express body assembly

AA Ford Discussion Group relating to the repair and restoration of your AA Ford.
Post Reply
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

express body assembly

Post by birdacre »

i have a dec 28 AA with any express body. i had the sides repaired. was the entire body riveted together from start? my body came in pieces. say for example the head board.... was it riveted or bolted? if bolted were they square nuts? any photos of an original express body?? thank you, kevin
Stakebed
Posts: 1223
Joined: June 14th, 2007, 7:29 pm
Body Type: Grainbox
Model Year: 1929
Location: Illinois

Re: express body assembly

Post by Stakebed »

I think majority of the bed was rivets. Then was bolted to the frame. Im just guessing as Ive seen one other express bed but majority of the standard pickup bed was riveted as you didnt want to see bolt heads/threads on the outside and didnt want to have bolt threads or nuts to snag your cargo...
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express body assembly

Post by birdacre »

thank you for info. i have heard of rivet bolts that look authentic. they use them on old jeeps. anyone have any experience with these. what type of a rivet gun would be needed to put authentic rivets on this express box? air gun? torch and hammer? not rivet savvy.
Bob C
Posts: 1442
Joined: April 24th, 2003, 11:50 am
Body Type: Mail truck, Stake tr
Model Year: 1931
Location: SO CAL

Re: express body assembly

Post by Bob C »

Go to this link and scroll down to instructions. http://bigflatsrivet.com/
You need a rivet gun not an air hammer or chipping gun.

Bob
markt
Posts: 110
Joined: June 24th, 2011, 7:35 pm
Body Type: 188a
Model Year: 1928
Location: Tofield, Alberta , canada

Re: express body assembly

Post by markt »

My express bed was totally riveted together. To do a proper repair I had to remove most of them. I replaced all the rivets with rivets, got a couple of kits from Snyders for a model A box. This gave me plenty of rivets to use (and destroy a few) with the heads that look very original. I did use the air hammer attachment, I had to modify it a bit to make better looking heads, and made a bucking bar out of 1 inch round stock about 2 feet long to give it some weight. In the ends of the bar I made recesses to fit the rivet heads so they would get damaged during the riveting process. This a two person job but works very well.
Post Reply