1929 Truck "Future Updates"

**A pretty good goal!** A quick photoshop comp has the inspiration of “Jake”, Eastwood, and John Logsdon.

**As it sits today.** Not bad, just not there yet.

THE BUILD:

Hate to loose my old friend, such great memories and adventure. But it’s getting a little worn down, 41k miles (of fun) but excited for the new.

Model TT / Early AA stake bed: A HAMBer had one for sale a few years back and I snagged it. Its the size I wanted like pictured above which can haul cargo 8' x 5' use metal stakes and will be easy to restore (or leave as ) with the exterior dimensions at 100". I’ve moved past hauling kids bikes and needed a larger bed that fills my needs.
The current bed cover is old type cotton tent canvas and I did camp a few times. I need the room, no more feet hanging out of the back on cold nights. A goal would be hitting up Roaring river for camping and fishing… I could make it with this!

AA frame Found a nice, straight, unpitted or damaged late ‘29 frame. Completely different than the regular A frame more like a deuce or ‘34 with slightly thicker metal and 6" side rails. rear springs perfect and still has the spare tire mount.

Front Suspension: AA’s have a much wider spring pocket that must be filled, the camber set in the factory front crossmember is a low degree for a slow heavy truck that wont go over 30 mph. A guy could swap the front crossmember for an aftermarket or the route I favor: Drop reverse spring and 4 bar with forged adjustable perches, this will let the front camber be easily set. The Pete' & Jakes deuce stakebed had some issues getting the final degree set after the build so this will help. There is a very nice F100 box on my shelf also considering a Vega box.

Power. I have two options: 1. Stick with my old banger motor that is in need of a freshen up. Id love to keep it Model A the sound and history make the car but doubt in its current state if I can maintain speed uphills even with a T-5. I turn too many RPM’s and that unballanced crank is a problem too. Love it, but I can’t do another 5k for inserts and rebuild right now.
That leaves us with option 2. I scored a 188 ci 3.0 GM industrial motor, lots of guys use these, typically a Mercruiser 140 HP. I lucked into the Forklift application so it has better compression and some other mods. Adding the Mercruiser cam I should be at 155 HP and plenty of torque off idle. Shares a lot of standard small block parts best yet my T5 bolts right up and I can find parts almost anywhere on the long road adventures. If I set it up right… I can run the modern engine and do a swap back to original at a later date - gotta plan ahead.

T5 Transmission with overdrive: Secured a T-5, still deciding on adapter or aftermarket bellhousing if I keep the original banger motor, open drive will solve a lot of issues too.

Open driveshaft rear axle: 8” Maverick at 56” is the winner 3:55 or 3:89 gears with a my 29.5 tires.

Hydraulic brakes: Delima - Yes I could add my 46-48’s drums up front but they are already set for the early wide five (36-39) hubs. To swap the front hubs, new drums, internals its way cheaper to go disc. I like the thought of extra stop power, and there are some beautiful ways to make them look like drums via the HAMB: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-easy-disc-brake-covers.184568/. If I go disc - I’ll be on 16” steel wheels instead of wires.

Turn signals: Safety as I've had a couple issues with uneducated motorists. Vintage industrial truck column mount to with new switch system installed.

Inspiration: