You guys are A-holes.... ..... How have I not been clued into this thread?....or maybe i have and forgot?....I certainly don't remember looking at the couple pages i have been able to go thru..... some of you are getting unfriended.
Damnnnn Gary.....you are a perfectionist when it comes to the "details"! By the way....did you just let the "cat out of the bag"?
Oops There's so much detail in these pictures it's unreal...it's a virtual 'period correct hot rod how-to'. The pics of your dad's phaeton and the McNatt/Welsh '25 modified have inspired me to revise my front suspension setup...here's my mocked up recreation; Dago axle, 32-4 spindles, perches, kingpins, and actuators. (Yeah, I know the spindle is on the wrong side...just trying to get 'the lay of the land'.) On first glance, A actuators (and kingpins) seem to be a natural go-to for this setup, but I'd think that the double-whammy of higher spacing (to align with the kingpin cup) along with upward pointed arms would cause an extreme angle on the brake rods and potential binding on the anti-rattlers. That's the sweet thing about this thread...it shows a different approach; the downward-oriented actuator arms on the 32-4 units allow for better brake rod geometry - even after being spaced 'up' into position. It seems to me that they must have used 1 3/4" or 2" shackle plates as a spacer for the perch to brake actuator to bring everything into alignment - these 'spacers' can be seen in the photos. I tried using 1 1/2" Model A shackle plates, but they weren't quite long enough to allow for smooth operation...in the photo above I have approximated a 1 3/4" spacer and the actuators work just fine. Might have to cut the shock nub/ball off the perches (as they did in the pictures) to ensure brake rod clearance. (I'll be using some NOS 39-50 MoPar 'tube' shocks, so I won't need them anyway). Those guys were way sharp and this is been an awesome 'living history' experiment, thanks again Mike (and sorry for hijacking the thread).
What is interesting is G White found pictorial proof that dropped axles and mechanical brakes existed together. I have this same set up on my Model A roadster and I have had revisionist traditional hot rodders tell me that the combination never existed, well HA! it does! Here is how I did it using all early ford parts: '32 spindles, '32-'34 perches, heated and stretch dropped axle from Okie Joe, no heating or other mods needed.
That looks so slick! Are you running the stock style 'anti-rattlers' on your brake rods? If so, any binding? The A kingpin & actuator setup you have is more aesthetically pleasing, IMO.
Since we're talking drop axles and mechanical breaks, here's the set-up on my A: 3 1/2" Stretch-Dropped Axle '32 Spindles and Perches Model A Actuators All bolt together, no spacers, and works like a champ with no apparent binding. I did hve to go to a shorter Pitman Arm to clear the drag-link and tie-rod.
No binding at all, stops just like it should using the A parts. I have had this set up together for about 6 years now
That's a nice '33/34 coupe in the back ground. Love the clothing of the day. Oh, the roadster is nice too!!
Gary; You or anyone else is more than welcome to "hijack" this thread! As long as the information keeps flowing. I and I'm sure lots of others have learned so much! So please keep it coming!
OK Boys and Girls, before your brains go to mush looking at all the pictures, I'm going to post a really cool article out of the october 1950 Hot Rod Magazine to you to READ! Written by Wally Parks. Earlier in the thread I had posted an article on the first running at Bonneville, and now this is the second running. The first part has the City Of Pasadena streamliner going airborne at approximately 200 MPH. Apparently this was a "crash course on aeronautics" literally!! A lot to take in as the pictures have a lot goin' on. A lot of great names to go with the pictures. Barney Navarro, Bill Likes', Don Waite, Don Blair, etc. etc. I'll let you all judge for your self. And check out Earl Evans and Fred Carrillo working on the motor on the hotel room floor!! How awesome is that. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks Mike. I really enjoyed those old Bonneville pictures. Rebuilding the engine in the motel room takes the cake. They really worked hard with the flathead engines. Those scans came out really clear. Amazingly look like original photos. Keep em coming.
You are very welcome Karl. Like I said, there is a lot going on in these pictures. Not to mention the neat advertisements! Another picture that caught my eye was the one where they are working on the Ansen Spec. #104. If you look in the top right corner, there is a guy holding what looks to a drop cord strung from the hotel window. Classic!! Again...back to the bare basics! Glad you enjoyed the post.
Granted that I am prejudiced, as I was born and raised in Pasadena, but note how many cars in this feature come from there...It probably helped that Don Blair set up his speed shop in late '45, once on Arroyo Parkway...so there was a ready supply of speed parts and knowledge available....Thanks again, Mike, for all this history!!
Incredible, for some reason I had a hard time seeing anything after the first page, must've been something in my eye. Thank you.
Thats a great magazine Mike, thanks for posting it. I have to learn how to post like that someday. Rich
Mike A little trivia on your posting of the Hot Rod magazine article. The modified roadster entered by Don Blair's was the roadster that your Dad's friend Milt Vogel built. It was being raced by Don (Dyno Don) and Harold Nicholson. (HRM page 9 - middle left and page 13 lower left) For Dave: The Jimmy and Tommy Dahm (Pasadena Pacers club) modified roadster was based at our (yours and mine) Fair Oaks Speed shop when this was taken. (HRM page 8 -lower right and page 11- middle left). Note that there were several other Pasadena hot rodders there including Bob Wright, George DuNah and Marvin Lee. Mike Note that Monrovia's George LaRue ran his coupe there also. Good memories - Don
Thanks, Don...Don has lots of history at this shop, told me that Don Blair also used to keep his sprint car there, it is on North Fair Oaks, right north of Montana...I built my B/fuel dragster there in the mid-60s, some of Don's old GCRC friends like Gil Hayward and others gave me lots of help....I stopped by a couple of years ago, it is a nursery shop now, wasn't sure if it was the right place until I walked in the top-opening door, it was the place...Don, didn't you meet your wife at a gas station right near there? (I tried to copy from Google Earth but it is not cooperating...it is 2028 Fair Oaks, Pasadena)
Thank you so much for the information Don. As always, your information is invaluable!! Thank you for the comment.
Average income today is about 15.5 times what it was in 1950...that means the Ansen 'juice brake' conversion would cost about $1085 and the Mallory DSM coil would run about $170. Kinda funny to see that hot rodding was as expensive then as it is now!
[ "]Thanks, Don...Don has lots of history at this shop, told me that Don Blair also used to keep his sprint car there, it is on North Fair Oaks, right north of Montana...I built my B/fuel dragster there in the mid-60s, some of Don's old GCRC friends like Gil Hayward and others gave me lots of help....I stopped by a couple of years ago, it is a nursery shop now, wasn't sure if it was the right place until I walked in the top-opening door, it was the place...Don, didn't you meet your wife at a gas station right near there? (I tried to copy from Google Earth but it is not cooperating...it is 2028 Fair Oaks, Pasadena)[/QUOTE] Here are a couple of photos taken at our Fair oaks Speed shop in 1952. Actually it was not a speed shop, it was just a garage where some racers kept and worked on there hot rods. The first 3 photos are of a track roadster being "serviced" for oval track racing . This year was about the end of the roadster period as the racers were all transiting to sprint cars, which were faster. I cannot ID all the guys except in the 3rd photo I an standing on the left and Jack Schmitt (long time Keith Black employee) is on the right. My Cord is in the background. The Cord was finished and racing by April of 1952 so this would be around that time. The last 2 photos are from early in 1952. The first photo shows Larry Burford' A roadster under a tarp as he was building it. Larry, a GCRC member, raced it at the Lakes and Bonneville. Years later Larry's roadster set SCTA records and was inducted in the Dry Lakes Hall Of Fame (now owned by Jim Lattin). In the center is my 1950 Olds 88. It was a factory manual trans car ( Olds had Cadillac trans in the manual cars). It was a great tow car for first my Hudson and then my Cord. In the background is my Cord, as it looked when I bought it from Tom "Acmo" McLaughlin. The last picture from the other direction shows the back of my 88 and my Hudson sedan on it's death bed. The engine and rear end had been removed to be inserted in the Cord. The last photo of my Hudson, and me, was taken at the Fair Oaks Speed Shop in 1950. It was "shot" by Fred "California Bill" Fisher for his book on how to Hop Up A Chevy. Bill went to found HP Books that did so many How To books. The photo was taken on the south side of the property. The Fair Oaks Speed Shop offered a place to work and keep our cars and bench race with all the guys. Don
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