Projects Tommy R Attempts to Build a Hot Rod Model A

Tommy,what did you decide on your rear spring...!?!? Inquirey minds WANT to know..!!LOL.I am also building close what you have BUT the rear spring issue has come up for me too.I was told to use a 3058 Posie but hey,at that price,it aint in the budget.I looked almost everywhere and cant find a 40 spring...Am I supposed to be looking for a front or rear..?

 

I looked at one listed in Speedways catalog..( part number 580-204 ) but it says its 42 3/8ths from eye to eye...

 

Thanks!

I decided to use the '40 front spring I already have. It was suggested to me by a couple people that the Posie's AJ40NH (I believe) is a great option. Sadly, it's just out of my budget. So I decided that the '40 front spring will work. It may be too soft, but I'll add leafs to it as required to achieve my desired ride height.

Oh yeah! And I heard back from Posie's. They're modifying their weld-on spring hanger mounts for 2" springs and replacing the shackles with 2" shackles......all for no extra charge!! Needless to say, I placed the order with them.

For those of you in the Austin area:

In the next few weeks I'm going to set up a Sat. or Sun. to get the chassis squared up on the table and locked into position and get the crossmembers welded in. If any of you are in the Austin area and would be interested in helping a fellow HAMBer out, please let me know. I'll be happy to provide beer and pizza if you know what you're doing. PB&J sammiches for those who don't!!

I'm in northwest Austin around the corner from Mercury Charlie's shop on McNeil.

 

Most of the pre cut boxing plates I have used required enough shaping that you might as well make your own....

 

If you think I should have PMed you let me know and I will delete this.Well I called around today..( 2 hours on the phone ..) to try and find an answer for you because I know it will affect a few of us.I talked to Steve at Thompsons Garage....( HES way cool..) and he said he has a 42 3/8th spring for 175.00 BUT also has a 44 inch spring for about 230.00.Well I called about a half a dozen places to find out about that mount kit from Pete and Jakes..( Kit # 5019) and got some weird answers..2 shops didnt have a clue what shackles came with it..( How do you run a business and NOT know what your selling..?!?!)..The one who did know know said the are 2 3/4 shackles,but the spring from Thompsons is 2 inch.So what does one with that problem.?Use washers in between the gap..?Tommy,let me know what you ordered..part numbers and stuff.

 

Great build so far!! Lots of good info. Im subscribed!

 

That's what I'm concerned about when buying pre-cut plates. Not sure what I want to do yet. I may buy some small plates first and see how they fit before buying all the rest.

Dang, man! Sounds like you've been busy!! Well, I did decide on the '40 front spring for the rear. I ordered P/N 8045 (hangers) from Posie's. But they're making them for a 2" spring instead of 2-1/4". I also ordered a mounting plate w/u-bolts, but didn't get a part number for that.

Thanks!

 

Nice start. Looking forward to watch it come together.

 

You can also just cut 1/4" off of the 2 1/4" hangers....haha.

Say, how wide is the '40 front spring?

 

Yeah, yeah... That's what I was going to do 'til the nice guy at Posie's said, "Tell ya what, let me see if we can modify these for ya". I'm not a lazy dude, but with an offer like that for the price of $free-fifty-free, I couldn't refuse!

I forgot the perch mounting width of the '40 front spring, but I think it's 44" or so. It's shorter than a '40 rear spring, which I feared could interfere with my wheel/tire selection, particularly at the strip.

 

What you are looking at is the front spring perch measurement. Stock width on 1935-40 Fords were 42 3/8". This requires or should say the spring we offer, #2040, measures 39" eye to eye and is 2" wide.

Our narrow 40 style rear spring, AJ40NH, uses a spring perch distance of 44" - 44 1/2" and is 2 1/4" wide.

Todd
POSIES

 

Thanks for the info. and the great customer service, Todd!

 

UPDATES MAN...ya got me hanging here...LOL.

 

I've been pretty pre-occupied with other things lately....Mom's 80th b-day in New Orleans, hosting a party for my g/f this past weekend, and been crazy busy at work.

But I'm planning on doing some real work on the chassis over Thanksgiving holidays or maybe weekends right after that. I'm in the process of recruiting some folks now to lend a hand.

BTW, anyone else going to the Hot Rod Revolution in Austin this weekend? I'll be there for sure....

 

This past weekend was the Hot Rod Revolution in Austin (for the first time). It was a very unique experience that reminded me of the early days of the Round Up. It was fairly small, but the quality of cars was second to none! Only prime examples of traditional hot rods were entered and they did NOT disappoint! The smaller atmosphere and close proximity to the music made for a great time. And for those who don't know, the event was held on the premises of the abandoned Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin. And it made for a kick ass backdrop! Anyway, I hate taking pictures, but I managed to grab some, including a couple from the open house at Austin Speed Shop on Friday.











Purty!








Anyone seen this car before?

 

And some more...







Gee, how many people took this photo on Saturday?








DW's is always a fav of mine.











And here's a link to all 83 pics that I took over the weekend.
http://tommyr.smugmug.com/gallery/14778150_yFmCe#1101962347_sEiAb

 

Nice pics Tommy.....
Bleed's roadster is still one of my favorite cars...that sucker rules....

 

I'm going to be working on squaring up the chassis on the frame table and getting it locked down this Sunday. If any of y'all are local and are interested in stopping by, shoot me a PM....

 

I love the car and really love the pic of Carl's corner, I want to go there.

You have to check out my friends band, they play Continental Club in Austin

MOTHER TRUCKERS
Their awesome

Done Hijacking.

 

Well, it may not look like much, but a friend came by today and we made some good progress on the chassis. We got it all squared up, level, true, braced, and tack-welded to the frame table. The next step is to weld in the front cross member and start boxing the frame rails. I'll be installing the rear cross member soon, too.

I'd like some input. Are these tack welds strong enough and frequent enough to secure everything while I box the rails? I think so, but would like some more opinions. Of course, I'll just tack the plates in position and use lots of small stitch welds to keep warping to a minimum. Here's some shots...











A few bits of information about the chassis. As is sits now, it's square/level/true within about 1/16" in pretty much any dimension. I'm pretty happy with that! Also, while taking measurements and comparing them to the numbers for a stock Deuce frame, it appears my frame may be pinched for a Model A. The reason I say this is because the front and rear of the chassis are about 1/4" narrower than a stock Deuce, but around the cowl, it's close to 1" narrower. And FYI, I decided to keep the front and rear 1/4" narrower. I don't imagine that will cause any problems and figured it would help narrow the frame since I'm not pinching it further.

Does that sound reasonable?

Oh yeah, it was a brisk upper 60's/low 70's today in Austin.

 

Hey Tommy, that frames looking good man, takes me back a few years.

 

Oh yeah, I have some more news... It looks like I have secured a motor and maybe a transmission for the car!

The motor is a 350 Chevy that is coming from my friend's running '70 or '71 Firebird (getting a built LSx). It runs well, doesn't smoke, includes all the accessories (minus the carb), and the best part is it's coming from a trusted source. I think it even has a small cam. The icing on the cake is that it has the heads I wanted: small chamber camel hump heads. The castings look to ID them as '67-'69 64cc chambered heads. I suppose they are the 1.94/1.50 valves, which is fine for now.

The plan is to rebuild the carb I have and run the motor as-is. If all goes well, I'll put a "cooler" intake on it along with as big a cam as the heads can handle and run it like that. Then I can decide what I want to do long term. Eventual goal is a pump gas friendly 400-450 hp.

The motor is coming with a transmission/bellhousing/clutch assy. It's a Saginaw 4 speed. I haven't picked it up yet, but was told it has zero grooves on the input shaft. That would equate to ratios: 2.84/2.01/1.35/1.00 as far as I can tell. For a lightweight car like this, I think those are pretty good ratios! Now I know the Saginaw gets little respect, but I'm thinking of running it to get the car running. Here's the thoughts....

First of all, it may be strong enough for a lightweight car like this. I currently have a 4.11 and a 3.50 chunk for a 9". I could use the 3.50 gear with the Saginaw since it has no O/D. With the 31" tires, it'll be fine on the highway. Ideally, if/when I decide I want a T-5, it would be an easy conversion. They appear to both have 10 spline inputs, but I don't know if they're the same diameter. I also don't know the output size/spline or the overall length of either the Saginaw or T-5. I'm researching this now, but if anyone has helpful info, please share.

To summarize, I'm thinking of running the Saginaw when the car hits the road and maybe installing an S10 T-5 sometime later. But if it'll require too much re-work, I may go with the T-5 initially. Thoughts?

 

Thanks, Gary! It's no match for yours, though. Your ride is looking absolutely unbelievable!!!

 

I doubt an S-10 T-5 is any stronger than a Saginaw....
If she blows...throw in a Muncie....it'll go in with no additional work.
Frame looks good....

 

I'm not sure how strong a Saginaw is, but if I use a T-5 it would be a World Class that would get an S10 tailshaft so it would be pretty stout. True, a Muncie would drop in. Just not sure if I want an O/D or not. I guess I could just try it and see if I dig the 4 speed.

If not, I think the worst case to get a T-5 in would be a new clutch, new driveshaft yoke, lengthened/shortened shaft, and a new tranny mount. Not the end of the world, I suppose.

 

I'm in the same boat - I've got a Saginaw ready to go, but I would hate to blow it down the road and kick myself for not using something stronger during the initial build.

Thats what I'm leaning towards... thanks.

 

I've been researching and it seems the Saggy gets a pretty bum wrap and it might not be entirely justified....especially for a lightweight car. If I kill it I'll consider a Muncie instead.

Speaking of Saginaws, I was told last night that the ratios are 3.11, 2.20, 1.47, and 1.00 which look pretty appealing to me. I don't really want a super close ratio because the 1st gear would suck at the strip with slicks. I think with a 3.50 rear gear this could be a pretty fun combo and still be pretty highway friendly.

 

3.11 first gear is pretty low....most 4 speeds are in the 2.2-2.5 range....
I don't think you'll actually need to use first in a light hotrod...
The 3.11 1st would be nice if ya had like a 3.08 or 2.9 rear gear...

http://www.teufert.net/trans/saginaw.htm

 

Yeah, it's pretty low, but even with that 3.11 first gear and a 3.50 rear, it would run over 50 mph in first gear (6000 rpm). I don't really want first gear to stretch beyond that. With the close ratio gear set, first gear (2.56) would be good for over 60 mph. Yoink! I think that's just too much for 1st gear which is why I'm thinking the 3.11 might be a good choice, but I've never run such a high powered, lightweight car on such skinny tires so I could be completely off base here.

Keep in mind I'll be running 31" tall 7.50-16's. At 70 mph, it would turn 2700 rpm, which I think would be pretty good.

 

Tommy, glad you purchased my A, looks like it will be a fine ride when complete. I saw you mentioned the spacers that came with the Speedway rails... I have them in my hand. I will send them to you if you want them.