aa-fords.com

(I am hoping that Neil can help with this question)

I have a 1930 Ford AA truck frame that is in excellent shape. Based upon Neil's work, it is a AA-5005-B-d1. It measures 171-5/16 long. The truck had an 82-A cab with a 1930 style fuel cap. The fuel tank and the fire wall are in good shape. The radiator shell is in excellent shape. I have all the pieces, including the doors, but everything is pretty rough.

I have taken a liking to these AA mail trucks and I am currently researching them. Since my sheet metal is so rough, I thought maybe it would be easier to go wood and build a AA mail truck. I have learned that they are almost all 1931s.
So, here is my problem. A 1931 would have been built on a AA-5005-D frame which is 181 5/16 long. My frame is 10 inches shorter from that standard. How much of a disaster will I experience if I attempt to mount a full size 1931 mail truck body on my AA-5005-B-d1 frame?

1931 fenders, radiator shell, hood, fuel tank and firewall, I believe will all fit just fine, or is that also a problem?

Should I just start looking for a 1931 AA-5005-D frame? Are they tough to find in good condition?

I have 31 AA Mail truck 75% complete for sale ,cowl is painted fenders have been restored ,correct spare carrier ,1/2 the wood work has been done

vonheine wrote: ↑

November 28th, 2018, 6:02 pm

(I am hoping that Neil can help with this question)

I have a 1930 Ford AA truck frame that is in excellent shape. Based upon Neil's work, it is a AA-5005-B-d1. It measures 171-5/16 long. The truck had an 82-A cab with a 1930 style fuel cap. The fuel tank and the fire wall are in good shape. The radiator shell is in excellent shape. I have all the pieces, including the doors, but everything is pretty rough.

I have taken a liking to these AA mail trucks and I am currently researching them. Since my sheet metal is so rough, I thought maybe it would be easier to go wood and build a AA mail truck. I have learned that they are almost all 1931s.
So, here is my problem. A 1931 would have been built on a AA-5005-D frame which is 181 5/16 long. My frame is 10 inches shorter from that standard. How much of a disaster will I experience if I attempt to mount a full size 1931 mail truck body on my AA-5005-B-d1 frame?

1931 fenders, radiator shell, hood, fuel tank and firewall, I believe will all fit just fine, or is that also a problem?

Should I just start looking for a 1931 AA-5005-D frame? Are they tough to find in good condition?

I have not researched the AA postal trucks (not Ford assembled). There is a RGJS supplement (D) regarding Mail Trucks. A quick scan of the text does not provide date information for the Ford supplied chassis. And the Postal A's website at http://www.postalas.org/ does not seem to cover this subject. So, were all AA Mail trucks 1931? I do not know. It looks like you can join the Postal A's for $10. This would allow you to view the members only pages on the site.

If the AA's were all built on 1931 AA chassis, then the sheet metal you have (fuel tank, fire wall, radiator shell) would not be original to/for a Postal AA truck.

There should not be a problem using 1931 fenders, radiator shell, hood, fuel tank and firewall on your 1930 chassis. I don't see a problem using the frame you have to support an AA postal body (even with 10" less in length). I seldom see AA frames for sale. AA chassis with/without engine is more common to find. The AA-5005-D frame is likely a hard find. Most sellers will not know the difference between the earlier/later frames.

The biggest problem I can think of is knowing/finding the correct metal hardware (brackets, etc.) for building an AA postal body. I don't know if there are drawings for the AA postal body. There is a CD with PDF drawings on the Postal A's wibsite. This may or may not provide the information needed.

Sorry, I am not much help on this subject.

Neil, as always, You're the Best! You did answer my question. Your thinking is that if I choose to use my frame, although it is 10 inches shorter than the ideal, you believe it would still accept the 1931 AA mail truck body. I understand that this would not be historically correct. All of the other 1931 parts would easily mount to that frame, so the only thing that would be historically wrong would be the frame itself. If I used my 1929 parts I would magnify my historical incorrectness.

I have communicated with the webmaster at the Postal As club. There are drawings out there for a AA mail truck body. However, it sounds as if they need to be used in conjunction with the many, 75 plus, detailed drawings that exist of the A mail truck body in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding to accomplish the AA build. There are "Postal People" that are making or know where to obtain all of the hardware. I have contacted a top-shelf wood shop about building some bodies. It is preliminary at this point, but there is interest.

Thank you for your response and your outstanding work on AA truck details such as the frame drawings. After studying your frame drawings I realize that over the decades, I have looked at more than a few AA frames that I thought were cut by amatures but were actually Ford factory dump truck frames. Your relentless capture of historical information is invaluable.

I am going to think about my next move.

I think you would be money ahead to take Bud up on his truck. I think you would have a hard time finding a right well fender, the left
side tire carriers show up sometimes and I assume it could be made to work on the right side. My Mail Truck is fairly complete but I've
never been able to find a windshield wiper or the little retainers that hold the glass in the windshield frame.

Bob