Projects Hotrob's fiasco of a "Model A Coupe" build thread

Hindsight is perfect vision but never finish the bottom without fitting the top. By this I mean the body needs to be fit as the frame and suspension and drive train goin. But you know this now. Looks good keep driving. You will probably have to move the rear axle if you have not already.

 

I have been following your build and it is GREAT.... as far as you problem with the rearend my suggestion is place the frame on stands and unbolt the rearend and suspension and move it back until it looks right.... then measure everything and stand back and look at the wheel placement one more time before you cut and change anything......

 

Yea, I think that is the only way to really know how much it needs to move.

 

To confirm your frame spec's.
It is 106" wheelbase.
Measure between the front crossmember center hole and the rear spring centerhole.
It will be 113.5" which is 106+ 7.5

The rear spring hanger is at fault here.
Disconnect the spring,set the ladder bars at half way in the thread count.
And you'll be at 106"
If not,the ladder bar rear axle plates are in the wrong spot.
If set too wide it effectively shortens the bars.Bringing rear too far forward.
The forward edge of the brackets should be at 31.250" apart
The frame is built in a jig and the crossmembers set with a permament fixture.

Sorry if I get "grumpy" it's not always so easy to see what is going on over the phone.
Nothing serious is wrong I'm sure.
I still Love ya man !
eriC

 

Dang Eric, I just ran out to check mine, had me scared
I'm at 106 1/2" center to center on my wheel base. is that too far off, I mean it works for me.

 

Sorry Rob, didn't mean to hyjack your thread

 

grits,106.5" on your self built 32 frame sounds fine.
On my old roadster I pushed the front crossmember forward a inch.
third pot of coffee,maybe I should eat today?
e=mc ??

 

e=mc ??[/QUOTE]

L7

 

This is a great build. Keep on keepin' on.
Oh, and for what it's worth, It seems like I do everything twice on mine! Practice makes perfect !

 

Check it out, Check it out, check it out. Got me a super cool garage sign by Hamilton!
http://www.artbyhamilton.com/

Turned out killer. I gave him a sketch and he turned out the product.
The photo fails to show the killer finish on the piece. All flaked up with a super glossy finish.
Cheap Too!

This cheered me up enough to remove the rear suspension from the coupe and cut off all the brackets.

I will go back with all Pete & Jakes stuff and set up like Eric advises and I should be good to go!

I will get some pics when the parts come in and I go back in with the rearend.

Oh and somebody get Eric some coffee!

 

hey,here is something easy to do.
draw a line down the center of the rear crossmember.
Now measure forward 7 1/2" inches draw a line on the frame.
Moc up the axle right there. How's it fit to the wheel well now?

I have a Hamilton piece in my office.Skulls,tiki's,pistons.very cool.

 

JUst read the whole thread. U are doing a great job, I like the way u explained everything in detail. Keep the faith and the rod god will prevail. I subscribed to this one. Got my body just sitting, makes me want to start it. Keep it up

 

Did you take your toe boards out and trim the front of your firewall before setting the body on the frame?

It's hard to tell from the picture but looks to me like your toe boards need to come out, trim firewall 4 1/4" up, move body forward and then reinstall your toe boards.

I could be wrong and this is just an idea but trying to help. Keep plugging away man....good looking build.

 

Eric's pictures relative to my comment above.

 

Yea, mine fits just like the pics above.

I am rested and reinvigorated so I will get back on it soon.
Thanks to all that find interest in what I am doing and what I have to say. It is just my way of hashing through this stuff and hopefully helping others to avoid similar problems ect.

 

Alright.
Update time. In our last episode we left our hero in dire straights. The evil hotrod gremlins had wreaked havock on the rear suspension of the crime fighters ride!
Luckily superheros from around the HAMB came to our heros aid and it appears that he is back on track. For a behind the scenes look stay tuned.


The consensus seemed to be that the Speedway Motors spring hangers were of the wrong dimension for the frame setup that I had Riley Automotive build.

In the pic with the tape measure I measure outside to inside thats why it looks to be at 44 1/8". Further when Paul finished it he jigged it at exactally at 44" so no worries if it looks off, it was pefect when it went in.

So I cut out all of the rear axle brackets, ordered all new stuff from Pete & Jakes and started over.

I was advised on the spring hanger position and the ladderbar mount position.

The spring I am using is the Posies Straight and Narrow model. They call for 44" centers on the spring mounts.

I also built a two degree angle in the pinion angle.
Lots and lots of positioning, measuring, and leveling before I tacked it all in.

 

After I got it all tacked it, I took it to our friend PAULWELDIT from right here on the HAMB.

Paul has a fab shop in Hurst Texas where he does all kinds of chassis fab, as well as louvers.

Lots of bitchen louvers, so look him up. He'll hook ya up with a super HAMB discount and he will get right to your job.

I did have him weld it up solid.
This is contrary to the very lesson I was supposed to learn with this experience, but I am convinced it is right this time.

Rest assured if I have to cut it all out again I will never tell any of you about it!!!!!

It went back in pretty good. I had to pull the ladder bars in and out a dozen times to get the adjustment right, but I think in the end its right. THe hardest part (always) is getting the spring bolted in.

Check it out.

 

Soooooo your wondering if it solved the problem?
Well check it out.

You can see the before pic above.

 

Looks great! Feels good, huh?

 

The rear wheel is clearly better positioned after the redo. Not perfect, but I am happy enough with the new position, and I think I might even be able to get a little more room when I mount the body, it is only about an 1/2 - 3/4 inch from being perfectly centered.

This is such a weight off of my shoulders and I am thankfull to all who contributed advise and assistance, especially Eric Schill from Riley Automotive. He went beyond the call of duty to assist this novice builder overcome a problem. All without ever seeing the problem in person.


Nice work Eric. I might just nominate you for HAMBanitarian of the year.
Hey Ryan if your reading this maybe we should take a vote.

Ok back to the garage for awhile.

 

Glad to see you're back on track,Rob.Looks good!
Cheers,
Mark.

 

Thank's for being kind enough to do and redo so we don't have to.

Ron

 

Looking good Rob. Your doing a great job. Glad to see somebody learning as they go. Looks like you've got some really good guys on your side.

Keep it up.

Kevin
Ooltewah Speed Shop

 

Somebody ring the bell! We have a winner!

 

Looking good!!!! Thats the fun part of building yourself....doing something..doing it again....and then doing it right...its all a learing process and with my coupe I have already done it and done it and done it......sure its not the last time either

 

With the rear suspension back in I turn my attention to the engine.
The earlier mock up pics show a late model SBC between the rails. That is actually the spare motor for my jetboat, and the real intended powerplant has been waiting in storage until now.

The engine is a 1966 327 complete and intact. it has the fuelie heads, original intake, ramhorn exhaust and other good original stuff. The original generator, and oil filter canister assembly are gone and there was a late oil filter conversion and an alternator in their places. These items have been removed to protect the innocent and suitable replacements for the originals are actively being sought.

Needless to say the fireway was not desighed to fit the OHV V8, so the usual trimming and cutiing was required to get the sucker in there. Still needs a little more trimming but you get the idea.

I have a generator off of a 216 that came out of a 50 Chev that I had. I wounder if that will work? Would that have been 6 or 12v? I think I will go round it up and see if it will bolt up to the V8 exhaust manifold!

 

50 chevy generator would be 6 volt. 12 volt would be 55 and later.

You're making some good progress!!

 

Great work, your on your way................

 

I think you're getting it now.