Have you ever noticed how serene Model T Pickup owners are?
The pickups here are Model A’s and we will try to explain why their owners may not be the serene-type…
The red truck is my 1934 Ford Model 46-830 with 21 stud flathead V8.
After many false starts looking at both Model A’s and B’s I found this one in PA. It is an amateur restoration and I do mean amateur! The previous owner worked on it for 10 years, drove it 5 times and passed away at 89 years old. It looks like he used whatever was available in his shop for screws, nuts and bolts.
I have replaced all of the wheel bearings, 5 new tires, 2 new water pumps, rebuilt the brakes, installed an alternator, 2 temperature gauges and sorted out the cobbled up wiring. He used solid core 14 gauge house wire for the brake lights. After being stranded by the distributor a few times I just installed a Stromberg E-Fire electronic distributor and new plug wires.
After all this I am probably going to sell it. I hate red and have found a green 1933 that is for sale. It has a newer 24 stud engine and hydraulic brakes. Looks to be more original than mine.
I really don’t know what got me hooked on these trucks. I just think they look cool going down the road. My “perfect” Model A pickup would be 1931 wide bed with steel roof, steel bed and indented firewall. It would be either Brewster Green with black wheels or Thorne Brown with black wheels. It would have a Mitchell overdrive and a Model B engine with a counter-balanced crank shaft and insert bearings. Absolutely no whitewall tires on any truck. Also nothing chrome or stainless. These were work trucks and should look like work trucks.
The Model A pickups do not have much room in the cabs. Apparently there weren’t any big and tall people buying trucks back then. The post 1932, 33 and 34 pickups do have a bit more room in the cabs.
As soon as the weather breaks and mud season is over I will be putting the truck up for sale, and go look at that green one again.
– VAEer, Rob Marcotte
This Model A to the left is a 1931 and owned by Dennis Dodd. He is one of those guys who Rob was talking about above. Dennis has some height to him. So, along with a really nice body-off restoration he has done a few things to make more room for him self. First was to push the seat frame back about two inches, to more easily get his feet in, and he plans to make thinner cushions. He will also be cutting about two inches off the foot pedals.
The really big move was to raise the steering wheel up about three inches. To do this, he had to remove the gas tank and rebuild the steering column attachment to the dash area. The task now is to find a place for the tank, he has a few ideas.
The A to the right belongs to the Paradis’ in Bakersfield. They purchased it, not too long ago, and have done some work to get it ready for the summer drive season. Joe says this is his fourth or fifth A-Pick up and the reason; he just likes the looks of them. He has changed out some damaged gears in the transmission and rear-end, and also a few minor wiring repairs. He says he never liked Moto Meters and has added a temp gauge to his dash area.
This from your editor…… I am happy with my T-pickup, and totally in a place of sereneness Arummmmmmm. I do not want to do anything to it.
A Raxaul rear-end and Rocky Mountain brakes came with it, what more could a feller want?
Now to why an “A” owner might be missing the “Serene” part. I can only guess. When I am going down the road at 32 MPH, and the 20 HP engine just humming along, it is a nice day.
Maybe the 24.03 HP engine that can make an A go 40 or 50 MPH gives out different vibes. Remember the Army tank captain, Oddball, in the “Kelly’s Hero’s” movie….now he knew his “vibes”!
Maybe it is a hold-over Henry thing. Remember reading how much he loved his Model T’s? When his son could see other car brands passing them by, he created the model A, behind his dad’s back. So, maybe the A’s just do not have the “Henry vibe” ….do you think?
I am sure there will be problems with my assumptions. There might even be some name-calling and such. I will simply stay in my Zen-state….. Arummmmmmm……
Hey Rob, Did you know the color red is the “happiness color”?
Leave a Reply