Hot Rods Anyone recognize this '29 RPU?...Hamb'r?

Like the title says...looking for more pics or info including contact info on this little rpu?

 

Larry, That RPU belongs to a guy in St.Paul, MN That pic was taken at The Minneapolis Messaround a couple yeas ago. It has a hot Banger. It will be at the FAST Hill climb in Northwood , IA. Next weekend. He has it running real good!

 

I love this place... Much obliged bubba...anyone got anymore pics. I'll see if I can find any coverage of the Minneapolis Messaround on the interweb.

 

I've got a couple of pics of it also, but the files are too large to post here. They were taken at BTT50's in St.Paul a couple of years ago.

 

Pm'd you...
ok... Started a Conversation...hate that term...Ryan, you listening?

 

I posted one on the RPU thread, awhile ago.

 

Hey Pat, you have a link to the thread?..

 

The '29 RPU next to the one you want info on, on the left, runs a V860 and a lot of "A" mechanicals, including steering, front and rear axles..that one gets around town a lot also to all the local shows. Pretty neat little truck, very period. The owner Gary, is a nice guy too..

 

Here's 2 pics primeisnotacrime sent me along with one I found on the interweb.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/roadster-pickup-pics.228692/page-3#post-5828825

 

I'm the guy responsible for the RPU pictured in this thread. After many years of lurking I registered to respond to Larry's request for more info and pictures. The overview is that I built the car after attending the F.A.S.T. hill-climb in Northwood Iowa for several years. The guys running hot T and A bangers were having so much fun I decided I didn't want to continue as a spectator. With a forty-year collection of Model A parts and two 1928 Model A projects (roadster and roadster pick-up) I figured I could throw together a car and join in the fun. The basic pieces were an extra frame I had on hand, a stock rebuilt and never-run motor from my roadster, a box from a two-wheel trailer, and a borrowed cab from a buddy in my Model A club. He has generously allowed me to use his cab in exchange for assembling it from two partial bodies he had acquired in the late '70's. Aren't car guys great? Here's a couple of photos of what I started with:



One of my goals for the car was to use all prewar parts and to keep the modifications simple to reflect a home-built hot rod from the time guys built and modified their own stuff. I tried to do as much of the work myself as possible for an amateur and only farmed out engine machining, axle dropping, turning of brake drums, and the critical chassis welding on radius rods and steering arms. Because the car was originally built for hillclimb competition, I didn’t plan to paint or finish anything that wasn’t worked on or modified; that’s why there’s a mix of finishes on the car. Also because of the competition element I wanted to get the car as low as I could without cutting the frame, a modification that would have been rare in the era. It would be more authentic with a higher, level stance, but I wanted to see how much I could drop it. Specs for the chassis include:

Stock Model A frame
Stretch-dropped Model A front axle by Okie Joe
Model A front spring with six leaves and a reversed eye main leaf
Stock Model A rear axle with 3.78:1 ratio (shock mounts were lowered)
Model A rear spring with six leaves and a reversed eye main leaf with the ends bent
Split Model A wishbones
Model A spindles with balls on steering arms reversed for clearance
Model A two-tooth steering box with shortened pitman arm
Model A hydraulic lever shocks on all four corners
1940 Ford hydraulic brakes and master cylinder
1940 Ford front hubs and repro drums
1934 Ford rear hubs and drums (brake shoes narrowed to work with early hubs)
1934 Ford 17” wires with 4.75x17 Excelsior front and 6.50x17 Firestone rear tires

In the middle image in post #9 above the car is shown with 6.00x16 tires on the rear for effectively lowering the rear gear ratio for the 2013 Northwood hill climb. I like the 17's better for looks, but the 16's work for lower ET's!



After planned improvements and unplanned breakage I’m currently on the fourth iteration of the hopped-up Model A motor. The original build used bolt-on speed parts (head and manifolds) with a counterweighted original crankshaft on babbit and Model B camshaft. One set of pistons and rings, two crankshafts, and a set of rods later I have finally got a reliable and respectable performance combination. The current set-up includes:

1928 Model A block with .080 over Model A pistons
Counterweighted steel Burlington crankshaft in insert bearings
Billet steel main caps and billet steel rods, also on insert bearings
Pressure oil feed to mains; splash oil system for rods
Jim Brierly version of Winfield cam with .350 lift
Intake ports matched to header flange and intake manifold
Stock A exhaust valves (1.50”) and oversize intake valves (1.625”) w/adjustable lifters
Model A valve springs with 3/8” shims for 60 lbs. seat pressure
Dan Price tubular header with 2” exhaust and glasspak muffler
Zephyr dual intake with Holley 94 carbs
Reproduction Winfield crows-foot head (6.8:1) with an additional .060 milled off
Undersize billet steel crank pulley
Stock leakless Model A water pump with adapted flex fan
Lightened Model A flywheel with 9” V8 Ford clutch and pressure plate
Rotating assembly fully balanced
Model B transmission with ’36 V8 gears




I don’t have a lot of photos of the complete car, but I have included a couple of shots that show the profile and stance of what is described above. Several of the shots are from the Northwood hill climb, so please excuse the geeky-black crash helmet.



I have quite a few more detailed construction shots if people are interested in specific components or details. By the way I’m Miles Lindberg from St. Paul, Minnesota. Check out my intro too.

 

The car is just too cool!

 

Thanks Miles for posting!. Are you a member of the "We A's"? when is the next show you are attending? I would very much like to build something similar to what you did, only with a 29' A roadster body. Who did the machine/engine work for you?

 

Are those purdy wheels 18's?
What size tires?

Love the RPU!

 

1934 Ford 17” wires with 4.75x17 Excelsior front and 6.50x17 Firestone rear tires

 

That's sweet! I would love to do a hillclimb.

 

Nice write up.......Cool truck....

 

Great to know the story.
Love this little truck!

 

How many miles were you getting out of the engines before...KAPOW!!!

worried I'm gonna be breaking stuff like that too...

great rig. Would love to see some more.

 

Yes, I belong to the Twin Cities Model A Ford Club (We Gopher A's). We have our annual Midwest Swap Meet and Car Show on Sunday, September 28th. I will be there with the RPU if the weather cooperates. That's probably the last show for it this year, I usually park it by the end of October.

Engine machine work has been done by four shops. I'll list them chronologically because the original motor has had major modifications on three occasions. In the initial build I combined a Model A crankshaft with welded on counterweights with a lightened A flywheel running a Model A clutch and pressure plate. The flywheel was cut down by a machine shop in Lester Prairie, MN, but I don't know their name (Got it done through a third party). The crankshaft, flywheel and pressure plate were balanced by Minneapolis Electronic Balancing on Central Avenue in Minneapolis.

The second version was a result of scuffed pistons and rings stuck in melted aluminum piston ring lands as the after affect of running Holley 94's with stock power valves. I tore it down to fix the problem and decided to rebore to get rid of some noticeable wear and taper in the cylinders. I had also scored four oversize valves at the prior year Midwest Swap so I had a rebore and opening up of intake valve seats done by Dave Hunter at Metro Engine Service in New Brighton, MN. Dave has also done a B block for me that required a sleeve and his work is top notch.

Version three came about after the original crankshaft broke in late 2010. I found the best Model A crank I could had had it magnafluxed at Crankshaft Supply on North Washington in Minneapolis. This crank was also prepped (by me) for welded on counterweights. After the counterweights were heliarced on by a Model A club professional welder it went back to Crankshaft Supply for straightening and grinding, and to Minneapolis Electronic Balancing for their magic. Crankshaft Supply does a lot of T, A, and B crank grinding and will give you what you want, especially generous radii on the rod and main journals.

I got one season and about 800 miles out of version three before the second crankshaft broke. Based on what I found when I tore it down I concluded that it had been running with too much spark advance which was causing twist and whipping of the skinny A crank, enough in fact to damage the steel crank pulley by forcing contact with the timing cover. at that point I decided enough was enough and that I would purchase a new, forged crank. This decision led to the further decision to convert the babbit to insert bearings, to add billet steel main caps, and to add a pressure oil system for the inserted main bearings. I had also found through the other builds that it was difficult if not impossible to find a uniform set of rebabbitted rods that were equal lengths and equal weights. In the previous two engine builds I had machined the tops of the pistons to achieve equal deck heights. For that reason I decided to purchase a set of new forged rods in an attempt to resolve that issue as well, sinc each time I broke a crank I also destroyed the babbit in the rod on the affected journal. This go-around the block was line bored and the rear main cap modified for bronze thrust washers by Durable Performance in Jordan, MN. I also decided to go with further flywheel lightening and a V8 clutch and pressure plate while the thing was apart yet again. I cut off the ridge that secures the Model A pressure plate with a Sawzall and had Metro Engine finish the job on their flywheel surfacer. A buddy with a mill and a lathe drilled the flywheel and helped me with oil pump mods and once again cutting tops of pistons to a uniform deck height. It all went back to Minneapolis Electronic Balancing for balancing as a complete assembly.

I built the oil pressure system and handled the multiple final assemblies. Knock on wood this version has stayed together so far and runs strong. I changed my total distributor timing and replaced an advance stop that was part of the Mallory distributor, so total advance is now dialed back quite a bit from what it was when I was breaking crankshafts. Both engine machine shops mentioned above will build a turn-key A or B motor in any configuration you want or can afford.

 

also curious about how much advance you ran before and now. thanks

 

I am now convinced that too much spark advance was the major contributing factor to the two broken cranks. I changed my set up so that my total advance is 24 degrees (stock A and B is 30 degrees). For some reason I did not experience spark knock under most driving conditions but recall a kind of surging at higher rpm's which I believe was the motor fighting itself and twisting those poor old Ford pretzels. I have three driving seasons on the latest version with the Burlington crank and I think it's solid now. Maybe the other set-ups would have lived but for too much advance; I have a buddy who added a Weiand head and two 97's on a used Model A motor with babbit bearings and gravity oiling and he has been running it hard for over twenty years. I've seen your build thread and think you will be fine with the equipment you are running. Don't worry, have fun with it!!

 

thanks!

 

How about a bunch more build pics Miles...chassis, suspension without the body on it, interior, dash etc. More pics please!

 

Yes I also too would be interested in seeing some build pics. Thanks for the contact leads on engine builders and balancers. I've heard balancing the rotating mass in these are the key to longevity.What HP/TQ are you estimating the current engine is running? where in St. Paul are you located?. I'm curious about the pressurized oil system you devised..sorry for all the questions,probably see you at the show at the end of the month.

 

As I mentioned above I have a lot of engine pics but not too much on the initial build and unfortunately no overall chassis shots without the body. The rear suspension is shown pretty well in a couple of the photos above, but I'll try to get a couple shots of the front and get them posted. Interesting you should ask about the interior, there really wasn't anything except seat cushions until the last couple of days. I made some cardboard hip and door panels, and have a rubber mat in a pile waiting to get some modifications to fit correctly around the B shift tower. For now the floorboards are just painted plywood. I'll try to get a few photos resized and posted over the next couple of days.

 

When I go to Back to the Fifties each year, this is one car I search for every time. And I spend at least 20 minutes walking around it checking out details.

 

Tonight I have a few pictures of the "other" side of the engine compartment, the side that usually stays closed to hide the illicit GM alternator. I've also included a firewall shot; those '28-29 firewalls with the strip of bolts for the gas tank can hold all kinds of gadgets. I have the electric fuel pump, regulator, and original Model A horn all mounted to the firewall with simple, bolt-on brackets. I'm also posting a shot showing the modified steering arms with the steering balls moved to the bottom of the arm. It's not immediately noticeable but I filed the bottoms of the arm flat where the ball fits and welded on a piece of 3/16 flat stock to create a thicker boss to receive the stem of the replacement balls. The stems were welded to the spindle arms after being pushed into the hole drilled through the thickened boss. I found a flat washer with the correct O.D. to accept the sheet metal grease retainers that fit over the steering balls when the tie rod ends are assembled. I had to drill out the inside of the washer to fit on the stem of the replacement ball. The washers go next to the ball on the bottom side of the steering arms. The other suspension photo shows the drag link connection to the pitman arm. I used a shortened pitman arm (new, quality forgings are readily available from Model A suppliers) to optimize the alignment of the drag link with the pivot point of the radius rod. The pitman arm had to be heated and bent inward to avoid interference with the radius rod. This arrangement works well with no bump steer at all, even crossing driveway aprons and similar conditions where there is sudden suspension travel with the wheels turned.




Gotta get to bed, F.A.S.T. hill climb and speed meet in Northwood Iowa tomorrow!

 

What kinda RPM / SPEED does this Monster put out.
This is REAL Hot Rodding!...Awesome!
Tommy

 

I have seen 75 on the speedo with plenty of throttle left; more than I want to use with current tires and shocks. It gets a little squirrelly over 65. At one of our hill climbs I went through the traps flat out in 2nd gear at around 54 mph. Based on tire size and gearing that works out to about 4200 rpm (no tach). The fun thing about four-bangers is lots of torque; I think I have surprised a few people who have stopped alongside in traffic!