I haven’t pulled the valve cover yet. We have pretty even compression so I think the valves are all working. I set the initial timing by loosening the points cam on the distributor shaft. I no longer suspect timing - I’m certain that smashed exhaust is the problem. We are running on 12 volts right now but will probably be 6 when it’s all said and done… main thing now is to assess the condition of the fuel tank. I’m sure it will run and drive.
We cut that crunched exhaust off and that old bitch popped right off. Sorta. First we had to diagnose a no-start which seems to have been caused by the wire between the plates in the distributor grounding out. I put a whole new wire harness in which I ended up halfway ripping back out while trying to chase the issue. But after replacing that wire, it's alive. Despite how it looks, the original radiator actually does hold water somehow, so now I have an extra aluminum rad just in case. We ran into some snags though - the old hose clamps had to be cut off and we didn't have any hose clamps big enough for the new hoses. Also, the water pump is super tight and does not want to free up for us. I'm gonna have to either replace that or get it freed up before the truck can be driven. But other than that, she seems to be alive and kicking.
Ouch - I see the hood tried to bite ya! That's gonna leave a mark... The carb looks like it's seeping a bit at the base, too. But great for you that you have a runner!! Congratulations!
That carb is a random Tilly out of a pile I got. I had never tried to run it before and didn’t do anything to it. It needs to be rebuilt, it is leaking bad around the bowl and I guess the flange may be warped too as there’s like no seal against the manifold. I have a Zenith that is a great runner except someone ruined the top by over tightening the sediment screen and pulling the threads out, and another mystery Tilly that may or may not run. Carb roulette…
I thought that was going to leave a mark too but it didn't. We tried to get the hood off but the screws are rusted pretty good so we didn't mess with it for too long. I was hoping the truck didn't backfire when I saw that carb pissing gasoline.
Well, all went well today. Replaced the motor mounts, radiator mounts and water pump and we were off to the races. The truck yard drove and, after a two hour haul back to my town, pulled off the trailer on its own power, around my friend's property and backed into her shop without incident. This is where it will stay while I work through the body wood and other little issues. It's much closer to home and I will be able to chip away at it in the evenings.
One thing I need to do sooner than later is some conservation work. I think it's fair to call this truck a survivor in its current state and I don't want to take that away from it. The chassis is in good shape but the paint is flaking off here and there leaving bare metal to rust, and there are a couple of rust spots in the cab - not severe enough that I want to strip it and repaint it, but I need to deal with them somehow, especially at the bottom of the cab back. The running boards have a couple of spots too but again nothing serious. I am thinking I am going to leave the cab bolted to the frame while I work through the wood, then once it's square and tight, pull it so I can get the fenders and running boards off. I bought some Eastwood rust encapsulator primer that I will brush paint the chassis with after powerwashing and sanding to remove the loose paint and rust scale. (I also need to do this to get the serial number off the frame because the truck did not come with a title and the engine is a replacement with no number to use.) For the body, I am thinking a CLR treatment on the outside to remove rust stains from the paint and to neutralize what active rust there is in three spots, after which I will use the wipe-on clearcoat product Poppy's Patina on all the external painted surfaces to hopefully restore some depth and lustre to the faded paint. The inside subframe and structural elements that will be hidden behind interior panels will get the chassis black rust encapsulator treatment. All of this interior conservation will have to be done before the body wood goes in, of course. I think this is the best route to keep the truck looking like an honest, well-kept blue-collar hauler that I can still put to work and not have to worry about scratching expensive paint.
Sounds like a plan. I would suggest top coating all the primer though, even if it's cheap enamel. In fact, brush on or spray on enamel is how it would be touched up 'down on the farm'. Also try rubbing out the paint before top coating. No. 7 glaze can revive old single stage very well.
Another round of parts, another generous cash infusion-... oops, card declined. My bank thought my card got jacked and locked it. I've never had this happen before - not even when it was actually stolen! I decided to run a 12v alternator on this truck so I can run some equipment. I also ordered the paint stuff I'm gonna need and a Nu-Rex timing doodad as I never quite got the hang of the manual advance. I was gonna run a B distributor but I've learned the B distributor doesn't provide enough advance... since I really need to pull the valve cover off anyway just to inspect the motor I might as well pop in the Nu-Rex advance while I'm in there.
Whew! That was a busy day but it paid off in the end! I gotta do something about these tires. The truck is driving SUPER good but the flat-spotted tires are trying to shake it apart at speed.
Got beds? Picked these up today. These are both the correct bed for my truck. I need to rob some brackets off the rustier one to complete the nicer one, then I guess I'll sell the rustier one off (or maybe make a trailer??) Brother also gave me a complete set of brake shoes and the lug stud/nut I'm missing... my truck has brakes & they work, but since it sat for so long I really need to blow the brakes apart for service, so might as well reline these and install them while I'm in there. Also... Getting ready to put the wood in the body. I'll be sealing this and painting it black once we get a warm day.
On March 23 the high school I went to is hosting a car show at their new auto tech facility. I'm planning to be there with this truck... lots to do.
With only a month til the show I wanna hit... Most everything has been pretty compliant on this truck so far but the fenders have been a battle. I'm glad I had the foresight to buy a new hardware kit for the fenders and aprons because every single fastener has had to be cut or ground off. We were running out of time tonight so we focused on the driver side fender so that I could get the serial number and start the title process (the engine is an old rebuild and does not have a number). Fortunately the number was totally legible and comes back as May 1931. The other fender is almost ready to come off but someone tried to braze the apron to the fender (on both sides) and stuck the assembly to the frame pretty good in the process. As far as I can tell, other than tires and the top material, I have everything I need... and I can drive it to the show on these tires. Full steam ahead!
Everything seemed to fit OK except the top bows. I'm not going to try to install the wood until the cab is back sitting on the frame and on new body mounts. Scrubbing will probably be all I do for the next week!
I forgot to mention last week- the old jack that was under the seat cleaned up well. It seemed pretty fucked and I didn't have any expectations that it would emerge from the acid bath in a usable condition, but... A little bit of love got it broke loose and it works great. This is actually a late 31 Ford script AA jack, so it may be the truck's original jack. Sadly there was no handle. Worth jack shit but pretty cool that it gets a new lease on life & stays with the truck.
Lol, doubtful with this one. Been plugging away... time limited but getting 30 minutes to an hour each day to accomplish small tasks on this truck is helping it come along pretty good. While removing hardware I was reminded that this was once just an old truck and keeping it moving was more important than doing it right... the fenders were brazed to the frame in a couple spots and the bolts for the front fender braces were welded to the braces. The frame rails are mostly cleaned up and ready for paint. Have a couple spots inside the rails I need to give a little more attention to. Unbelievably, two of those nuts just unscrewed like nothing was wrong with them. The third one had to be ground out. On the other side, they all just came right off. There is a crack in front of the crossmember on both sides. I know this is a relatively normal crack for Model As due to frame flexing & the stiffness created by the bumper. I think it propagated extra high on this truck because of the huge ass bumper and the use of a winch (we are pretty sure it had a winch). I'm just gonna V it out and fill it with 7018.
Not too much. Waiting on good weather to paint this chassis. I installed my Nu-Rex timing gizmo, rebuilt & installed a Marvel-Schebler carburetor, rebuilt and reinstalled the throttle control assembly so I won’t need a patio door spring for the throttle return… nothing that makes for exciting pictures. I did get an original jack handle for that mechanical jack.
What do you mean, nothing that makes exciting pictures? I love to see the progress on all your builds!
Finally got a winning combination of weather & time, so I went by after work with Saul and got to work. First things first - welding! I fixed up the couple of issues the frame had before we put some paint down... Suuuper happy with the way this Eastwood chassis paint went down. That's the outside of the front section done - inside next!
Always liked what Pete Eastwood did with a 32AA truck. Think he used a 327 with and auto trans and a later model rear end, to make it a little more highway friendly. Flatbed trucks are very useful, and can be made to look cool too!
For me, all the fun in this hobby is in reanimating old iron, so I'm not pulling a running engine, but I am already considering a couple of different swap options in case this 4 banger lets go. Probably be something much more modern though... the 2.3 ecoboost is a pretty impressive little powerplant and would fit neatly under the hood. Sacrilegious, I know... My rationale is that this is a truck and I want to be able to use it like a truck... if I'm not putting a flathead 4 back in it (like a Burtz), I'm going to have to do a bunch of re-engineering anyway, and since it's not a hot rod, I might as well pick something newer with OTC parts support anywhere I go.
1960’s Chevy 2 banger engine would be my “modern” 4 cylinder choice. A friend has a flatbed mid 30’s truck. It has some killer old hardware to mount the stakes/corner braces/latches and such…really looks incredible!
I didn't get any with the two beds I brought home, but when I build the stake sides for this truck I definitely want to track down old iron hardware for everything. Mighty hard to find that stuff when you're looking for it, though...
The Jalopy Journal
