The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Ugly Truck has a new brother

After a week of travelling over 3900 miles, we brought home a new brother for Ugly Truck:
[img]http://www.chevyasylum.com/29modela/20050924_004r4.jpg[/img]

It's not exactly a Bolt, but I like it.

It's a 29 Model A closed cab pickup...in other words, a "phone booth."

I dunno if this will invalidate my Stovebolt membership, but I'm still keepin the 64 C10. (I sold the 63 Nova and 67 Camaro.)

I'm hopin the two guys will get along well and not argue over who gets to mark the driveway more often.

Here\'s a link to a larger version of the same pic. I'll have more stuff on my website about the trip to deliver the Nova and Camaro and pickup the pickup soon.

nice house and neighbor-hood, always wanted a house with a basement,,,dont see any around here. at least it looks like the houses their have basement...


oh I forgot,, you can still live here too, we all enjoy old STUFF..........Fred

The pic makes the "hood" look a little ritzier than it really is. It's not a bad place at all, but it's not snobsville. It's just a subdivision. Now that the "bad" neighbors have moved out, it's a nice place to live (I had one guy report my Ugly Truck as an abandoned vehicle 15 minutes after I brought it home...when he put his house up for sale, I threatened to park the UT on cinderblocks in the front yard just to see his property value drop.)

And yeah, basements are pretty standard here. When we bought our place it was unfinished. Now it's my "computer hell."

And thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll just keep callin it a "Model A" and not use the "F" word.

That is one cool lookin' old truck.. even if it IS a Fjord.

The nice thing about the really old Fjords is they used alot more metal than Chevys of the same period (the Chevys used alot of wood for the cab)

I assume you'll rod it out.. what are your plans?

I've always wanted to get an old truck like that and try to make it look (on the outside at least) as stock as possible, but put 15 inch wheels all the way around and put a 327 under the hood (with a 4 speed manual behind it, of course) with some real quiet mufflers so from outward appearences, it wouldn't look (or sound) like alot had been done to it.. a real sleeper.

3900 miles? 1950 miles from Utah? Must have been in Florida or maybe on the Georgia border...

Great catch!

Fumblin: My plans are pretty vague at the moment. I don't really have a vision of the "end result." I spose this is a good thing. But I've kinda thought about doing this in at least 3 phases:

Phase 1. Get it running with the original 4-cylinder motor (which turns over but needs some stuff like a coil and spark plug straps) and a fuel line...etc. Put a floorboard, seat, glass and some sorta top on it (I'll prolly just replace all the wood in the cab and install the wood for the top, since there ain't none.) Go thru the brakes and steering and rewire it with a Painless (or other wiring) kit. Get the 16" wire wheels finished up and installed with some wide whitewall tires. Add some little things like horn and wipers and turn signals so I can get it safety inspected and then drive it that way for a while...with the moss growing outta the nooks and crannies and all.

Phase 2. Drop a flathead motor into it. I have a 53 truck flattie on the line for $100. I think I can afford that. I'll put it on an engine stand and get to it when I can. At that time, I figger I'll add some enhancements like hydraulic brakes, dropped front axle and some interior stuff. And I'll prolly do some body work and will probably end up painting it (surprise, surprise) flat black with red wheels.

Phase 3. In the final phase that I've "envisioned" (not the final phase of the truck project, just the last phase that's gelled in my mind) I'd like to add a 50's V8 motor: Caddy would be my first choice, but Buick, Olds or Pontiac would be in the running, too. I don't wanna do the all-too-common smallblock thing. I've built a lotta smallblocks and love 'em. But I'd prefer something different for this one.

Right now, I don't have any plans to chop the top or run it fenderless. I may do this eventually, but right now, I like the full-fendered, extra-tall look of the beast.

I hope that gives some idea of where I'm going with it. Where I'm NOT going is the high-dollar 90+ point restoration or chromed-up show car route. I want a driver...the kind of hotrod that was the "norm" when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s.

Now...OldSub: I got it in (of all places) Brainerd, Minnesota. There's a guy up there who has a huge collection of old cars including 50 or more Model As. His website is called the Rufus Ranch and I found Rudy to be a real nice fella. Very friendly and appears to be very honest about what he has and what each vehicle needs. Pity, but there are no Bolts there.

The reason we ended up there (aside from seeing the original ad on eBay) was because we sold and delivered the Nova and Camaro to the buyer (same guy bought both of them) in Iowa. It wasn't all that much further to go to Minnesota. My wife and I made a vacation out of it. We had a great time and we'd love to do it again...after a week's rest or so. I'll be going out to the salt flats in mid-October with a possible trip to western Nevada included to see the town where my mother was raised (Goldfield.) I guess we sorta like travelling.

Hey Ray,

I noticed the place a couple doors up from you has a "For Sale" sign in the yard. Think they may drop the price a few grand more upon viewing the new project? :p

-ftyler

Looks like that Rufus Ranch dude has some pretty cool stuff at reasonable prices!

I really dig this one..
[img]http://www.rufusranch.150m.com/29AA70.jpg[/img]

$3K for a 1930 in that kinda shape that runs seems pretty reasonable.

FTyler: There are a coupla vacant places up the street. I figger that if I buy a few more old trucks, I might have the whole neighborhood to myself.

Fumblin: I was really impressed by his prices. But it's the location that keeps him from chargin the outrageous prices that other folks might. If he was in SoCal, he could double his prices and nobody would blink. That 30 AA truck looks pretty darned kool. For me, it was worth the trip.

Well ,if nothing else you could make a trailer out of the box and use the front of the body for decoration in the front yard with plants coming out of it .I have a 47 ford pick up box that's a trailer and I have taken it to many swap meets to pick up parts for my bolt. kidding aside ,I think it's a great project, I've had plenty of brand X vehicles ,and loved them all.

I love the way it looks as is. I agree that you should just drive it without doing a makeover. Put granny on a rocker in the bed. I guarantee you will make the news.

I think the 29 Closed cab was the same truck that the boys built in the run off with Boyd Coddington. Right before they caught him working for Foose on the side. That is if you believe the reality part of reality TV.

We won't kick you out and confiscate our computers just for buying a ford.

I will tell you after seeing what they did with their truck, I have been lusting after a 29 myself.

Bill Schickling

Tab: I just happen to have a granny rocker in our living room. My wife and I refinished it years ago. It just might be a very kool accessory. But it needs some wood in the bed first. I've been goin nutz tryin to find the patterns for Model A bed wood. You'd think someone would publish or sell stuff like that, but Paul's Chevy/GMC bed wood page is the only one I've seen with actual dimensions. And it's a REAL good page. Very well documented. I'm sure hopin to find something like that for ol Rufus.

Bill: Glad ya won't tell the net kops about my little abberation. I've always liked the lines of a 28/29. And the closed cab seems to have a very well-proportioned body style. It all seems to fit together very nicely.

I've been cleanin the hell outta the garage today so I can get that Monte Carlo fired up and moved out. Then Rufus can come in and we'll start the proceedings. I'm hopin this will be an all-winter project in the garage. I spose I'm gonna have to fire up the propane heater.

I believe this is the the your truck.
http://www.rufusranch.150m.com/29Pickup2.html
I like it.

Little bit o' trivia.. the Beverly Hillbillies truck was an Oldsmobile.

But ya know, all the old 20's and 30's trucks look the same to me.

My latest project is an "F" word too (59), and they haven't run me out yet . . . Thanks for sharing the pic and the project - it looks like a lot of fun!

(If you are looking for a flathead and are ambitious, drop me a line - my dad is looking to get rid of a flathead from his '46 that's sitting in a shed in our horse pasture.)

Norm: the Rufus Ranch site is down at the moment, but that's where I bought it.

Rudy Rolfes (the main squeeze there) is a very kool dude to work with. He's willing to show stuff, explain things, visit...I had a real good time there.

If the darned thing wasn't way out in the middle of Minnesota, he'd be sellin completely outta stock in a big hurry. But the shipping costs are murder and it's only in a case like ours where we were coming back from the midwest with an empty trailer that it made sense to buy from him.

It sure wasn't cheap to tow that sucker back home, tho. It was like something I saw at Bonneville Speed Week this year: a rookie driver takin his first shot at the long course (for cars running 175 mph or higher) and he popped the chute in the first mile. Then he went down the rest of the 7 mile course under full power, wondering (probably) why he wasn't going any faster.

We towed that barn door home with a 2004 Blazer with a 4.3 liter Vortec V6...and it didn't hardly wanna go into overdrive at all. So most of the return trip was made in 3rd gear and it sucked up fuel something awful. But it's worth it. I'm glad to have the critter home. I spent a large part of the day cleaning the garage...I might even be able to follow thru with my plans. I hope.

Ray,I can put you in touch with a friend who has a 270 Hemi over in Salt Lake he wants to sell. He was planning to build it for a truck he has,but had to move,so now it's up for sale reasonable. and no-parts aren't that hard to find. Email me if you're interested.
Speed

Ray, definitely like your new addition!

i can imagine that beast...black. with a 455 BOP, 472 or 500 Caddy, triple deuces, and lake style headers out the side...ooo....

good luck, and keep us updated!

Speed: that hemi sounds really interesting. I'll send ya email privately.

Samewise: when it gets paint, it'll definitely be black. And the 3 dueces and side-exit headers are right on the money. I still dunno what motor it'll have after the 4-banger...but something will come up, I'm sure. If all else fails, I've got a Chevy smallblock 406 in pieces, just waiting to go together, but everybody and his dog has a smallblock...and I've already got 2 cars with 406s. (I just agreed to sell one of them, tho.)

So I wanna do something real different. I'm still waitin to get the 53 truck flathead, but I figger that otta be arriving fairly soon. We'll just see what happens.

I've got the one Chevy and a whole bunch of Mopars, so don't worry about getting the boot by any of us! Of course, there's a couple of no-counts out there, but so what! We have fun despite them!

The old-style HEMI sounds cool in an old "A"! The 270 is a bit harder to find parts for than the Chrysler 331/354/392 HEMIs, but there are some good sources in Las Vegas and in central Ohio that carry just about anything for that 270 you may need, if you go that route.

i don't think tha bolt is ugly but dayyyummmm a ford is always an ugly site especially that 1 but it's still old