After a couple hours of web surfing and reading, it seems like the bed could be an early 1926 Model T, as they used the stamped half moon fender locators but had the front pockets mistakenly placed to the forward ends of the box side. But...no cutout for the battery? Or is it a very early Model A box, using left over Model T side panels but the front panel for the A. Tailgates for T's and A's seem to be interchangeable but hinges have slight variations. A bit of a mystery, more sleuthing to be done.
Turns out I'm not very observant, it sure looks like remnants of a battery access port in the left front of the bed panel; So here is my best guess at what I've got; A '26 or '27 Model T box, with sort of rare (?) forward mounted stake pockets and with a random Model A tailgate. There are many interesting discussions on the interweb about how to identify the various years and incremental changes and why. At this point I'm just gonna use what I have and make it all work, it's a hot rod after all.
Warning - a bit off topic; Had a hard crash on our dual sport Friday, up on a dirt road and hit a rut that threw the wife and I off the bike. She came out of it ok, with just some bruises, I've got bruised ribs and a few other dings, boy do those ribs hurt. We were wearing our riding gear and were very lucky. With so many projects going on; 29 RPU, 55 Dodge, multiple bike projects, could only sit in the house for so long. Hobbled out to the shop Monday and got back on the 55 Dodge cooling system, only lasted two hours, went back out Tuesday for a couple more hours, yesterday I just stuck it out until I had the 55 back together. After converting from Chinesium fans and weird multi belt arrangement to single belt and mechanical fan, needed a shroud; Using the old electric fan mounting plate as a shroud adapter, scrap aluminum as filler pieces; The shroud is far from perfect, but initial test drive seemed promising. Still planning to open up the fender skirts to increase air flow and also a less restrictive exhaust system. The rear end is the next project for the 55. Apologies for the off topic. I need to get the 55 done and out of the way so I can go all out on the RPU. Also have several old bikes for sale to help pay for more RPU parts.
I work best off a list, decided to start one today on the RPU. This list will help keep me on track and has things that can be done without spending money so the project moves forward between parts purchases; 1929 Roadster Pickup To-Do List as of 4-24-25 (*indicates parts need purchased) Check frame for square R&R front cross-member (pay attention to caster!) Mock up front end on frame *Mock up split wishbone mounts *Mock up spindles n front brakes *Determine over or behind transverse spring or coil-overs *Determine track arms n K member Z rear frame *Box frame Mock up Vega cross steer *Install steering box mount Mock up steering column *Replace turn signal switch n horn adapter *Mount steering wheel Install water pump n pulleys (might have?) Clean intake n carbs *Rebuild carbs Install intake n carbs *Build linkage Gas pedal install *Mock up engine n trans mounts Master cylinder and pedal Cut n gut factory fuel tank Mock up gauge panel Replace door pillars n dash parts with roadster pieces Mock up windshield posts *Install windshield Cut n modify phaeton tub to fit pu box Determine channeled or high boy *Firewall *Floor *Box bed Install aluminum fuel tank Work on title (start 3 ring binder for all paperwork) Lots of gaps in this list, but it'll help...
I hope your ribs are starting to feel better. Nice progress on the project. I agree a list is very helpful.
Thanks Grumpy, turns out two are broken. Sneezed at breakfast this morning and was in agony, could hardly breathe, wife took me to emergency and after more X-rays they found the breaks. Now I'm really gonna have to take it easy for a couple weeks! Wife will be watching me like a hawk, so will have to sneak out to the shop. LOL
Yes, it take some time to heal broken ribs. You can expand your list into smaller tasks to complete each item on your list. May help keep your mind and hands busy while you ribs get better.
Well.....from a practical standpoint if you channel it that'll be less firewall you have to clean up and less of a cab back you have to make.
Here is a picture I borrowed from @evintho 's build thread of his '27; Sure looks like my bed, his is nicer though!
Initial steering column mock-up, with the swap meet ididit steering column. I wanted to see if the original '29 Model A column mount was even in the ballpark. Mine was missing the cap, but I did have what I believe is a '31 Model a column drop; The one original screw was frozen in place; Success; It was fun to sit behind the wheel for the first time; I can always use the '31 drop to change the angle, too early to tell what is needed. Fiddling around with the grille shell and the radiator support rods; The radiator support rods were left overs from the old '29 doodlebug project. Running uphill at this moment but that's fixable. Part of my engine list is to get a starter on it and spin it over to verify proper lifter rotation in their bores. Due to current tight funding, I decided to see what I could scrounge up in the piles of junk I recently rescued. This 14" flex-plate appears to be correct for a block mounted starter, one of the large holes was tweaked where some one had pried on it, but might be good enough for my initial efforts; There was only one starter in the piles of old parts, it might work; No Bueno; Hmm...might need a little cleaning; I straightened the flywheel with a BFH, then put all the starter parts in a pan and soaked with PB Blaster. I did bite the bullet and ordered the split wishbones mounting kits for the front end. Have some of the SBC short blocks and other pieces for sale, if something sells, can order my spindles, brakes and a few other bits. Moving a little better every day.
Broken brush holder and tension spring completely rusted away; Have a complete brush kit with holders and springs ordered.
While waiting for the starter brush kit to arrive, wanted to get the 283 off the tall and somewhat unstable engine stand and down lower onto one of the roller style stands that allows room for the starter and flywheel. Also needed to get the trailer full of SBC's unloaded and sorted out to keep or sell. I've been busy despite the broken rib, but have put off the SBC's as I knew there'd be heavy lifting involved. I also had a guy coming to look at the engines and wanted things to be somewhat organized for that. First thing was to take the smashed old canopy off the pickup bed trailer. Then using a piece of plywood as a kind of ramp, slid the TH400 out and into a corner of the shop. With that out of the way, backed under my jury rigged engine puller and lifted the first SB400 up and out; As it lifted into the air and I got my first good look, I saw something weird, daylight from a spark plug hole??? I must be seeing things? Nope, one rod and piston is completely missing. I'd started this whole process with the idea of getting a good SB400 for a pickup project, but because of the trailer being so full I'd never gotten a good look at the engine. Hoping the other SB400 is usable, this one will get stripped of anything useful and junked. Pulling the other SB400; I'll pull the plugs, intake and valve covers for a visual inspection and use the endoscope to look inside, then try rolling the engine over and see if it seems to rotate ok. If all that works, will put a starter on it and spin it over and check for oil pressure and compression, but all of that can wait for now. Moving the 283 to its new lower stand; Should be able to get the flywheel and starter on with this stand and continue prepping it to go in the RPU. The guy showed up and looked at the engines, sounds like he might actually buy the complete 283 and the bored out 283/327 short block. If he does, I'll have the money for spindles, hubs n brakes.
Sold some engines and one old motorcycle, then did the responsible thing and ordered more Model A parts! LOL The parts on order are the spindles, hubs and brakes. With the parts already scrounged and gathered, will finally have enough pieces to get it up on its wheels. Laid out all the parts scrounged to date, some new, some old, some swap meet; Next step was to finally get the old front cross-member out and install the new one; Used a combination of grinding, drilling, cutting, chiseling and hammering to remove the 7 rivets per side; Sure felt good to make some progress.
Update on the GM starter revival. Probably not that interesting to many, but every part counts. Please also note that when I screw up, which is more often than I'd like, I try to be open about it so others can learn from my mistakes. To explain my attempt at fixing this crusty old starter, lately I've been on an economy kick with both the bike and car projects, as I'd spent myself into a hole on the vintage bikes the last couple of years. Having a penchant for finding and fixing old bikes that in the end are not that valuable, is forcing me to economize. So instead of "splurging" for a new or rebuilt starter, I'm attempting to fix the one and only GM starter that looks like it will work on a variety of SBC engines. Good to have on the shelf if nothing else. We left off with the starter needing brushes, brush holders and springs as the old holders and springs had mostly disintegrated from rust; I'd ordered a kit off of Amazon ($40) and when it arrived, noticed the brushes were the right shape but thicker than originals. This necessitated a trip to the hardware store for longer screws. First attempt to reassemble; The new screws were perfect for the tin brush holders (on the ground side) but were still slightly too short for the plastic or resin holders. Argh. So cleaned up the best two original brushes to use on the positive side. After all, before we spent any more money on the starter or fully clean and detail it, we needed to see if it would actually spin. Yep, put the brushes on backwards, slap forehead and carry on; Reinstalled facing the correct way; And it actually worked; I'm not that versed on electric motors, but am skeptical the wider than stock brushes are optimal for producing proper starting torque? Brainiacs please weigh in and enlighten us on proper brush sizing. After looking at prices for a new solenoid and plunger with shift arm (they are rusted together), it seems like I've most likely just been wasting my time on this. At this point I'm setting it aside, ordering an inexpensive mini hi-torque starter ($89), and when and if I come across a GM starter with the pieces needed to fix this one will attempt to finish the revival. Sigh
The disc brake rotors and calipers from Speedway arrived. I know some shun the Speedway stuff because its made of Chinesium (I don't disagree), and as much as I'd like higher end parts, this is what I can afford. The rotors are mid to late 70's Chevelle and the calipers are metric knock offs. My biggest concern was the '56 Chevy 15" wheels wouldn't clear the calipers. Looks like they will work;
In the effort to make the RPU a roller, temporarily installing the front cross-member with just a couple of spot welds. Have been looking at lots of pictures and diagrams to correctly locate the cross-member and for now am going with radiator mounting holes just behind forward rivet holes, and measuring frame width at that point at 26" and frame horn ends at 25". Also measured diagonally from several locations and it seems relatively square at this early point; Using my 110v welder, cranked as high as it will go to spot weld, but it's pretty weak; My plan is to eventually clamp the rails to some I-beam or similar, get all brackets, cross-members and boxing plates spotted into place, then haul the frame over to my buddy's place to use his 220 mig to burn it all in. First attempt at clamping axle assembly into place was a fail. The el cheapo axle clamp bolts (bought at a swap meet) immediately had galled threads, also the clamping plate is flat and seems like it should have a raised section to index into the bottom of the axle and slide up into the cross-member; Even just using this clamp and bolts as a temporary piece, I knew right away the quality was not going to cut it. I'm thinking I need something more like this, from Roadster Supply; I've been trying to reduce my ignorance by reading here in the Jalopy Journal and any other sources I can find, but it takes time to fill that immense void. LOL
The king pins were super tight, would have required a BFH to get them in, so used a brake hone; The hone worked like a charm, now still plenty snug but just a light tap to get them thru. Now the spindles can be installed. Also went ahead and ordered the front spring u-bolt clamp kit from Roadster Supply.
Test fitting spindles and king pins, so far so good, other than needing additional shims to get proper clearances; The spindle kit came with four .005" inch king pin to spindle shims, using two on each side tightened things up, but not enough. Will be ordering an additional shim kit. Front spring to cross-member clamp kit came in from Roadster Supply; And fit perfectly; Next step is to install the disc brake inner bearing adapters, then the rotors can go on and we'll be close to having it up on its wheels. In addition to king pin shims, will also be ordering the correct front spring shackles (the ones I bought at the swap meet were for the rear (learning can be painful) and probably the fancier king pin retainer bolts that also act as steering stops.
Preparing to heat the inner bearing adapters. The instruction said to heat them to 400 degrees in an oven. Using my wife's oven for this would be "problematic", so opted to use the propane torch. I had my infrared temp gauge on standby to ensure the adapter didn't get too hot; At 345 degrees it started to discolor so decided to give it a try, it went on very easily, barely needed to tap it; On the RH side I only got it up to about 250 and tried it, needed a bit more persuasion but went on easily enough. Per instructions, knocking out the original inner bearing race (on left) and installing new race (on right); Packed the inner and outer bearings, installed inner bearings and seals, then slid onto the spindle. When I tried to install the outer bearings, it would not slide on, not at all. Measured the spindle snout at .750", measured the inside diameter of the LM11949 bearings and they are .745". Checked the specs for LM11949, they are supposed to be .750". It probably goes without saying the bearings were made in China. Sigh. New TIMKEN bearings are ordered. Also ordered the shackles and shims discussed earlier from Roadster Supply.
Received the Timken outer bearings today and immediately measured them. They were exactly the same size as the Chinesium bearings. Say what? Just to be sure, tried them on the spindles and they were also a no-go. At this point I'm thinking, it must to be the spindle snout? Decided to give the spindle snouts a light buff with emery cloth; After emery cloth, bearings now fit perfectly; 1st time on its wheels; Radius rod mounts clamped to inside of frame, probably a little bit higher than final setup; At this very preliminary stage, showing 5.4 degrees of caster; I'm happy with this progress. Still needs a lot of fine tuning, but it's an important step.
The Jalopy Journal
