new member
Posted: October 11th, 2017, 6:07 pm
My name is Alan Comfort and I live in Roberts Creek, BC, CANADA. I am new to the Ford AA truck world. I picked up my '28 AA flat bed in June and have been working toward getting it roadworthy. It has a non matching number four banger with a three speed gearbox and worm drive differential without the separate parking brake. It sits on 600 X 20 split rim wire wheels and has the full rear fenders. The flat deck body has "Ford Truck" stamped in raised script across the back of the platform support. It is a good runner but was in desperate need of kingpins. It seems that this truck has led a sheltered life as there is very little rust in the body, the undercarriage is virtually rust free and the wood has only a few soft spots.
I have replaced the floor boards with 3/4" birch plywood and have made interior door panels from 1/8" plywood painted black. While replacing the kingpins I noticed that there was a serious bend in the front axle, so I removed if and straightened it out on a 40 ton press. It is now straight, give or take 1/32". It is missing one front shock, arm and link, and I have replacement parts on the way. The other front shock appears to be in working condition with no oil leaks. There are no rear shocks or any evidence of old mounting hardware. The brakes need a complete overhaul, which is currently underway. And I plan to replace the totally sagged out front spring with a 10 leaf passenger car spring with a couple of extra leafs from the old spring. I believe that this will resolve the ride height issue. The brakes area bit weak but I think that some improvement will be made by straightening the bent brake rods, fitting new linings to the shoes, cleaning up the petrified grease in the arms and wedges and doing a careful adjustment.
The wiring harness has been badly bodged by a previous owner and I have made some temporary repairs to get the horn and lights working. I have a new wiring harness that i will fit in the near future.
The rear fender braces were AWOL when I got the truck. I have fabricated some temporary braces from steel plate and bent steel tubing, but I will try to find some original braces.
I do not have any interest in making this truck a concourse winner, but rather a good driver. This truck would be a good candidate full a restoration, so I will not do any cutting or chopping that will make a full restoration more difficult should the next custodian wish to take that path. I am fortunate to be living in an area that has no high speed roads or long distances to travel.
I look forward to returning this truck to service and making good use of the collective knowledge and wisdom of the participants in this forum.
Regards, Alan
I have replaced the floor boards with 3/4" birch plywood and have made interior door panels from 1/8" plywood painted black. While replacing the kingpins I noticed that there was a serious bend in the front axle, so I removed if and straightened it out on a 40 ton press. It is now straight, give or take 1/32". It is missing one front shock, arm and link, and I have replacement parts on the way. The other front shock appears to be in working condition with no oil leaks. There are no rear shocks or any evidence of old mounting hardware. The brakes need a complete overhaul, which is currently underway. And I plan to replace the totally sagged out front spring with a 10 leaf passenger car spring with a couple of extra leafs from the old spring. I believe that this will resolve the ride height issue. The brakes area bit weak but I think that some improvement will be made by straightening the bent brake rods, fitting new linings to the shoes, cleaning up the petrified grease in the arms and wedges and doing a careful adjustment.
The wiring harness has been badly bodged by a previous owner and I have made some temporary repairs to get the horn and lights working. I have a new wiring harness that i will fit in the near future.
The rear fender braces were AWOL when I got the truck. I have fabricated some temporary braces from steel plate and bent steel tubing, but I will try to find some original braces.
I do not have any interest in making this truck a concourse winner, but rather a good driver. This truck would be a good candidate full a restoration, so I will not do any cutting or chopping that will make a full restoration more difficult should the next custodian wish to take that path. I am fortunate to be living in an area that has no high speed roads or long distances to travel.
I look forward to returning this truck to service and making good use of the collective knowledge and wisdom of the participants in this forum.
Regards, Alan