Assembly and Test Drive of the 1931 Model A 66A Deluxe Pickup

I assemble and test drive the truck.

[@davidchaundy8308]

A delight to see such a beautiful restoration of a commercial vehicle. Superb detailing, It's so nice to see someone apply real care and craftsmanship to a project. It's a great credit to you. Thank you for sharing your magnificent work.

[@billywird]

Imagine. What a prospective buyer would have been looking at when this truck was at a Ford dealership. This captures that moment in time, with this restoration.

[@stephenhenion8304]

I was 12 years old in 1968, and my dad taught me how to drive his 31 Model A Tudor Sedan... such a blast!! Your 66A is something special..great Restoration!!

[@johnslater2488]

I restored an Alfa Giulia Spider, it was so nice it scared me and I sold it. This lovely model A is also scary nice, actually its art.

[@Dave_Boyer]

Absolutely beautiful! I have a 28 closed cab pickup, that lead a hard life. It had been sitting for 40 years, before I bought it. I’m slowly collecting the parts I need. Maybe someday, it’ll be half as nice as yours.

[@johnclements6852]

Congratulations on a beautiful job, Mark. The truck looks wonderful. Your videos just keep getting better and better. I'm intrigued by that 1960s vehicle you posted a quick clip of recently. No doubt it will looks great once completed. Cheers from Christchurch NZ.

[@duncanfankboner1319]

A wonderful experience. Extraordinary work. Thank you!

[@MikeLoveBuns]

Amazing vehicle! Mike from Missouri

[@lgriestra]

Wow, great restoration!

[@bigredc222]

I don't think one of those ever came out of the factory that nice. Great video. Thank you.

[@davidmazza3898]

After a little getting used to it, I love the satin unpolished areas on the firewall and under hood and interior jambs and panels. It looks so natural. But it’s tough sometimes to get over the over restored mentality. That truck is lovely

[@dougedwards2880]

Very nice, not many 66A pickups left, maybe 10 or so, beautiful, thanks

[@10868940ih]

I really enjoy these series and I like learning some of the background history and development that you point out.

[@benjohnson1082]

ARLT - I sure do enjoy the detail and quality of the material you cover and discuss. The cars in my collection may not measure up to the level you all achieve, but I find we “stress” over the same things. Thanks for the great videos/content.

[@TheDocrock100]

Thank you for sharing such a detailed video of this beauty.

[@waynemiracle8928]

Thanks for sharing this series! I enjoyed it immensely! I am not a Model A judge but I would say it would be a near thousand point truck! Great work!

[@gregwddriver]

It's a 500 point scale. I've actually done some sanctioned judging and I see a 490-ish truck. That's pretty damn good.

[@jimc4731]

Very nice, use it and enjoy it! Reminds me of a flower car for funerals. Keep up the good work, JIM😍

[@johnanderson573]

What a great truck!! Thanks for taking the time to share more videos.

[@shawndaly2693]

Well done! Impeccable work-as usual

[@OldCarAlley]

What an amazing truck! Thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I love driving non synchronized vehicles..... as you really do need to drive them. I always leave the engine idling upshifting and give it a tiny bit of gas for down shifting when double clutching.....

[@jmailbell]

I’m glad you like model As along with you high end cars, it’s nice to see a restoration of that caliber put on a model A. That pin striping really make the whole thing click. Thanks for the video!

[@deltabloo]

awesome work! Keep showing us more !

[@rolandodeleon9266]

Love ur videos thanks

[@jerrywoodlee2345]

What a beautiful truck. Perfection

[@olmoe1167]

beautiful truck.....fantastic job on it....

[@nigeljohnson505]

Thanks for this very interesting and informative series Mr Clayton. I look forward to every video you produce. Regards from the UK.

[@teddunphy8369]

a fun watch and a great ford thanks a lot

[@philh4257]

Outstanding!

[@mrbrisket6794]

Absolutely amazing and beautiful

[@andrewrichey7374]

Beautiful truck, love old school. I just subscribed and follow for more

[@Velostigmat]

With all respect, transverse suspension wasn't designed to save the cost of two leaf springs; it was designed to allow for more suspension flex. The axle and radius rods form a triangular assembly that can twist at the U-joint or oil pan. Combine that with the Model T's flexible frame, and you get that 1916 T touring that got a 1,030 RTI score in Motortrend. I love your paint color, it's nice to see a Model A that looks like 1931 and not a Great Gatsby party.

[@claytoresto]

Do two springs cost less than 4 springs?

[@Velostigmat]

@@claytoresto That's a great counter argument, so I went digging. I found list prices in the Hollander Interchange Manual (19th edition), and Whippet 96 springs listed at $7.50 and $7.30 for fronts and rears respectively, while Model A Ford fronts ad rears were $7.50 and $20.25 respectively. So, Whippet springs all around would be $29.60 compared to Ford springs all around at $27.75, but it doesn't account for the cost of wishbone, radius rods, or torque tube. It would really be fascinating to trace the Model A design process and see what design choices were dictated by longevity versus production economy.

[@claytoresto]

Very well. This is why this forum is so good. Discussion. Chevrolet surpassed Ford in 1930, so I think it's a fair comparison of these 2 cars. The Whippet was way down the line in units sold. So why did Chevrolet and every other major manufacturer forgo the transverse design in favor of the longitude design? Chevrolet knew that an even better design is coil springs. In a few years they introduced it. I believe around 1934. The bottom line was the Ford design was mainly for economy, not superiority. Yes the Fords were for the masses and thus they saw plenty of country roads, but I have seen film of New York and Las Angeles in that time period, and it was not four wheeling. The Model A, and I have restored hundreds of them and love them, is a buggy compared to the classics I restore in my shop today. Unfair comparison, because they are much more expensive, but the engineers pretty much figured what was best by 1930. And none of them have transverse springs. This is also true of the engines. All the secretes were know by then, it was just a matter of how to make money using the technology.

[@Velostigmat]

@@claytoresto Indeed. It's fun to discuss ideas and do more research. I picked 1929 Whippet 4 because it was the same HP and wheelbase as a Model A and felt like more of an "apples to apples" comparison. Chevrolet was a 46HP six and 3.5" longer. (And then no. 3, Essex, was just a more substantial car.) Honestly, I think Ford stayed with transverse leaf suspension because Henry patented the design and had been using it since 1906. If it was his idea, it was the best and everyone else was wrong.

[@dickdaley9059]

To think this truck was fundamentally an upholstered farm tractor that could go off the dirty fields and onto the dirty streets with the family for supplies! Look at it now! Please grab a handful of hay and drop it into the bed. An homage to its roots helping to build America!

[@leedale4008]

Perfect 👏

[@SlosvnSluessel]

Perfection.

[@tedhewitt4299]

You have a very nice pick up there.

[@paas624]

There is also 1 of these in the Champagne collection in Madison La

[@pameladunn7346]

do you exercise the double clutch method ? push clutch down and shift into 1st gear let pedal raise until under way , accelerate to power range (here we go) push in clutch and shift into neutral - let clutch raise all the way up , then push clutch down again and then shift into second "double clutch" same for third (and the same for down shifting with the RPMs up quite a bit to help mesh the gears ... give it a try - hope this helps .... we want to know if your still looking for good help ?

[@paas624]

There's one of these in Rinneyville Foed model A museum in Ky

[@mattomon1045]

Mark beautiful

[@johntrotter7889]

Early 30's Packard and V12 Lincolns please...

[@bigears4014]

My dad was 31 vintage, he made 90 , this vehicle should make another 90. Some gear additive will help with the shift

[@gregwddriver]

I like your bed wood finish choice. Most standard trucks were Rock Moss Green, so I wonder if that was the default color for the wood? Where did you score your brown fan belt?

[@1HotRodHudson]

How do you get a satin looking paint finish on the underside of the hood but beautifully gloss on the outside?

[@RobertFay]

*- Come on, Mark, you've got to learn the musical feel/rpm tone for double clutching into low hear at ten miles per hour just in case you are going downhill and lose your breaks, if for no other reason.* *- It is easy, just rev your motor in neutral with the clutch out, and then slip the teeth to just touching and listen for the grinding to slow down to zero...AND Notice the musical pitch/tone of the rpm level at the speed you are going {not the speedometer speed, the feel of the vehicle at that speed}.* *- Then just duplicate that whole process over and over and slightly/lightly/delicately grind gears until you don't any more.* *- When you get good at it, you will notice there is at least one gear that is a thousands high that goes tick tick tick...tick just as they are all messed.* *- Then learn what the highest rpm the engine can do so you know how to get the rig into the next lower gear as soon a possible to rescue it on a downhill break-less runaway.* *- Learn that well for stone crusher trucks that haul out of the pit and go back, and the breaks don't get worn and neither do the clutch plates...and the mechanics learn to love you because they have less work replacing those hassle jobs for what you drive...and always keep your rig in tip-top shape for you.* *- Got for it...wind up the rpm to the point the motor feels like it likes it and find out how slow you have to be going to drop down to the next lower gear.*

[@JustSayin993]

Fantastic job, I do hope that two-blade fan is a cast replica and not the original pressed steel job. They had the nasty habit of tearing apart (in my own unfortunate experience)

[@davidmazza3898]

How do you feel about adding power to a model a, like using a high compression head? I know I can’t tell the visual difference from a Snyder’s head to a stock head, I’m sure there are differences though

[@gs1100ed]

Mark said he was only going to use the truck to go get ice cream

[@elosogonzalez8739]

What does the Judging Manual say about engine color? Looks like a darker shade than what I've seen on other A's. Magnificent job on the restoration!! Do you recommend the High compression head? The Mitchell overdrive?

[@claytoresto]

I copied the color out of the newest book that MARC/MAFCA put out.

[@cmccoy3972]

You make great videos. Now I know in part why I liked you from the start. “MAGA”!!

[@MrAtheHun]

Wow, thank you. You said it’s best to rivet after painting, but in my ignorance I wasn’t sure why. Is it because you get good quality paint under the rivet?

[@claytoresto]

That way I can block everything straight. I do the same to the hood side handle and hood clip brackets.

[@bigredc222]

I wasn't sure either, but that makes a lot of sense, I've done my share of sanding around rivets, and it's all you can do to keep from sanding the paint off the rivet anyway.

[@cmccoy3972]

How much insurance would you need to cover that truck?

[@clintonstevens1285]

me and my dad did a model a alot of fun hes gone now be that is still nice memry now i mdoing his 56 crowen vic not as much fun with out the help miss so

[@timkis64]

when i compare the beauty & simplicity of that old truck to a 2022 f 150.the only conclusion i can come to is, ford has lost its mind wanting 65k for the poorest quality from ford in many decades.they shouldve never tried to make a lincon continental out of an f series.too many things that can, do & will, go wrong for a truck that built its reputation on work, NOT luxury & entertainment centers.

[@BaronVonEvil1]

I'm sorry, you really do fantastic restorations of all these classic cars and yet you have a nearly gone seat cushion on your fork lift. Just had to point that out. The time stamp is 3:32. I found it somewhat amusing.

[@velocettedude]

Hello Mark, I gave another you-tuber a link to your video about the Model A. The last episode where you were forming metal as the guy was struggling to make certain panels on his 1933 Buick Sedan that he is restoring. He got back to me and thanked me for your link. You may also want to take a look at him as he is quite talented and his does think outside the box plus the video is quite entertaining and funny in parts of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmPOfHt_oNZ4nLs Cheers.

[@cecilstewart121]

First

[@cecilstewart121]

Beautiful work as always

[@ronaldspins]

Why would you get wound up about Trump's personal affairs ??? @ 14:30 or anything he did? Does not have to ruin relationships 🙃

[@gs1100ed]

Lots of people have fought because of him. He was very good at irritating some folks. The rulers like it when we spend our energy on fighting amongst ourselves rather than standing up together against them.

[@EVILVIKTOR]

I know how you feel. A lifelong friend of mine stopped talking to me because I voted for Trump. He went on to lecture me on racism. Never mind that I was born and raised in Mexico City and he was born in Georgia. It seems that all liberals are like that. His loss, he is the bitter one. Move on my friend.

[@fredkaminski3668]

Trump is a stain on our history.

[@bongosock]

Whether you're for Trump or against him: he divided friends, family members, states, the whole country - and that was a terrible wound that's going to take some time to heal.

[@claytoresto]

This wound will never heal. There are irreconcilable differences in the basic philosophy of our ways of life. We are now and will always be forever a divided country. China is very happy at this point. And it is not any one president that did this alone, it is socialism/communism vs freedom/democracy. I hold firm my beliefs and I respect the right of everyone to choose theirs, freedom right? My show is not to influence politics but rather to entertain and escape political reality. The point I was trying to make was by talking politics with my Pinstriper friend, it shot me in the foot. It was mistake to ever enter into a political discussion. It got me nowhere.