Back from the Farm, Rusty T, was it worth it?

It was T after all, I think. I sure wish my great uncle had parked this thing inside the barn rather than the 27 old tires he had in there After getting the John Deere moved we were able to get the old Ford lifted up out of the dirt and out into the light...

It's a little rougher that I thought... The cowl area seemed to still be attached to the frame somehow, but just about every other lower body mounting point has returned to the earth... Do you think it's too far gone?

Hidden behind the tractor...



First sight...



I felt a little like Huck Finn watching three volunteers moving the tractor because it was "fun", note the floor jack under the R.R. axle, had to lift all the wheels out of the dirt and back fill the holes before it would move, luckily we found neutral...



Getting ready to back the trailer under it, we unhooked the ball from the truck and tilted the front up, then used a Come-along to pull the two together, worker pretty well...



at one point in the cars life it was turned into a "truck", a very small truck...




As far as I know it's been in the family since new, since *way* back anyway, the odometer shows about 36000 miles...



All I can think now is WHOA! The thought of getting this thing or some part of this thing back on the road seems more than a little daunting... I'll have a ton of questions before long, just wanted to show some pics and share the day, and see what you guys think.

More pics are here... http://www.pbase.com/whit2/jalopy

Thanks

 

Cool,but that is a Model A 28-29.

 

I believe that is a '29 Model A.


.....HELL NO! its NOT too far gone.

That is a great piece of history. If you don't want to fart with it, sell it to someone who will put it back together.

I've seen worse.

I've seen guys on here stitch worse back together.

 

Hayduke, that thiing looks like it just rolled off the assembly line compared to some I've seen. It may be rusty but it looks like it's all there and whatever you don't use is trade bait. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

Did you pay anything or was it a freebe? In any case you have a great start. Re-pop parts are cheap for an A, even if you need a frame you can find them all day for around $200.00. Your going to have a great time building.

 

hell yes!!!

you got a decent starting body for a nice lil sport coupe.

dont give up hope... "Von" Tingler is right, there are doods here have started with less and resurected em to amazing dailys. (sorry J...hadda give ya a quick jab in the ribs seein as how ya turned your back on the Willys )

keep us in the loop... from what i see, you are a pic ho like most of us here...

T

 

So far the only cost has been gas, trailer rental and grub, and a couple band-aids, those vines growing thru the engine compartment had mighty thorns! I was suprised at how many of the small parts were still there, especially the roof stuff...of course all the cool shiny parts were taken a generation ago. The oil fill tube still had an oily residue, might be a good sign...

 

How much for the John Deere???I will come fetch it back to my place.

 

You will ask if it was worth it when you start working on the sheetmetal.

 

You call that rough, here in Michigan some guys call that "nearly mint"...

 

That was one of my biggest concerns, the fenders are so brittle they've cracked in several places, and I'm sure much of the lower body is the same... it's going to be interesting... and slow

 

I think the plan is to haul it back next weekend... my brother wants it, for now. There are a number of spare JD parts in the barn, cylinder head, crank, rods, etc. We'll probably haul some of that back as well...

 

in the north east if the door handles are there its a keeper....when we were kids building cars we had too smelt our own iron then beat it with two rocks, this should be a snap

 

Thats a great find and hell of a start. Like others said thats still in pretty damn good shape for what it is and for sitting outside for that long. That would have never made it as long as it has here in Michigan, especially with no top.

 

I love the planks running out the back Looks like it saw service as an RPU for a while.... Great starting condition, more than alot of guys had.

Flatman

 

That car shows alot of history. I love hearing and seeing things like this....Good luck with the build and keep us updated with pictures.

 

The only thing Model T there is the rear "bumper"...

But yea, if you know how to weld... you can save it.

Sam.

 

Shit- a little paint and you're done!

Check out Mart's site for inspiration.

 

You mean the rear bumper extension? I thought that was pretty nifty...



I've been wanting to learn to weld, guess now I've got a really good reason

 

Very cool! Thanks for showing the pics!

 

Lots of cars were converted to pickups during WW2. Gas rationing allowed more fuel coupons for "farm use". Many were converted just for that reason. My Grandfather used to talk about that.

 

I guess this is my favorite picture,........... and so it begins

 

...looks like a long-lost relative to one I found last year!

 

Nice find, I've seen alot worse truck conversions. That won't be too bad to correct.

 

Way to go, looks like fun.

 

I'd be beating the edges of the fields looking for the rear lid.
Nice score.............

 

Can't say for sure where you are, but here in WI years ago, if you were a recognized farm you got a really reduced if not free rate on Farm Truck plates. My Gramps did the plank and hacksaw trick to a 63 Chev Impalla 4 door (or one of its less equipt brothers) and got the cheap tags. He even had the slow moving triangle on an old antenna spring mounted to the roof so it would fold down when the car got up to speed.

 

An oldster told me the A bodies sit on wood blocks on the frame, so what's missing may be a lot more easily replaced than you think.

That's a nice piece, the pickup I am trying to get makes yours look like a good used car...

 

I started with barn find, 1926 Model T tourning car just as bad. see my profile, it show what I started with and were it's at now. You can find all the patch sheet metal.
jughead26

 

a good start I think