Rumbleseat Review

Rumbleseat
Review
October 2015
Beehive A’s - Model A Ford Club of Northern Utah
The President’s Message
Hi All,
Autumn is officially here!!!
Our leaves are changing colors,
our temperature is getting cooler
and it's getting darker sooner
and later. Our weather is still
nice so we need to get our A's
out and enjoy the scenery before
the dreaded white stuff comes.
We have had a great year and I'd like to thank you to everyone for making it
such so. We had twenty-four cars at our State Fair presentation: Model A's, Model
T's, and the timed assembly Model T. We were able to do the timed Model T
assembly three times during the day. We beat our old record which was 6 min. 36sec. Our new record is now 6.05.
I'd like to thank the crew for your dedication and hard work! You're Awesome!
Thanks! I'd like to thank all those who helped with this huge project of mine. It
was sometimes very overwhelming for me and with your help it became a reality.
I hope in the near future we will have lots of fun again with the timed assembly
Model T. Thanks again.
Our latest tour to Wendover/Ely/Delta was sponsored by the Salty A's. It was
very fun, educational, and exciting; lots of memories were made. I think for the
most part we all had a great time! Thanks to Chuck Evans of the Salty A's for the
great tour.
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October the 10th. is our Autumn lunch tour to Maddox. Reservations are at
1:00 p.m. We will meet at Smith & Edwards between 12:15 - 12:30 p.m. leaving
promptly at 12:30 p.m. Remember our next club meeting is scheduled at the
Washington Terrace Library at 7:00 p.m. Elections are coming up in November.
We need to vote in a President-Elect and a Vice President.
Your Prez Doug Jenkins
Out and About
Randy Christiansen was awarded the Bonneville’s Peach Days Car Show 30's
and 40's original trophy for his 1930 town sedan. Three A’s from the Salty’s A’s
tour to Wendover/Ely/Delta tour were spotted returning home on Legacy Highway
this past Sunday Sept. 27th about 12:30 p.m. Gents you can run, but you cannot
hide! Thanks to Russ and Dana Baker for hosting the combined Beehive and
Salty A’s club meeting at their home in Fruit Heights. The ambience and provided
meal was terrific.
The Wendover/Ely/Delta Tour
Write-up by Doug Jenkins
The Beehive's met at the Browning Armoury in South Ogden at 8:00 a.m.
Those who came from the Beehive A's were Dan and Chris Johnson, Gene and
Jessie Johnson, Dave and Joe Spindown, and Doug and Tyson Jenkins. We
headed south on 89 to the Legacy Hwy 5th south exit in Bountiful. This is where
we met up with the Salty A's. We left there heading south to 21st S and 7200 W.
our next meeting point.
The next stop was Tooele where we
had ten Model A's at this point. In
Tooele we went to an Army/military
museum. It was a private collection.
All artifacts were from World War II.
Next we went to the classic/antique
firefighter’s museum. They had
everything and anything for firefighting
with lots of fire trucks. They even had a
Model A fire truck. Different cities
from Utah had donated their fire trucks
to the museum.
From there we headed to Grantsville where we had lunch then on to Wendover.
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We stopped at the cement tree where pictures were taken. Our first casualty of
the tour happened when Troy Evans' A broke down. The distributor wasn't turning
and had no spark. The decision was made to put it on the trailer and assess it at the
hotel. We took out the distributor--things looked OK there. We then took off the
timing gear side cover and the cam gear teeth were broken. We could not fix it at
that time so it made the rest of the trip on the trailer.
The next day we headed to Ely. The next breakdown was Rich Townsend's
Model A. The carburetor was plugged up with gunk! We were able to fix it and
our next stop was in McGill twelve miles before Ely.
We toured the old drug store fountain shop. The man there was very excited to
see us and was very talkative and informative. He even dressed the part!
Everything in the drug store was 1970
and older, mostly 40's and 50's. He
talked to us a bit about the history
about the drug store and the people.
He took us over to the soda fountain
and he chose Tyson as a Soda Jerk out
of our group! He gave Tyson a Soda
Jerk hat, talked to him about the soda
fountain and how it worked and for
those who wanted an ice cream, Tyson
served up ice cream cones. Nice job T!
Afterward we headed to Ely,
checked into our hotel, and headed to our reservations at the Railroad Museum at
4:00 p.m. We toured the museum
which consisted of the mechanic shop,
blacksmith shop, and the machine shop.
It was an awesome site to see! We
boarded the Northern Nevada Railroad
train--a coal burning steam engine. It
took us for a two and a half hour round
trip where they described the
surrounding area--mostly about the
mining that was going on. I did not
know this, but Kennecott has a large
open pit mine in Ely. The narrator was
knowledgeable and gave a great tour. We journeyed back to the hotel, had dinner
and called it a night.
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Saturday we took off to the Lehman caves. Our reservation at the cave was ten
a.m. The cave tour took one and a half hour--were spectacular with easy access
and many points of interest. Lunch was at the Boarder Inn. As we were leaving,
Rich Townsend's car would not run. It was having carburetor problems again. We
switched to two different carburetors and it was still not running right. Then it lost
spark. The rotor was changed and we were on the road again to Delta.
About 30 miles out, Rich Townsend's car overheated. We filled her up with
water and off we went again! Forty more miles and Rich's car overheated again.
Dan Johnson's car shredded a fan belt about five miles before Delta and my Model
A generator stopped working. As Dan changed his fan belt Clyde Munson's car
vapour locked. We soon got all the cars running and were on the road again.
Little did we know Chuck Evan's
Model A also broke down just
before the last stop. We were now
down to eight running cars. Five of
us decided to stay in Delta while the
others drove for home. Troy's car
was left in Delta while Chuck's car
was placed on the trailer and towed
home. The Evan's made another trip
down Sunday to pick up Troy's car.
As we headed for home Sunday,
we stopped at an old gas station in Alberta where pictures were taken while parked
in front with our
Model A's. We
were in the right
spot at the right
time as the owner
stopped by and
gave us a tour.
He also has a
Model A. The
five remaining A's
had no problem
going home. All
made it home safe
and sound. I
know for Tyson and me–we had a great, great time!
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Clarke and Lucie Fowers
Recent new members to our club are
Clarke and Lucie Fowers of Mountain
Green. Clarke retired from is job in
California and returned to his Utah
roots to be with family and friends.
While his obligations are demanding,
he is still getting out and about with his
“AA” truck. He was awarded the
Brigham City Peach Days Car Show
Commercial Division trophy for his
original 1929 AA delivery box truck.
Clarke Fowers: The following is my story
“Thanks for the opportunity to share my Model A Story. As you know
everyone has at least one story.
I was fourteen years old in July
1964 when I purchased my first
vehicle, a 1929 Ford Model AA one
ton truck from Brian Ross in
Hooper. The truck had been cast off
in the fence line of the hay field
behind the Ross' barn for eighteen
years. I paid $25 dollars to Brian,
who at the time hauled hay mainly
with a team of horses. With four flat
Clark Fower’s AA: That was then....
tires, I towed the truck home using
our skip loader tractor to lift up the front end while driving backwards all the way.
On the journey home mice from the seats and bees from the carburetor came alive.
I returned the next day to claim the door which was being used as a gate on Brian's
pig pen. He made me build him a new pig pen gate before giving me the door.
The truck had a side dump sugar beet bed which was mostly rotten lumber.
Looking for a better bed I discovered that Brian's brother Lawrence who lived
around the corner had a wagon box bed that he might sell me. Lawrence was
happy to sell me the wagon box for $10 which was mounted on a 34' Ford one
ton. The only problem was that the bed and truck were in the Hooper slough
mostly under water. Again I used the skip loader to extract the submerged wagon
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box and drag it home. My mother did not like the junk that was piling up around
our place and several times told me to get rid of the unsightly mess. So I worked
fast with my first restoration finishing it tow years later. I drove the truck to
school my senior year at Roy High.
During this time I became the youngest charter member of the Golden Spike
Antique Car Club which was started by Harry Mosher. I attended Utah State,
where my future wife fell in love with my truck before we met. Eventually we
married and moved to San Diego where I again restored the truck in 2009 adding
rear fenders. In addition to the three speed regular transmission, it has a twospeed high and low auxiliary
transmission.
Several years ago I entered a truck
pulling contest and to the surprise of
everyone I drug the sled further than
that of a brand new 4x4 Toyota pickup.
I suppose the proper category or name
for my truck would be a 1929 Model
AA one ton wagon box delivery truck.
My six now grown kids claim that
when I die, they will just put me in the
bed of my truck and bury it behind the
barn back in Brian's hay field.”
...and this is now. What a sweet looking “AA”
Beehive Fire Department ‘29 Ford PU
Owner/Builder: Roy Van Orman
The idea began in 1999 when Ed Niederhauser
told me I could have the derelict hulk of a cab from
behind his shop. Also he sold me the front bumper
because Ogden Chrome had over polished it so it
couldn't be used for judging. At the 2000 Kansas
City MAFCA Meet I saw the Texas Fire Truck that I
used as a model for mine. I collected parts between
'99 - '14 before starting to repair body work, cab,
fenders, doors, and bed. As hard as it had been used
since 1929, I opted to make it respectable rather
than perfect. I painted the Fire Engine Red in the
spring of 2015. With the help from many of the
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Beehive and Salty "A" members and
others, it was ready to run in the
Bountiful Handcart Days Parade on 23
July 2015. Thanks to all who shared
parts, ideas, skills, and time to help me
finish. Special thanks to Kathy for the
encouragement to make it happen!
Our compliments to Roy and Kathy.
Another fine addition to the hobby.
Clay and Heidi Pitkin “take the plunge”
Into the ocean? No!, hot tub? No!, Marriage! They have been at that for
fifteen years or so......
“We took the Plunge and purchased our first Model A! It is a 1930 Standard
Coupe. We purchased it from Heidi’s dad. Heidi’s father purchased it from Clays’
distance cousin, so you could say it is a family tradition car.
The frame has been powder coated. The front and rear suspension has been
painted with POUR 15. The engine was rebuilt by Bud Cheney using a Model B
head/cam, and leak-less water pump.
At this point, the car is still being
put together. We have purchased many
new parts and some used from Model
A club guys. Our goal and hope are to
have it back together and driving in a
couple of weeks.
Any tips and help would be
accepted at anytime. We thank those
that have already Helped and gave us
useful information.
Digital Tech Presentation
Clay Pitkin found this engine information on the net. He thought it may be of
use to us members. At the bottom of the website are two attachments of dates
referencing when Model A engines were produced.
http://plucks329s.org/studies/studies_ep/studies_ep.html
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Randy Christiansen has again alerted us to this interesting MAFCA article from
fourteen years ago.
The 20,000,000th.
http://www.mafca.com/downloads/Restorer/20M_2001.pdf
October club meeting
Monday 7:00 p.m. October 12. We return back again to the Weber County
Library on Adams Ave. or i.e. 5568 S. 500 E. in Washington Terrace.
Activities Event Calendar
October:
Friday/Saturday. 16th. or 17th. American West Heritage Center Fall Harvest
Festival. 11:00 - 4:00 p.m. Wellsville, Utah. Combined with the Salty A’s and
the Model T Ford club.
November: Monday 12th. 7:00 p.m. Monthly meeting at the Washington Terrace
Branch of the County library. Elections.
December: Tuesday 8th. Christmas Party at Maddox’s’ fine dining in Perry, Utah.
PS/Quote: The eighth commandment for antique cars: Thou shalt not lie and
say “My father owned one just like it.”
For Sale: Mitchell Overdrive for sale. Model 'A' - New in the box.
$2200.00. Contact Duyane Sims @ 1-208-221-37
Dinah doesn’t
Treat him right
But if
He’d shave
Dinah might
Burma Shave
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Cleaning the “A” tank
Make a setup like this out of 1/8 inch
pipe fittings to clean out a dirty gas
tank.
Contributed by Randy Christiansen
In their shop jackets
The “T & A” Model T assemblers:
Roy Van Orman, Dave Spinden, and
Craig Berry