a stock style narrow bed in front of the wheel well and adding about a foot or so of either fabricated patch or donor pieces from a chopped bed hopefully (still hoping someone has some in their pile). I have had shots at a couple Express beds over the years but they were far away and I don't want to cut one DOWN to 6' because they are so rare and it's easier to get a cleaner look stretching one to match the wheelbase.

You can bead roll 16ga with any decently strong bead roller as long as you're patient and precise. Big metal shops usually have the big sheet brakes and rollers but keep an eye on the price of Brookville bed sides. Currently they are a little under $700. If having a shop make you a bed is cheaper than buying 2 sets and grafting them. Their front panels and tailgates are fairly inexpensive but all the other parts can add up. You may just want to talk to them about it and see what they can do for you.

https://brookvilleroadster.com/store/order-catalog/

 

It wasn't me who needed spring brackets.
I'll be eager to see how your bed turns out. I've thought of grafting or modifying stock beds, but my welding skills are barely acceptable and not sure I'd be satisfied with my own efforts. I had a couple of 7-1/2 foot aluminum highway signs that I thought could be bent to make a couple of nice sides but unfortunately they didn't make the move to the new house 19 years ago. I've made a few of those kinds of mistakes over the years.
Keep us informed on the AA. The frames are extremely stong.

 

While seeking diversion from cleaning up my driveway, I did a quick and ugly brush job with some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator that I wanted to use up. I figure this gives me something new to look at and will keep this sheet metal from degrading as fast as it would just sitting in the elements. This stuff goes on pretty thick and sets almost immediately so there are A LOT of visible strokes. If I had it to do over again, I would have thinned it out and used a roller for most of it.

Well, stake pockets can be a great way to hide an ugly seam.

 

Hadn't thought of that! I might just try bending a little sheet metal and butt them together to get the length I'll need. I'm looking for something practical, evocative of an express bed, but not show-car quality work.

 

I have actually plucked away at the AAV8 some more over the summer. I finally cut the rear crossmember loose and walked it back to a 120" WB and I am happy with the proportions. All these pictures are ugly because my driveway was (and still is) an awful mess so bear with me. I also made some bolt on frame extensions from some T frame rail cutoffs I had; the metal is the same thickness and matched the taper. This gave me full length to work with and start figuring out what I can do for a tank. Pictured here is a 34 pickup tank I've got where I think it cold fit. It's probably too wide for what I want to do (channeled, lengthened Model A bed) but it gives me something to work off of. I also dug this AA or maybe TT Express tailgate out of the earth on a pick. It is too far gone to be used or repaired but it's NEAT and good enough to use for visualization.





Here you can see where the rear crossmember WAS (8" forward) and the extensions I made:



I gave it a diluted coating of rust encapsulator to stabilize it a bit. It's barely holding together after ages in the earth. But it is definitely an express tailgate (no logo, round corners, 3 hinges):


With the WB at 120" I switched to the longer rear rods I have which land right about where the slip yoke goes. I'm going to work these into the transmission crossmember when I make it and add a third leg / torque arm:

 

There’s still a bed with your name on it in East Central Brrmont if needed.