1928 Ford Model AA Stake Bed Truck

Up for auction is this 1928 Ford Model AA stakeside truck. For the uninitiated, he Model AA trucks were built between 1928 and 1931. Ford used the Model A pickup cab installed on a heavy duty, on and a half rated frame. This was the commercial workhorse for Ford over these years and could be bought in a number of configurations (This one started life as a stake bed). The Model AA’s are extremely rare today because they were generally used until they were completely worn out and then parked in the farmers field (where mother nature took its toll) or sold for scrap.

This truck was found in the Los Angeles area in the 1980’s in excellent condition. The owner decided to restore the truck and to make the necessary changes to enable the use of the truck as a shop and advertising vehicle. The work included modifying the frame and suspension to accommodate a Chevy 283 cubic inch engine and a TH-350 transmission along with a Ford 9” rear end along with front disc brakes and a hydro-vac braking system. The trailer hitch was added to pull a small trailer. Sometime later, n the 1990’s, he tilt steering column was added. I bought the truck in 2011 and the next year began a complete restoration. The truck today has approximately 600 miles on the latest restoration.

Latest restoration:

• “New” date coded 7-18-1964 Chevy 283 cubic inch engine, ored 030 over, lattop pistons, 10 rods and mains, ouble roller timing chain and gears, levite rod and main bearings, eads completely rebuilt and shaved to square with block, ardened valve seats, omplete new valve train, omp cam and lifter kit (CL12-670-4) is a nostalgia 300HP+, uration 258/265 and lift is .426/.420.
• Completely rebuilt TH-350 transmission with shift kit and a new torque converter
• Added a new Unisteer cross steer rack and pinion steering setup
• Added a new radiator and Trimline electric fan with an adjustable steering control and a cutoff switch under the dash
• Had the Hydro-vac booster overhauled
• Installed Fatmat Rattle Trap sound/heat proofing against the firewall, n the doors, n the floor. This made every difference in the world to this truck. Doors close quietly which is unheard of for a Model A.
• Installed a tri-power carburation set-up on the engine. Designed and built for running on the center carb and only dumping the outer two when called for. I can run 80mph on the center carb alone.
• Installed new voltage regulator and larger alternator to support the radio and oversized electric fan
• Installed new Allstar Performance ALL34200 rams horn exhaust manifolds
• Installed new battery (battery and 31 gallon gas tank are under the bed)
• Installed a new battery disconnect switch (on the front of the seat base)
• Installed new dual exhaust from the engine back (mufflers are steel packs and are quiet due to the length of the pipes)
• Installed new tires ( Cobra GT RWL 108T 255/70R15 on the rear and IS Prec Sport 91H 195/65R15 on the front)
• Installed MAC’s new long grain roof kit
• Installed new Classics Instruments classic white with black pool cue pointers (fuel, ater temperature, il pressure, oltage, peedometer, achometer)
• Installed new battery
• Installed new Grant GRT-950 steering wheel (similar to the original)
• Installed new gas shocks
• Installed a new Kenwood KDC-148 MP3/WMA CD Receiver and four speakers
• Installed new Juliano shoulder and seat belts
• Installed new complete custom interior and carpet based on original
• Completed a new paint scheme using BASF R-M UNO acrylic polyurethane single stage paint
• Powder coated the stake bed frame, ittings, nd trailer hitch frame
• Had the truck pin striped and door logos by Ybarra in Kennewick, ashington
• Completely refinished all the oak in the bed
• Replaced all the hardware in the bed with stainless steel
• Had the axle dropped 3 inches and the rear springs reworked to provide a better look and ride

I have probably left some things out but suffice it to say that this truck is new! The truck starts easy and runs like a late model car. I am 6’-2” and have no problem driving it. Do remember that the Model A’s are not real wide. My wife and I have grown accustomed to “cheek to cheek” cruising. The truck runs cool unless you sit at an idle and then the electric fan kicks on until you move again. I would drive this truck anywhere. It cruises at 65mph at 2500rpm and gets fairly good gas mileage. It draws a crowd when sitting and gets “thumbs up” from drivers everywhere. I won’t bore you with all the awards/trophies that we have received. I am an old car guy and never hesitate to answer questions about my cars. Don’t hesitate to ask any that come to mind or to ask for additional photos. I have 76 photos posted at Shutterfly if you are interested in viewing them (Many “detail” photos of the engine, ndercarriage, nterior, oodwork, tc.). You can find 76 photos of the truck at this URL: https://1928fordmodelaastakebedtruck.shutterfly.com/ or send me your email address and I will send you access to them. Happy Cruising!

On Jul-08-15 at 15:51:26 PDT, eller added the following information:

I have had several questions regarding the history of this great old truck. As I mentioned in the description, he truck was built in the '70s or '80s by a fellow in the Los Angeles area that ran a manufacturing business that made replacement wood (hence the beautiful old oak throughout the truck) for antique cars and the old "woodies". The truck was used as the shop truck and pulled atrailer for hauling supplies. The fellow was a friend of my brother. My brother was a double PHD and professor of Criminal Justice at Cal State Fullerton and well known in the Los Angeles law enforcement circles. Anyway, e bought the truck in the early nineties and retired to the Flaming Gorge area in Wyoming and Utah where he assumed his alter ego of cowboy/farmer. He drove this truck as his daily driver all over Utah and Wyoming dressed out in his 100 year old cowboy hat, ib coveralls, nd antique western boots. Quite a picture. It was in this mode that he pulled into a "turkey shoot" somewhere in Wyoming and got out to take park. He had a much modified 12 gauge riot gun that had been set up trap shooting (my brother was a strange duck). He went to stack his shotgun with the others (all great beautiful shotguns) and it was to short to lean up against the rack. The locals were having a good snicker and finally one of them explained that this was a shotgun shooting event and that my brothers gun was a little out of its class. Long story short, e took homeall the prizes much to the local folks chagrin. Sorry to say that he passed away in 2000 and the truck passed to his kids and fell into disrepair after a few years at which point I bought the truck. I added the wine barrels to use as a "trunk" as there was no space for storage in the cab. We cut the doors in and I had the logos added to the doors. Then I found a guy who did thewood burning of the logos onto the barrels. There is wine glass storage racks in the top of the barrels and the doors are lockable. I found the old spigot at an estate auction and installed it to fill the bung hole on the barrel. I thought about adding a pony keg set up to the spigot but haven't gotten around to it yet. Hope that history helps. I added an additional photo, he side view of the truck which I missed the first time.