- Home
- About Us
- Join/Renew
- Member Benefits
- Member Pages
- Log In
- Help
- Museum Store
Hello everyone my name is Charles Friend and I joined PAS a few months ago. I joined because in hopes of getting help restoring my 1928 Fleet Arrow Wagon that my father had given to me when I was yet a teen. He purchased this truck in the early 60’s and hauled some loads of scrap to a scrapyard then parked it in hopes of restoring it someday. I chose to begin restoring this now since my second and last daughter is graduating high school and I finally hope to have a little extra time on my hands. here is a photo of my truck before I began to work on it.
Joining the PAS was the best thing I could have done. As you can see I have a long way to go but have already learned so much from some of the members, thanks thus far to all who have been so helpful. I currently have the Cylinder Block in a machine shop getting the valves ground.
Hello All,
Just wanted to give you an update on the 1928 Fleet Arrow Wagon. It has been a very fulfilling quest thus far although i still have a ways to go to completely restore my truck. The truck is running with some minor adjustments yet to be done such as adjusting the valves and rebuilding the carburetor. I had an interesting time getting the head gasket to stop leaking but after a few panic attacks and with the advice of Greg Long I was able to get it done. Since then I have been working on it sporadically, darn work always seems to get in the way. I was able to purchase a donor truck, the only other Fleet Arrow Wagon that is know to the Society, only 4 in total. Believe it or not the truck was in St. Croix Falls Wisconsin, which is only 120 miles away. There are higher forces working on this restoration because I had been trying to purchase this truck for a few years and Mr. Tom Johnson finally gave in and sold it to me, see picture below. Although missing a motor, the donor truck had several impossible to find parts needed to restore my truck to original condition. The rear end in my truck was not original but the donor truck did, it also had the original gas tank, spare tire holder, and hood panels among other misc. parts. Also, a gentlemen by the name of Arlo Bow (not sure how to spell his name correctly) had started to restore the wood cab. This was a time and money saver and looks great. I recently sent it to a body shop to get some work done on the Hood, Fenders, etc. and now have it back home where I am working on permanently attaching the metal cladding on the body and will get it out for paint. I have attached a picture below as it sits today and will follow up as it progresses.
Hello and Happy Holidays to all! I wanted to share the progress on my Fleet Arrow Wagon, I have not had as much time to work on it as I would like to have had in the past couple years, real work always seems to get in the way. I had some issues getting the head to stop leaking but think i finally won that battle with some help from Greg as always, keeping my fingers crossed but it seems to be running rather smoothly as of yesterday. I have final adjusted and secured the radiator, hood, cab, drivers side door, but i do have a little adjusting on the passenger side door. I am also currently working on the truck box in which I am using a photo of an original Fleet Arrow Wagon step side as a guide. Hoping to have the metal wrap, support brackets, and the flat iron step sides for the box fabricated and installed by the end of January. I am in search of an original front bumper so if anyone has any leads it would be greatly appreciated, I have the original but it is beyond repair. I will be working on the seat, windshield, and floor boards this winter in hopes of having them somewhat put together for its first ever trip to Kalamazoo this August. Here are a few photos of what it looks like at the today, i am planning on going with a vintage red paint. The last photo has the truck box i am using as a guide for my box.
