New AA finds

[John - NNY]

I recently picked up a AA tractor frame, a 1931-ish dump truck, a spare engine with 3-speed tranny, spare block, and an early AA spoke wheel front end. All that for about $750. Pictures are located at the link below.

The tractor brakes and drums look great for spare parts. The U-joint looks almost new. Initial inspection of the tranny shows it to be in great shape. Lots of usable parts for my 1930 157" AA.

The Dump truck is minus most of the cab. I do have the top two panels for the hood and radiator cowl. The mechanical dump mechanism is complete. The previous owner began rebuilding the dump body. I have a complete tailgate with coal door (very heavy) and new body sides.

The spare engine has an interesting in that it has a double 'A' and double 'star'. Could this be a factory typo?

The AA spoke front end looks like it is early production but have not been able to put a date to it yet. The front steering rod ends are bolt-together ball and socket.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery ... umid=35219

John
NNY

[Drew Mashburn]

John:

The "AA" prefix of the number stamped on your engine means it was specifically made for an AA truck. The star stamped at each end of the number is correct too.

-- Drew

[John - NNY]

Under the first 'A', there is a faint 'star' behind it. So, at the beginning of the serial number there are two 'stars' and two 'A's".

John
NNY

[Drew Mashburn]

John:

Thanks for pointing out the "faint" star. I took another look at your photo and could see it. You got me, brother. I have no idea why there are two stars at the beginning of the number.

-- Drew

[Chris Haynes]

John:

Thanks for pointing out the "faint" star. I took another look at your photo and could see it. You got me, brother. I have no idea why there are two stars at the beginning of the number.

-- Drew

It is called a screwup.

[Drew Mashburn]

Knuck:

That's actually what I figured too, but we don't want to disappoint John. He thinks he's got some rare find! Seriously, were the stars and numbers hand-stamped? If so, it would have been quite easy for the stamp to have bounced when hit with a hammer, resulting in a "faint" star.

-- Drew

[REM]

If it were a coin it would be worth a fortune.

[John - NNY]

I don't think it was a mis-strike. I think a second 'A' was added over the 'star' and then another 'star' was added. The question is, was it done at the factory on the assembly line or was it added some time later. As far as value goes, it is about as valuable as any rusty 'A' block would be.

John
NNY

[Mike in Maine]

Very interesting topic John, I notice that the engine # for the spare engine Has a production Month and Year of Feb. 1928. It is interesting because according to the Ford service Manual that was the month and year that Ford discontinued stamping engines with the AA. Ford had been stamping truck engines with the AA because of the clutch spring being different than the car clutch springs. in Feb. of 1928 the springs were changed to be the same for truck and car and stamped all engines with an A only. I would assume then that you may have an engine that had the different springs than the car for that period of time. That is, if the A and star were not added later for an unknown reason. It does appear to me that the A's are different. I am surely not definite about this but I am only mentioning what info I have. There are people that know more about this than I and maybe they will express that as time goes on.
Mike

[Neil Wilson]

Regarding the single A stamping for AA's in 1928:

For a three month period starting mid February 1928 (with engine number A-26268) through mid May 1928 (with engine number 136,000 approximately) the AA truck clutch spring was the same as the Model A. During this period the engine number had the “A” prefix. Refer to the “Service Letters” dated February 23rd and May 15th 1928.

[Mike in Maine]

Big oops! I missed a digit in your serial # in my earlier reply. Sorry about that. I was looking at six digits and missed the seventh.
Mike

[John - NNY]

Big oops! I missed a digit in your serial # in my earlier reply. Sorry about that. I was looking at six digits and missed the seventh.
Mike

Well shoot! There goes my guest appearance with Jay Leno.

John
NNY