Projects Tired of Looking for wired stuff and parts or making your own.

Replaced a cheapo radiator for a friend. It was the 4th one he put in in 2 years,but "it has a lifetime warranty". He could have bought OEM for what he spent in having 4 POS's installed. Often you're better off spending a buck on a good part. Especially when the suck factor of replacing it is greater than the cost of a good one.

 

Listen to this fishing plan.
Sell the customer junk parts with lifetime warranty on the parts but not labor. A Guy was eating wheel bearings ever 3-4 months. $80.00 labor charge every time that cheap part ate shit.,

 

I know it's off topic but this really gave me a good laugh. It's a running joke with me and the ole lady that I have to completely re-engineer a burger when I get it. McD's is the worst, I always have a pickle overload in the middle of the sandwich. I have to take it apart spread the pickles and onions, center the patty and cheese, reassemble, then eat. Hahaha! Sorry that was random, but funny stuff...carry on

 

Can the unit be down shifted? Does not show being able to go to 3rd and down to second like if you were doing some road course ...

 

Like that shifter. Looks like it would be easy to replace the Alum shift arms with chromed steel.

Do I "have to" shift in this order: 1-2, 2-3,3-4; or can I from drive just do a 2-3 or a 3-4?

 

I have bought that same headlight switch at Advanced Auto in the boat-parts section and it has a chrome knob!

 

You can ad So Cal Speed shop to the list....here's your spring, good luck.
Guess that is why they are called buggy springs.....
Probably why so many street rods use coilovers in the rear.

 

They are called buggy springs,because that`s what they will do.Drive ya BUGGY.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

What are the heat limitations of Versimold?

 

Generally, the greater the capitalization in the OEM part, the worse any aftermarket equivalent made by the same basic process is likely to be. This is why the worst repro parts are pressings, die castings, and injection mouldings. The repro manufacturers can't afford to spend money on fine-tuning the tooling for the kinds of volumes they're producing.

The obvious solution is to change the process. 3D printing has huge potential here, not only for actual parts themselves but for instance sand-casting patterns etc.

 

The guy who polished my stainless trim told me repro stuff never fits right. All my original trim went right on, no issues. So glad, it was easy to install on the fresh paint job I'm paranoid about.
Can't say the same for the new wagon bumper from Danchuck, or the wiper escutcheons. Bumper seemed too wide for the car!

 

As a good friend of mine always said "Racing is Fun, Relaxing and Inexpensive" I believe this also applies to the car "Hobby". Being a Tool & Die Maker has been very useful in building/machining or"Adjusting" parts, pieces purchased thru 50+ years of being a Car Crazy. I'm about done with old cars, my OT late model Hot Rods are looking better every year, will play with cars till the end, God willing, But no more project's for me, (1 exception, restoring family midget, I raced in 70's) just trying to maintain what I have.

 

Talking about Model A parts I have used Bert's and have had great luck. With a lot of parts they sell they offer the cheap one and a nice one. 9 times out of 10 the more expensive part works better. Steve showed me a great example of 30-31 hubcaps. The cheap ones don't go on easily but the expensive ones pop right on. Talk to the guys there and they will tell you which parts fit the best and if they have original parts instead of repop. Unfortunately they only sell A parts. Wish more suppliers were like that.

 

Naw, they think you the customer is too dumb to know what a spring rate is.

 

When it comes to transverse mounted buggy springs-,,,

The "classic" measure of spring rate is based on starting with a free spring and adding a load then quoting the pounds per inch.

A buggy spring is mounted in pre- load tension and that amount of tension changes as the perches C/C distance varies. So one first establish the pre-load then from there begin the measuring. If your pre load tension is different from the bench it was calculated on then the rate will be too.

The spring manufacturers could have the design department write a few paragraphs explaining the rating measure they used but nobody would read it just like nobody is going to read this post.

 

I asked on the HAMB if people that were building or had built Gasser style cars knew what the front spring rate was in their builds using Speedway springs or others they are using or had built...No answer, I guess no one figured any thing out or took the time...I did...After some poking around I found the rate of Speedway springs to be 634#, three times [almost] the rate of a stock 1951 Ford pick up truck spring and probably helpful when coming back to earth from a monster wheelie !!!! In my case after a lot of messing around years ago the rate is right around 200# but no wheelie worry and I don't have to wear a Kidney belt ..

 

Sorry - was asleep at the wheel - Versimold is good for temps up to 200 degrees C (392 F) after curing the part....

 

Isn't it kind of weird to look for wired stuff ?

 

I dont even know why I read this damn thread, it just pissed me off even more. Im from the aviation industry and have bitched about the cheap ass hot rod parts since I got back into hot rods after living life till the kids were out of college.
Even the old school names are crap now.......My biggest complaint is when you purchase parts during a build and 6 months to a year later when you get the car running the HP125 electric fuel pump is crap, but past the 90 day warrenty (from date of purchase), or the water temp gauge that wont read past 130 degrees F, pull it, send it back, test the replacement, 130 degree max, order another brand, 150 degrees tops, order again, another brand, working now, but who knows for how long.....OLD PARTS are just better quality ....OK, Im going to the shop, gotta replace my water temp gauge......Jeeez

 

You did notice how most of the stuff had something to do with wiring or wires or getting wired , yes.

Yes it's all weird wired stuff

 

Eaton spring made me a front leaf spring based on my front weight. Monoleaf I had was one of the stiffest. Got rid of it.

 

Yes I did sort of notice that, I was just feeling weird

 

Thanks. I may need to make some radiator mounts and those temp ratings look like they will work.

 

Pre-load is a difficult concept to get your head around, so people often make it more complicated than it is. It only really applies in cases where the spring travel is greater than the suspension system's travel, so that the spring is in partial compression when the suspension is at full droop. The simplest instance to understand it is motorbike rear suspension, where the springs at free length are longer than the shocks at maximum extension. The suspension is solid until the load exceeds the compression required to get the spring onto the shock, i.e. the pre-load. Thereafter the spring acts exactly as if there were no pre-load. It doesn't alter the spring rate in any way.

Put the bike up on its centre stand, and the rear springs bear against the shocks' extension stops. That's pre-load. Take the bike off the stand and get on it, and the springs no longer bear on the extension stops, hence no pre-load: only the bike's weight and your weight act on the springs. The spring rate doesn't change if you move the extension stops. Most cars have their own weight on the springs pretty much all the time, so pre-load is irrelevant except when you're removing or installing the springs.

There are formulae for calculating leaf spring rates, based on eye-to-eye length, leaf width, leaf thickness, and number of leaves. The only tricky variable is the steel's modulus of elasticity, which for some reason varies much more for leaf springs than for coils or torsion bars. Leaf spring metallurgy seems to be a bit of a black art.

I seem to remember Eaton having some good detailed tech info on leaf springs on their website, too.

 

Leaf springs are progressive.

 

So are some coil springs.

 

Lots of us would love to know the actual rate but.......

we know that they are cheap ass trailer springs and can buy them locally for a lot less money if that is what we decide to use...

 

Yes that's exactly how the transverse spring is mounted .

It only really applies in cases where the spring travel is greater than the suspension system's travel, so that the spring is in partial compression when the suspension is at full droop.

It is from this loaded condition where the "spring rate" starts to be applicable.

 

They can be, depending on the shape of the shorter leaves. You'll see leaf springs on heavy vehicles where the shorter leaves are splayed, so they only become effective at a certain travel.

Actually not easy to pull off. Serious off-road coilovers have stacked springs with staggered compression stops to create two-stage or three-stage springing.

Exactly.

 

Interesting thread.After 50 years in the motorcycle business I can tell you that trash aftermarket parts are not just an automotive problem.Also I heard the old saw "universal part means it doesnt fit anything" long before Brock Yates printed it.I have found a very small double cut round file is handy for tiny little eyelet terminals that dont quite fit.