1929 Ford open cab pick-up

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SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

Last night I had a nice write up here but when I submitted it disapeared. Don't know where it went :!: Here I go again :D :) The open top pick-up in this picture is some of the 1929 open top pick-up that bought froma neighbor back in 1962 for$8.50. It was missing the rear fenders, hood, radiator and shell, engine, transmission tires/wheels. I was very happy to get this for $8.50 The windsheild stentions were chopped with an ax. No problem. I had bought a 1929 touring that had been chopped off behind the seat at the doors and a wood flat bed was on it for $75.00 So I combined the 2 and made a open top 1929 pick-up. I seperated the 2 at the cowl and floor rails, made the open cab / the windsheild. turned out good for a 16 yr. old kid with no help. Kinda what I'm getting at is in the picture the open cab pick-up did not have a speck of paint as in the picture and the pick-up was 33 yrs. old. After I got it together I painted the body with Rockmoss Green/Black fenders. :( Sad to say in 1982 I disasembled The open top pick-up and hung it and the wall. When I left it in Louisiana in April 2015 It still had most all the paint on it. I know I never put the paint on right with a paint brush and being 16yrs. old (more later :) I HAD A NICE WRITE UP BUT WHEN I SUBMITTED IT, IT WAS ALL LOST AND I WENT BACK TO LOGIN I'm back again. I had a good story about the engine in both open top pick-up (I'm going to call them roadster pick-up here) Same engine in both pick-ups. I'm going to start with the engine.

In the early 50s my Dad bought my Mom a 1929 tudor sedan. After some time my Dad decided to over haul the engine. I guess he knew what he was doing I was only 8yrs. old. Idon't rember him removing the hood and the radiator, Maybe I was at school. I remember coming up on the car sitting under a large oak tree in the front yard with out the hood, radiator and engineonthe car. The engine was on a table in front of the A, all apart. On a big limb in the oak tree was a set of chain blocks that he used to pull the engine, (the chain blocks he bought from SEARS & ROEBUCKS now SEARS). I watched him hand lap the valves and put in new rings on the pistons. I remember there was a small S/S plate spot welded to the block where the serial # was. The plate had bore .120 at 8 yrs. old I had on clue as to what the ment. Any way my Mom drove the car for a few more yrs. before getting another car (48Chevy tudor). The tudor A stayed around as and extra set of wheels, not really taken care of. One day my oldest brother needed a engine for a Hudson. He found one in Natchez, Mississippi which was 100 miles away. He needed a way to haul the engine, so Dad let him chop the back pannel inside the bolt line with an ax. He left after the engine. On his return trip he ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. walked to a country store to get some gas, :( They were out of gas, they had plenty of coal oil (kerosine) Got back to the A poured in the coal oil. Fired it up and he sad when he hit 2nd it got rubber with the Hudson engine in the rear.

After a few yrs. the body was chopper off behind the windshield to make a pick-up to us around the place. With 4 teen age boys It got a lot miss use, run hot and you can emagine. Next life it was turned into a tractor to pull a set of chopper disc. used it this way fora while and the frame broke. My Dad gave it to me and I tried to put the frame back together but that was a lost cause. Later about 1960 I found a Model A touring that was chopped behind the drivers seat at the front of rear doors and had a wood flat bed for$75.00. Got it home, the engine was stuck, worked a few days to free it up,on do. I decided to pull the engine out of the A tractor frame and put it in. This was in 1960. I knew my neighbor had a 1929 open cab strip down, but would he sell it. So with the touring flat bed I went to see him. I askedif he would sell the pick-up over at the old place,yes Iget rid of it :D I asked what he wanted for it, well, he says, how would $8.52 sound. Fine I said, he said to go ahead an get it an pay him later. I got it home seperated the 2 at the cowl and the body and subrails. Got it altogether went to pay he for the open cab pick-up. I havded him the $8.50 and he asked me it that was too much, I said no that I was happy with it, More to come, Shelby

Back to the engine that My Dad overhauled back in 1954 :D In 1962 I could hear a bad knockin the engine which I had been running it with the knock all this time. couldn't hardly hear the knock because it had no muffller, it was off at the end of the exhaust pipe. Anyway I decided to pull the oil pan and remove the shemes from the rod bearings. I did this one rod at a time. :? :roll: I was very surprized that I had to put every single sheme back in tha get the engine to turn over without a drag. Rember my Dad rebuilt this engine back in 1954 and never openned up until 1962, about 8 yrs. What I discovered was a wrist-pin knock in all 4 cyclinders .120 put a lot of extra opressure on the wrist-pins. I didn't know what the true color of the engine should be so I painted the engine RED, now I know what the color should be Dark Green. Any way IWent for a short drive and I started loosing power not thinking I had drained the radiator a couple of months earlier, Finally the engine stalled. I tried to start the engine, it spent over with no compression. Raised the hood and my RED engine was mustly all BLACK. I just knew I had burned up the engine. My oldest brother came by and looked at the engine and tried to start the engine. Still spent over easyly. He said "son you burnt it up, you'll have to replace it. Towed it home and in a couple of days just tried to start it. To my surprize it started right up, From this point on I alway keep antifreeze in it. Sounded good and ran as it always did. I'm sure I did a lots Of damage to the engine. But the engine has never been apart scince my Dad overhauled it back in 1954. This took place in 1964. The engine found a new home in the open cab in the one with/windshield. This was in1983 that I pulled the engine and put in this pick-up. THe last time I starter the engine was in 2014 :D
Last edited by SHELBY MESSER on November 30th, 2015, 11:13 pm, edited 13 times in total.
SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

[quote="SHELBY MESSER"][attachment=0]
Had a good write-up but don't know where it went?
SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

Can someone tell me how to delete some of thes pictures :x :oops: :cry: Shelby
Last edited by SHELBY MESSER on November 29th, 2015, 9:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

Model A Open Cab Pickup 2nd 001.jpg
Model A Open Cab Pickup 2nd 001.jpg (297.11 KiB) Viewed 54231 times
Attachments
DSCN0470.JPG
DSCN0470.JPG (135.62 KiB) Viewed 54231 times
Last edited by SHELBY MESSER on November 29th, 2015, 9:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
BrianT
Posts: 254
Joined: October 25th, 2013, 8:27 am
Body Type: 82A
Model Year: 1929
Location: San Diego, California

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by BrianT »

Hello Shelby,
That disappearing write up as happened to me several times, I think it happens when 2 posts go in at exactly the same time, when you go to check another posting is your place , maybe be Mike can explain this.
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mikeg
Site Admin
Posts: 179
Joined: January 15th, 2003, 4:08 pm
Body Type: 150B
Model Year: 1930
Location: San Juan Islands, Washington
Contact:

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by mikeg »

BrianT wrote:Hello Shelby,
That disappearing write up as happened to me several times, I think it happens when 2 posts go in at exactly the same time, when you go to check another posting is your place , maybe be Mike can explain this.
I've seen posts be submitted to the database at the same time without issues, this is a low volume forum so it would be pretty rare that we'd see that exact situation come up. Even so, being that the forum runs on a database backend, concurrent writes to the db is expected and handled accordingly.

There are a few possible reasons a post may not be submitted.

1) hit 'preview' instead of 'submit' when done writing your topic/reply (I've done this a few times)
2) hit the browser 'back' arrow (or key combo) by accident (I've done this too, very annoying)
3) auto-logout timer (this is actually not an issue on this forum software since there isn't one, though on vBulletin it is)

I'm sure there could be other causes outside of the forum software itself, in all the times it's happened to me, it was because I hit the wrong key, or pressed the wrong button at the bottom of the topic window.

Also, BrianT, Check your PM's (Private Messages) I've sent you a note about your email address.
SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

Hello-All, I started this trend hoping to get replys and other members would post pictures and their story about their experience with their life with the fabulous Ford A model. I drove the one in the top picture (under the shade) many-many miles with out a sign of brakes. After I got brakes to working I brought it in to get a La. state safety inspection the guy told me that he had to drive it for a road test. When he got back he was tickled. He said that was the first A model that he ever drove that had brakes. then went on to to say that he could not inspect the pick-up because it had no windshield wiper. So I ask if I don't have a windshield would I need a windshield wiper? He said I guess not :) Removed windshield and laid it in the back, :D Got my state inspection ($1.00) and drove off. Shelby, Sacramento.
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captain marty
Posts: 208
Joined: May 13th, 2009, 6:58 pm
Body Type: firetruck
Model Year: 1928
Location: Tulsa

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by captain marty »

Shelby
I have a 28 pickup roadster and could use your doors.
It was a good write up and I thank you.
Marty
SHELBY MESSER
Posts: 752
Joined: March 9th, 2009, 8:06 pm
Body Type: 75-A
Model Year: 1930
Location: Sacramento, Ca.

Re: 1929 Ford open cab pick-up

Post by SHELBY MESSER »

Marty, What you see in the picture is not the whole picture. The whole body is a bucket of rust. The insides are rusted worse and the inside panel is split, why I do not know. The hang section is mostly rusted away. They could be fixed with hour and hours of work and welding. The doors and body is held together with wire. I got the body from my cusen . He found it in a drainage ditch and asked if I wanted itI pieced it back together. I'll send you in the direction where you probably fine some good doors that you would be glade to get. Try model t haven Lola Ks. He has a lot of parts for the A's. His Ph# is 620-365-6709. I've got good parts from before. Good luck, Shelby, Sacramento.
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