what model aa vehicle used a "commercial cowl" with no w/s posts?

i'm trying to find a commercial cowl, at least the top part for my 30 roadster so i can fit a duvall windshield. it would save me from fabbing all those curves. did they come off firetrucks or something like that? found some pictures online. what am i looking for? i assume 28-29 wouldn't work.

 

Honestly,I don't think I have ever seen a cowl like that,,must be 30/31 judging by the cowl band. HRP

 

yeah that's new to me as well

 

I saw one in person, for a 32, about 1980...so I don't remember much. I think the guys in the car club said it was a bus. The guy who had it is on hamb, but i don't know his screen name.


At that time, it looked very narrow, looking at the side view, but now I have a 32 truck one here, and it looks the same width from the side.



btw, that 32 one was on a car/pickup chassis. I am positive of that, because he bought the whole thing to get a 32 frame for an "A" build highboy.

 

Fire truck?

 

I think a cowl from a Model AA
school bus. But good luck on finding
one of those. I think finding a '30-'31
AA Ford school bus still in existence
nowadays - and particularly one that
you could scarf the cowl off of - would
be pretty near impossible!

Mart3406
================

 

AA Commercial "Drive Away" cowl. Produced for coachbuilders (busses, fire trucks, deliveries, etc)...Very few made.

 

They're available, depending on shat you want to pay - http://www.desertclassics.com/Ford28warf.html

 

Popcorn truck, bus, paddy wagon, etc:



Not an uncommon thing, back-in-the-day, but less so now, since most commercial vehicles of old were used unto death, and then parted-out to keep others running, unto death, and then scrapped.

 

Gallery - Mail Trucks

The Postal A Chapter was founded in 1977 to assist MAFCA members to restore and maintain their Mail Trucks. One of the founding members, Aldie Johnson, Jr.(April 8, 1925 - September 23, 2012) did extensive research at the Ford Archives and the Smithsonian and complied the definitive book on Model A Mail Trucks, called The Ford Model A Mail Truck. The book was published by The Postal Press (1999), ISBN-10: 0967552702.
Mr Johnson also contributed much of the Mail Truck information in the MAFCA/MARC Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards. The US Post Office had many Model A and AA trucks in their fleet in the Model A era. They purchased the chassis from Ford and had body builders construct the bodies to their specifications.
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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=5 width=585 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD align=center>

1931 Models ​

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​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11317
MAFFI Museum (Aldie Johnson Jr.)​

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1931 Mail Truck 11451 <!-- 09/12/11 -->
Chuck Foster, Carlton, OR (Lew Palmer) ​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11544
Owner Unknown​

</TD></TR><TR><TD align=center> </TD><TD align=center> </TD></TR><TR><TD align=center>

1931 A Mail Truck 11587<!-- 11/20/11 -->
Donald Moore​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11617 <!-- 1/23/10 -->
National Postal Museum​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11649
Bill Case​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11705
Amarillo, Texas 2009​

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1931 A Mail Truck 11783
Andy Horn​

</TD><TD align=center>

1931 A Mail Truck
Mark
​

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1931 A Mail Truck
Owner Unknown​

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1931 A Mail Truck 586
Tom Tronson ​

</TD><TD align=center> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2 align=center>AA Mail Trucks

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1931 AA Mail Truck 17350 <!-- 12/14/12 -->
Owner Unknown​

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1931 AA Mail Truck 17407
Gerald Grizzard, Alabama
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</TD><TD align=center>

1931 AA Mail Truck 18225
Dan Perla read more
​

</TD></TR><TR><TD align=center>

AA Mail Truck 18316
Owner Unknown​

</TD><TD align=center>

1931 AA Mail Truck 18999 <!-- 07/15/13 -->
David Morton, Lexington KY​

</TD><TD align=center>

1931 AA Mail Truck 19130
Sherwood Stoll <!-- 3/14/10 -->, New York​

</TD></TR><TR><TD align=center> </TD><TD align=center> </TD></TR><TR><TD align=center>

1931 AA Mail Truck with REA sign
Sunbelt Auto Museum, Las Vegas​

</TD><TD align=center>

1931 AA Mail Truck 19311
Owner Unknown​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

'28-'29 would not work if you have a '30-'31 body.

I made my own windshield when I was 14.

 

Bingo!!!!

 

interesting. with a little luck, there's one out there with my name on it. any leads are appreciated. otherwise i'll put on my fab hat.

 

Now that I have been visually slapped in the face with all the accompanying photos I have seen them before,,just not detached from the vehicle. HRP

 

A friend of mine bought a 31 Ford firetruck for the rearend, needed it for his AA, and it had a cowl like that. You can remove the top band and it has the mounts for the windshield.

 

Those cowls are not that hard to find. Most of the bodies built off of those were wood, and the wood body is often long gone. Building or restoring the correct wood body takes a ton of work that most don't want to do, and those cowls are essentially useless without a body. Look in the pile with the heavy AA iron, thats where you'll find them.

 

Know anyone who has a AA pile?

 

I've got one for sale fellas

 

Saw one today--the town of Millen GA has a '29 Model AA fire truck that uses that type of cowl along with a one-off body that was built locally.

 

I've got one that I planned on using with a Duvall just like the O.P. I'll probably never get to it though.

My brother has had at least one commercial cowl himself, and I've seen probably a half dozen more in my lifetime. They are kinda rare, but only when you are actually looking for one.

 

I just sold one to my buddy. be careful when buying because some of them do not have mounts for doors or they only have a driver door mount. The one I sold had door mounts on both sides and would fit regular roadster doors

 

A regular roadster door would not match up nicely at the top. You will need to reconfigure the roll as the door curves around, and the commercial cowl doesn't.

 

Correct the top would not line up but the hinge mounts are correct and the bead will line up. Most commercial cowls do not have hinge provisions on both sides or at all. You can add them but it would save a lot of time if you could find a cowl that has them included from the factory.

 

I should have bought the one at Hershey for $200.00 but I was out of money. Bob

 

One of the Model A sheet metal guys had a commercial cowl at the St. Cloud swap meet this year. Don't have any info; but maybe someone else from MN might know who it was.

Otherwise; you could always make a couple of hammer forms and fab a similar sheet metal cover for your cowl.

 

check around for a orchard truck they used them too

 

I just saw one int he last few days. it's either in the classifieds here on the auction site.

 

Hey is that a cowl rick brought back???, Looks familiar to me

 

Heres some inspiration.. Bobby Green from the Old Crow Speed Shop's roadster.

 

A "friend" of mine purchased one recently through some "insider trading". Not an easy bird to find in this neck of the woods, right Josh? Nyuk,Nyuk. Great collection of pics, HJmaniac!