Great thread, I love you're ingenuity! I do agree with Nick about those rear wishbones, either reinforce the hell out of them or move the rear axle attachment points(where the wishbones bolt to the axle tubes).
I had another look at them and i still think they are horrendously unsafe. I have seen guys make up mounting plates, that weld closer inboard from the brakes and mount the wishbones off that. You could retain the mounting point at the front on the torque tube, or cut it off and remount it further ahead, or back, which ever is suitable. Personally i don't know why you had to do that in the first place. I have a stepped Model A frame under my roadster, with a later '48 mercury rear and the wishbones have no problems clearing.
I have an idea for you. You might be able to use a later wishbone and it'll clear fine. Either use 35-36 and weld a mounting plate on the axle tubes or you might be able to weld and redrill one of the mounting holes on a later pair to suit the Model A rear end. Here's a pic for you of the later '48 Merc (possibly same as Ford) wishbones. They clear no worries.
What you might be able to try if you know of someone with one or can find a pair cheap enough, is possibly use '32 - '34 wishbones. They as far as i can remember are the same bolt pattern as Model A, yet they bolt from underneath like the later stuff does instead of one on bottom one on top like the Model A which might be where you're having a clearance issue. Here's a pic to illustrate what i mean -
Reason I stepped them because wishbones where hitting the frame rail ... Once I get back home I'll have another look at them
Plate the sides of your bones where you stepped them you will be fine. Ever grind the welds off old bones? There is almost nothing holding them together. And with a banger you won't be doing many drag strip launches anyway.
Looking good! Nice build you have going, doing something similar myself. Looking forward to seeing more progress.
If it were me, and i'm sure many others here.. i'd replace the stepped ones you've done with some other factory ones that will work instead. I think the '32 - '34 will be a bolt on swap for you and will be a much safer option. I'm not tryin to bust your balls, I just think what you've done isn't particularly good engineering nor safe. The originals might not be the thickest material of all time but they've worked for 80 odd years, and there's nothing wrong with them. Just use a different set of bones to get the desired outcome. As i said, my roadster is stepped the same as yours and i've got the later V8 bones with a '48 Merc rear.. and i have no clearance issues at all. I also know for certain we'd never in a million years be allowed to do that over here.. our engineering guys would have a heart attack seeing that here.
Don't have to much to report Panel below decklid in Rear quarter panel patch tacked in and one fender well Had some troubles fitting the body mounts in due to one of the subrails I had made not being welded in straight.. learning process haha cut it and re welded I'll get some more pictures once I'm back at er
I agree 100%. Nobody was ever building a "pre-war" hot rod with wishbones of your creation. I'm curious to the outcome of the "stance" ...where you have Z'd the rear frame yet haven't done much of a drop in the front axle. Just some things to think about. But in the end, it's your car, build it how you want.
Sorry boys I have been keeping Ya up to date haha well start make it short and sweet this time Got the wheel wells , quarter patch and rear patch in Floors all made up and rolled The crossmember hump I just built a box around next time I'm back at her I'll get a picture of it this pic was mock up Today I was working on getting the doors swinging and latched, windshield and the grille shell somewhere down the line someone decided to notch the bottom of the shell so had to repair that and the windshield I got the studs in and hung so this is how she sits now Next on the list is getting the light bar made and seat bolted up ... More pics to follow !
I am glad to see some progress on this roadster. I agree with some of the fellas above and the rear radius rods don't look safe to me. I believe these I am using on my coupe are from a '40 (I think). They mount up nice and clear the frame with the "6 drop I have. These have been shortened to work with my Shortened torque tube and drive shaft.
I agree with others about the rear bones, they may look better if they were covered/boxed in at the drop area. But, man that is one nice car so far!
Thanks for the feedback boys I'll look into the rear rods ... Constructive criticism is always good to hear !
Well trust me boys I have been working on her just haven't been posting so another little stint for Ya guys Light bar made up and mounted We were having issues with the front end with the tie rod hitting the front crossmember so went on the old interwebs and got a 32 heavy axle and spindles to swap it and gosh darn it it worked Made a quick set of tail light stands for her and bolted them on they look off level in the picture but that is fixed now just haven't gotten any new pics They work for now but wanting to swap them out opinions ? Was all ready for test drive time but the exhaust valve is stuck on the #2 cylinder so she's a roller Until I get time to pull the head off ..
Good progress. Tip from me. Take the labels off the tyres. Nothing looks worse than when people leave them on and just let them wear through. Not saying you were going to do that, but the pics will look better anyway without the labels on. Mart.
nice start to your build 4barrel. you picked up the body in Canada? i travelled to Ontario to get my car. nice to see a young BC guy getting in on the action! i give you credit for going the banger route. i've been around high horsepower cars too long to have anything but 8 cylinders between the rails but good for you sticking to what you think is cool. i got some grief cause i don't want to chop my car. different strokes for different folks. keep up the work
Old soul the body is from edmonton and the guys name was Pat! Fitness Thanks for the comment! Yes the body is from Canada I did wanna put a v8 in it someday but this is what I got for now I like trying to keep it to how the guys used to do it back in the day
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