Technical Side to Side alignment issues

It also looks like the chrome ti-rod is rubbing on the "U" bolts. Those scratch marks in the center, look like the threads are hitting it when the car is on the ground. Probably happens with an extreme right or left turn. Ever notice any binding?

 

It's sad to see such a nice car fall into such a state of disrepair. These cars take more maintenance then your daily driver because everything is visible. My neighbors think I'm nuts because at times, my Deuce roadster is on jack stands in my driveway with me washing and detailing the underside. My roadster has 55K on the clock and still looks good because of frequent maintenance. I can't wait to find out what your issue is.

 

I thought the rub marks on the tie rod looked like they came from the crank pulley. If they were from the U bolts they would probably be on the front side, right? And I haven't seen any tie rods that actually got that close to the axle/spring on full turn.

 

Port a Power and some chain will move things around, ck the spring perch and "U" bolts sometimes the square hole is damaged or the bolt slipped out

 

I'm going to have to find that issue of Street Rodder to see this one again. Sounds like you're going to be a Great caretaker. Maybe the previous owners were intimidated by the Jag rearend, who knows?!

 

here is a picture of the car when it was on the cover of Street rodder magazine in June 1978. Danny the builder told me that when they photographed the car for the cover there was not even an interior inside the car. of all the cars that he felt since the only one that he drove extensively. He and his wife drove it up to Washington and Oregon all the way up Highway 1.

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I noticed that the other day when I was under the car plus you can see that it looks like the frame is bottoming out on spring. I realize this car needs a lot of work and it's something that scared away other people who looked at the car. I just spoke to Jimmy shine today and agreed that will take a car in there after the show. I told him I want him to go to the front end and replace what needs to be but we also want to keep the car as original as possible. This is not a car that we will do a full restoration on meaning we will not repaint everything and rechrome everything but it'll be a car that will be safe to drive. This car is much like the Dick Niekamp Roadster or The eliminator. You don't want to over restore it and lose the history.

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Here are a couple pictures of what the car look like when we found it in a steel Barn in Bakersfield California.

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No Respect! Thanks for posting that cover, it will be a little easier for me to find. Jimmy will make it Right and then you can Enjoy the Ride,

 

One of the few cover cars that didn't get a feature, that came out in a later issue. I really liked that car I was chopping a '29 Tudor at the time and it sure had the look. Glad it is in good hands now. The chop looks just right, how tall are the side windows? Bob

 

Well the verdict is in comedy center bolt on the spring has been sheared off, it's not poking through at the top and the u-bolts are twisted, basically the front suspensions moved. The tie rod is hitting the bottom of the crankshaft pulley and I've noticed that the lever shock down rods are in slightly different directions. Basically after the show, the work will continue. The car will be able to drive and stop and operate but after the show I want to get the front end cleaned up, a new spring and make sure the steering works properly.I'm happy with the progress, especially since the shopping Santa Ana got the new caliper Pistons, brand new units from TRW. once those are on then they can do the front calipers and pads and new front hoses. I just picked up the master cylinder to take over to ABS in Orange so they can rebuild it, hopefully I have that part back to them by tomorrow or Thursday so the shop can install it.

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You need to get this car up on an alignment rack or frame table and have the chassis measured out. I wouldn't be surprised if you have more bent suspension components than you think; maybe even the front crossmember. Given how banged up the splash apron is, I bet this car has seen an impact with a curb or other type of off-roading.

Also, neither one of those spring shackles is a dead perch.

 

Something is messed up with that front spring mount. Too many spring leaves were removed I think, that bottom pad is in contact with the crossmember not the main leaf, note the length of threads on the U bolts above the cotter pin holes. This is why the spring was able to move side to side. Bob

 

The reason I commented on what I thought it was in my original post, is because it happened to me. When I disassembled my '29, the square top of the center bolt was missing. As I started to loosen the U bolts, the spring leaves started to separate. Most Model A parts places carry the center bolt. I noticed a second nut on one of your U bolts, I wonder if the U bolts weren't tight enough. Correct U bolts are also available. I also notice a space between the baseplate and the bottom of the spring. Is the spring missing any leaves? If it is, the base plate will bottom out on the crossmember and you will not be able to secure the spring.

 

I called it way back in post #8.

After you get the center bolt fixed, have a 3/8" or 1/2" spacer welded to the top of that lower spring clamp plate to take up the slack and allow a good grip without it hitting the lower edges of the crossmember.

 

Or just short "spacer" leaves added to the stack at the bottom.

 

Nobody mentioned the taped front spring, that was a way of keeping the grease that was applied between the leaves in place, and not leak out and make a mess. With all that rust I guess someone forgot to add the grease. Bob

 

The fact that the pics of the car in Bakersfield shows a spare on the L/F, along with the shifted axle and body damage, makes me think there was a collision while driving it.

 

Here's a little bit later pic with the TruSpokes, still owned by Danny. Found the issue with this on the cover, but still looking for the feature! Found a few other interesting things that I will share, Carp.

 

Iconic A sedan! The steel wheels made the car. That Street Rodder cover pic is fantastic.....the chop, all the louvers, the California rake and the red with red wheels......perfect!

 

Good catch.

 

Underneath ... looks like it has been to Bonneville, and wasn't properly cleaned after being on the salt.

that is some serious surface rust...

 

Is the whole underside that rusty? Or is it just at the front, from a several decades long leaky radiator?

 

That is why I bought the car and when they had the articles in Street rodder and hot rod looking for the vehicle I thought that's the vehicle I want to find. Fortunately was close by and others have passed on it, I feel it's their loss. Yeah it needs a lot of work but it's a classic that has a great history. Many people remember it from the Western Nationals in Merced California and how it won a Best in Show trophy. I'm looking forward to the reactions people have when it's at the Roadster show. Yes it's dirty underneath and it has rust and it's been abused. But slowly all bring it back to the great shape it was in. We will never do a full repaint on it because that's going to take away from the originality of the car, we will touch up the paint and do the best we can to match it. I've brought most of the engine back to the way it looked when Danny built it 1978. I'm going to add a couple things to it to make it safe like an extra brake light and turn signals and having two seats bolted down to steal instead of plywood and putting seatbelts in.

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I can't find any history of an accident from speaking to the prior owners. But what I think happened was when it was impounded the prior owner had left it outside and had abused it some. The front bumper is off, I think the tow company brought a regular flatbed truck hooked a strapped the front axle for an angle and pulled on it and it messed that up plus then the exhaust cone drug on the ground and were damaged. Hey it's not perfect but that's not what I wanted I wanted a car with a history that people knew

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It's just at the radiator but you can see that the oil pan has bottomed out or scraped on something and they hit something on one of the wishbones on the right side. This car has had some of use and that's why I bought it, I want to save it and bring it back to its Glory. The radiator does have a leak and I'll get that fixed after the show because we won't be driving it that much. This week I'm in Atlanta for work, I've ordered new tires for the back, those look at mounted onto the true spokes and that way when we pick up the car next week we could at least drive it around some, but it's going to shine speed shop to get the new spring put in which we will order from SoCal. I'll have him do one or two other things since he has limited time, then the car gets detailed and off to the Roadster show.

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Any update on this car?