Model A Pickup Beds

[John Tumolo]

Any Barner restore a 28-31 Model a Pickup bed and can tell me where the 10 square metal pieces go that I got in a parts kit to hold down the bed strips? JOHN 856 468 5107 Thanks.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Not all the holes in the bed strips line up with a piece of metal under the bed. It is in these locations that the square metal with the raised corner is used. the raised portion digs into the wood to prevent spinning. that's my guess anyway.

 

[1930-Pickup]

I have these square washers attached to the bolts that hold the metal strips in place. .

I believe the wood and hardware on my late '30 PU is original, but I would appreciate an expert to verify this.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

I have these square washers attached to the bolts that hold the metal strips in place. .

I believe the wood and hardware on my late '30 PU is original, but I would appreciate an expert to verify this.

Yea, that how I saw it. I did an internet search right after my post and it seems to be the common way for manufacturers to do it.

 

[GPierce]

Are these the pieces. They hold the wood strips down.

 

[SeaSlugs]

Are these the pieces. They hold the wood strips down.

yes but like previously mentioned that bent corner should dig into the wood - your right bolt is not and your left one barely is.

the pic of the possible original setup looks correct.

 

[wrndln]

I am not so sure the bent corner is supposed to be placed to "dig into the wood" I have a picture, not of my truck bed, but a fine point OCPU - picture 1. It shows the bent in part of the square washer in the space between the wood. I believe this is correct. In addition, I am pretty sure the bed wood should have slots cut on both sides of the wood like the second picture shows. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
Rusty Nelson

 

[SeaSlugs]

yes on the bed grooves - theory was during assembly the guy could flip a board if there was a nasty knot or other defect in the wood and the bed strip groove would be there.

what would the purpose of using time and energy to bend the corner if it wasnt supposed to keep it from turning? You notice the bent corner in your pic would line up perfectly with the bed grooves?

 

[TomW]

On mine, the bent corners were positioned in those 1/8" slots. keeps them from turning when you tighten the nuts.

 

[1930-Pickup]

Slots on each side of the boards sounds like twice as much labor for Henry as necessary. That doesn't sound like Henry's style.

During manufacturing, would they have had such a problem with bad wood that it would have justified the extra effort to put slots on both sides of the wood? Or would they have just tossed the occasion bad wood board, since material was cheaper than labor?

On trucks, Henry didn't even care if the sheet metal paint wasn't perfect, so why would he care if a board had an ugly knot, especially since the knot was painted over anyway? If the knot was structural, they would have tossed the board.

Lastly, the square washers take a good 'bite' into the wood, regardless of the presence of grooves or not.

Or, all my assumptions could be completely wrong

 

[wrndln]

OK, I have a picture of the underside of an original bed. It came from the Mack Hil's booklet. It is in rough condition, but you can see the grooves on the underside. SeaSlugs, I believe is correct. I still believe the bent in part of the square washer goes into the space between the wood planks. Note the orientation of the square washer in Mack Hil's picture. I guess it probably doesn't really matter which way they are oriented. The underside of the original bed in the picture is too far gone to determine which way the washers were installed. I don't agree with 1930-pickup about the grooves or the "bit into the wood". The washers can't move much either way - either between the planks or in the grooves.
Rusty Nelson

 

[1930-Pickup]

OK, I have a picture of the underside of an original bed. It came from the Mack Hil's booklet. It is in rough condition, but you can see the grooves on the underside. SeaSlugs, I believe is correct. I still believe the bent in part of the square washer goes into the space between the wood planks. Note the orientation of the square washer in Mack Hil's picture. I guess it probably doesn't really matter which way they are oriented. The underside of the original bed in the picture is too far gone to determine which way the washers were installed. I don't agree with 1930-pickup about the grooves or the "bit into the wood". The washers can't move much either way - either between the planks or in the grooves.
Rusty Nelson

I can' quite read the writing...does it say what year bed this is?

Would the underside wood grooves have been used for all years that Ford used this type of bed?

Do modern replacement bed wood kits have grooves on both sides of the boards?

 

[Dan Partain]

Rusty is correct about the square washers, here's a photo of an original assembly from a May '29 original pickup.

The original boards did have the grooves cut on both sides of the boards.

-DAN

 

[1930-Pickup]

Rusty is correct about the square washers, here's a photo of an original assembly from a May '29 original pickup.

The original boards did have the grooves cut on both sides of the boards.

-DAN

Great photo

 

[1930-Pickup]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I think the original question has been answered.

But continuing on this subject...

The last photo is pretty conclusive that in May 1929 the grooves were cut on both sides of the boards.

I'm still attempting to identify the originality of my late 1930 bed wood, which has the grooves on the top side only.

Does someone know if grooves on both sides of the boards were continued through to 1931?

 

[Farrell In Vancouver]

I can state that that is true for the 1931 AA deck wood. Milled both sides on an original I took apart. Round washers were found rather than square.

 

[wrndln]

1930-Pickup,
The picture in Mack Hil's booklet doesn't say what year the bed was, but did said it was an "original" bed. The pickup bed floor wood kit I bought on eBay had grooves on both sides. In addition, the wood was marked "TOP" on each piece where the metal stripes would cover up the markings. Some of the undersides were not quite as nice as the side marked top, which tends to support SeaSlugs posting. Just guessing, I suspect sometime in the last 87 years the wood floor in your bed was replaced. I think it would look pretty rough if it were the original, as pickup's weren't treated very nicely (garaged) through the years. They were used hard and left mostly outside.
Rusty Nelson

 

[1930-Pickup]

I can state that that is true for the 1931 AA deck wood. Milled both sides on an original I took apart. Round washers were found rather than square.

1930-Pickup,
The picture in Mack Hil's booklet doesn't say what year the bed was, but did said it was an "original" bed. The pickup bed floor wood kit I bought on eBay had grooves on both sides. In addition, the wood was marked "TOP" on each piece where the metal stripes would cover up the markings. Some of the undersides were not quite as nice as the side marked top, which tends to support SeaSlugs posting. Just guessing, I suspect sometime in the last 87 years the wood floor in your bed was replaced. I think it would look pretty rough if it were the original, as pickup's weren't treated very nicely (garaged) through the years. They were used hard and left mostly outside.
Rusty Nelson

It appears that I must concede that the boards are grooved on both sides. Its good to get to the truth , but bad that my bed wood is not factory original

My truck was taken off the road and stored indoors approximately 1963. It was stored near Fullerton CA which is a pretty good rust slow-growth area.
It was returned to the road about 2014 by the PO.

The bed wood is aged, cracked, and warped. The underside hardware seen in the photo (posted earlier) is rusty and may be seized. The top of the boards are properly sized and grooved.

Prior to the mid-1950's, were Model A vendors supplying wood bed kits, and would it have been a fairly common practice to replace bed wood?

 

[CHuDWah]

It appears that I must concede that the boards are grooved on both sides. Its good to get to the truth , but bad that my bed wood is not factory original

My truck was taken off the road and stored indoors approximately 1963. It was stored near Fullerton CA which is a pretty good rust slow-growth area.
It was returned to the road about 2014 by the PO.

The bed wood is aged, cracked, and warped. The underside hardware seen in the photo (posted earlier) is rusty and may be seized. The top of the boards are properly sized and grooved.

Prior to the mid-1950's, were Model A vendors supplying wood bed kits, and would it have been a fairly common practice to replace bed wood?

In the early-70s, we replaced the bed wood in our 30 CCPU. I don't recall there being any kits at that time. We went to a company that still made beds for big trucks much like Ford did. They cut and grooved the boards to our specs (grooved one side only - we didn't know better at the time). They also supplied the steel strips. A pic of the bed is below.

I agree it would have been inefficient to run a board twice to cut grooves on both sides. But I suspect Henry had a machine that cut both grooves in one pass. Not sure I buy the grooves being so they could hide bad spots. I'd guess it was so the assembler could install the board without having to orient it top and bottom - that would have saved a second or two on the line. I do recall reading that the bent corner of the square washer goes between the boards - can't recall where I saw it but I seem to remember it was some "official" source.

 

[GPierce]

yes but like previously mentioned that bent corner should dig into the wood - your right bolt is not and your left one barely is.

Thanks for pointing that out. It's always nice to be corrected.
However I did that on purpose so as not to break the sealant on the wood and allow moisture to enter.