The custom maple wood bed...
The custom maple wood bed floor has remote master cylinder reservoirs mounted under aluminum covers (Volkswagen air cleaners) in the bed floor.
The truck's hot rod stance is accomplished through the combination of a Durant Super Low front spring, Pete & Jakes F-1-style chrome hooded shocks, and Firestone bias-ply Dirt Tracker 5.00x16 tires in the front and complementing 7.50x16 tires in the rear. The brakes are all Ford as well with donations from an '86 Ford van for stock drums and hardware. Making it look old was no challenge, with '39 Lincoln backing plates and Buick finned drums. You'll look long and hard though for the Wilwood remote reservoir under the sly cover of a VW air cleaner mounted in the custom maple bed. The rearend began life as an '86 Ford 9-inch rearend but has been modified with an all-nodular centersection, Detroit Locker, and a cut-down '40 Ford axle end to make it appear as an early Ford rearend. It has a SO-CAL Speed Shop main leaf with reversed eyes.
Aaron modified the Kirky aluminum...
Aaron modified the Kirky aluminum drag seats. The Hurst speed drilled shifter is paired with the SO-CAL Speed Shop four-spoke wheel.
The sinister black finish by Richie Poland and the owner was completed with Sherwin-Williams Ultra 7000 basecoat/clearcoat in (what else) gloss black. The interior, simple yet elegant, features a modified '33 Ford truck dash with a handmade insert and Auto Meter gauges in Antique Beige. The customized Kirky aluminum drag seats stand out against the flat tan paint of the interior. The truck also features a SO-CAL four-spoke steering wheel with handmade magnesium, fully functioning knock-offs.
Probably the most unique and noticeable feature on Aaron's truck is the lack of carburetors. OK, they're there; you just have to look for them inside the manifold. While he nixed a small-block from the start, he considered a Flathead V-8. Then he came across a marine intake at a Ford swap meet. While he didn't buy that one, it got the machinist wheels in his head turning. A couple years later he would revisit the idea and eventually purchase a '50s marine intake and carburetors on eBay knowing nothing about the setup. "There really aren't many people who know about them (Carter YH sidedrafts) and much like old hot rodders, old boaters are dying off," Aaron laments. After a successful trial on his freshly rebuilt 312ci '57 Y-block he sourced the parts and rebuilt the carburetors. He then hand-fabricated water necks to make the setup work; the system is "super reliable."
But like any good hot rod project, at least one thrash was involved, well two in Aaron's case. The first was to show the car in bare steel at the '06 Detroit Autorama, which he calls his most memorable experience with the truck. The positive feedback he received there kept him excited about the build and how the end result would turn out.
Aaron filled the '33 truck...
Aaron filled the '33 truck dash with Auto Meter Antique Beige gauges.
The second thrash was a little more personal and involved a fiancée! Five years after beginning the project with a wedding in the near future he told Holly, his then wife to be, a wedding could only happen if they drove the truck on the big day. So the thrash began. In seven short months he built the engine, transmission, and rearend as well as completing the bodywork, paintwork, wiring, and assembly. It literally came right down to the wire, the final week before the wedding when his good friends Henry Richards, of Steadfast Manufacturing, and Patrick Plenge, of Patrick's Rod and Trim, stepped in to help, spending that final week in Aaron's dad's garage. The truck rolled out of the garage the day before the wedding; completing its shakedown run en route to the rehearsal dinner.
Luckily for Aaron (and his bride to be) everything went swimmingly and the wedding went off the next day without a hitch. A year later the truck is still going strong with 6,000 miles on the clock and an award from the '10 Detroit Autorama. He received the Builder's Choice award from Alan Johnson, the builder of the '09 Ridler Award winner. Aaron says, "It's a great feeling when you get someone like that complimenting you!"
While his mind swirls with ideas for the next project, he will continue to drive and enjoy his "practical" truck taking him to and from work each day and hauling those all-important swap meet bargains.