Projects A Farm Truck Comes to the City—’29 Pickup Build

What you're looking a now is a reverse eye main and 7 leaves.

 

You did kinda skip over that part

 

I need to update more often while I remember stuff.

 

Yes you do At least we would appreciate it!

 

I wonder how this one fit? The rearend is a 36, which will also readily fit an A spring.

 

I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong. Or they're not correct. I'm not saying T springs don't work. Its gotta be something to do with what i have. Too many guys have reported using them for it to be a myth. This discussion is probably best for another thread though as not to hijack Clark's thread further off course.

 

I had a '27 T chassis sorta yard art that needed a rear axle under it to roll around. No spare T axles so I stuck a Model A rear axle on the T spring that was already on the frame. Wasn't a big deal to make it fit. Now that rear axle and '27 T spring are under a '30 Tudor of a friend that is listed in the HAMB classifieds. I believe '26 '27 springs are a little different than earlier cars as the set lower. Rear T spring perches on '26 '27 are different too and are farther apart than earlier T's. Maybe the late springs are longer?? Dunno.

Dave

 

From some of the older threads it looks like you need a 26-27 Model T spring.

 

I believe I'm owed an update

 

Man, it’s been so long, this will be more backdate than update. But here goes.

So about this engine. It’s a rebuilt 8RT, which apart from the heads is an 8BA for all intents and purposes. I got it from my brother, who got it off Craigslist. It sat in his shop for a long time before I got my hands on it. Hitchhiker and I dug into it, oh my gosh, more than a year ago. I was delighted to see that it was in fact a rebuild; you never really know when you get a motor with no paperwork until you open it up. But it was clean, marked up to show what had been done, and even had a nice new (and somewhat costly) oil pump.


Of course it had to come apart completely, not only because the old assembly lube had fossilized, but also because we’re changing it to a 59AB configuration (for fit in this tiny engine bay), which means changing out the cam.


We discovered a few issues along the way. The cylinder cross-hatching seemed to be only OK, so we figured we’d give it a hone. We discovered a couple con rods were missing a PAL locknut, which was a little disconcerting. We looked hard but never found them, so they must have been skipped or overlooked during assembly. Also, one head-stud hole was missing half its threads. It still had some bite, so they must have figured it would be OK, but we opted for an insert.

But the most concerning thing we found was some odd discoloration and scoring on the main bearings. We surmise this came from somebody turning it over excessively after the assembly lube had dried out.

We could have done this ourselves, more or less, but we decided the smart thing to do was send the block and crank to the machine shop. But only after it got to ride around in the back of my daily for, I kid you not, six weeks while I waited for an opening (long story there). Anyway, they polished the crank, checked the bore alignment, fitted new main bearings, installed an insert, and gave everything a thorough cleaning.

By the way, you know you’re in the right machine shop when you see something like this on the wall. Some of these posters have been reproduced, but this one is the genuine article.



Then it was back to Hitchhiker’s shop, where we reassembled the engine, complete with low profile truck pumps and an Isky 77-B cam. (Oh, and ARP nuts on the rod caps, so we didn’t have to deal with those pesky PALs.)

Here it is at the end of the process, being transformed from a rather poorly painted red to a cool-if-somewhat-garish gold, which I think will add to the under-hood surprise factor. And then into the truck it went.





Now, as anybody who’s ever done an AV8 know, this is only the beginning of our installation Odyssey. The next obstacle is all the fussing and fiddling of adding all the needed components and making them fit. And of course, this is especially challenging with a ’29 (such a small bay) that will run a hood (can’t move the radiator) and, as-God-is-my-witness, will have a mechanical fan.

OK, I’ll be honest, this is kind of the fun part. More on that to come.

 

Is this the hero's quest part of the story?

 

WOW! New to this thread but what a great bunch of people to follow as I begin my first A project. It's a 29 Roadster PU that was cut and hot rodded in the late 50's or early 60's.

 

This is looking good. Keep us posted.

 

I have been wondering about mech fan & early steering box. Looking forward to the adventure