Projects Shade tree Model A speedster kind of thing

Dent less body repair!

 

Well, it's been a while. I tend to bounce from hobby to hobby, and they are all unrelated to each other. I still have a goal of making this thing street legal. Here in GA, that means it has to have all the safety equipment it came from the factory with. I have lights, and a brake light, but I needed a horn. Lostmind on here had one in the classifieds that looked just right, so I bought it from him (thank you again) and mounted it inside the driver's side frame rail. It's intentionally angled down a bit so anything that gets in there will hopefully drain out.
I'm going to drop it down to 6v with a ballast resistor that's still in the mail, but I went ahead and cobbled up a switch. It's pretty primitive, but I think it fits the vibe of the whole deal. I think the pictures are pretty self-explanatory:

 

That horn is 12v? Looks just like the horns on my '50 & '53 Chevy, and they're both 6v. Love the switch!

 

Nah, the car has been converted to 12v, the horn is 6v. I have a resistor coming to drop the voltage to the horn. It would probably work with 12v, but I don't think it would sound right.

 

Love the Switch!

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Oh, duh. Next time I'll read slower.

 

You're good with the 12 V into the 6 V horn, did that to mine for 15 years, dd/only vehicle. How many times do you use (lay on for that matter) a horn, sounds fine.

 

Been running my 6v 50 chev horn on 12v for many years now too with no problems. Louder maybe. Give it a try.

Love the switch too. Car keeps getting better.

 

I ran a '47 ford 6v horn on a 12v '52 panel … from over a mile away a co worker said he thought that there was a problem with a train...I was testing the horn... tracks were beside my house...
he lived beside the grounded Constalation [parts]… it sat there for years...
now a restaurant at a big New York airport ...

 

Been a while since I views this and almost forgot about it. You keep getting it better and better. I mentioned an event called Run What Ya Brung in Reynolds GA. Not sure where you are in SW GA but we are having a spring event this year as well as fall. Saturday April 27. Drag races, car show and good fun for the day. Here is link

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...brung-april-27-and-again-in-the-fall.1134990/

Come if you can

 

rwrj bring your car to Reynolds in April. Let others enjoy it.

 

Most enjoyable build i've viewed yet. Nice job

 

I just love this build! Your horn switch is the definition of simplicity but it is still an elegant solution to your need. Perfect!

 

If you have taken off too much on your fuel needle, can you use solder to build it back up. Once you get it right just transfer the sizes to the other stock needle and you will be good.

 

Thank you, guys. That's good news about the horn, and a good idea about the fuel needle. I'll keep you posted. I'm already committed to a school trip during the weekend of the Reynolds thing in April, so that's out, unfortunately. It's only a little over 2 hours from me, I'd really like to go. Oh well.

 

Still piddling around with the original equipment side of this thing. I think an e-brake is all I have left. A fellow named Corndog on here had an old Buick handle in the classifieds a while back, and I couldn't resist it (thanks). Started out this morning to try to fit it somewhere on the outside. I had to increase the bends it came with to clear the body and turn a little shaft out of bronze. It has a big base sitting on the side of the frame rail, plus a little shoulder that fits tight in the hole I drilled through the frame, and through an oversized, thick washer on the back side. It was a tight fit. Had to turn the head of the bolt thinner so it wouldn't foul the rear service brake rod, but I needed it mounted as low as possible so it would line up with the shaft. I think the pictures will tell the story. I still have to doctor the bends a bit so it hugs the body as close as it can and still be useable. I also have to figure out how to get the pawl assembly mounted and rig up a connection between the handle and the exterior arm of my e-brake shaft. Details, details... I'm pretty happy with the look and feel. I was worried it would be flimsy feeling, but I can yank on it hard enough to rock the car and it doesn't give at all. If it was the service brake, like on those old European race cars, I'm not sure I'd have confidence in it, but for intermittent use, it seems fine.

 

I love your thought process to use what ya have and make it work.

 

Thank you. No comparison to your work, though. Seriously.

Did a little bending. This is about as close as I want it to get to that aluminum. The linkage is going to be a challenge. I'm going to ruminate on it.

 

Oh boy I don't know about that. Sure wished we lived closer to one another. I'd let you drive mine if you let me drive yours

 

Hahaaa. I'd sure take you up on that.

 

Spent the last two mornings working on mounting the pawl plate for the ratcheting mechanism. It was kind of ticklish business. I had to disassemble the handle, and boogered up this cute little step bolt that was frozen into it. Had to drill it out of the handle, so I made a new one out of more bronze scrap. Here it is:



For the rest of it, I think the pictures pretty much show what I did. It's stouter than it looks, plenty strong enough for the little bit of stress it will be exposed to, I think.



I need to make a longer actuating rod so that release lever can live closer to the actual handle up top, and figure out how to rig up an actuating rod that actually connects it to the e-brake system. Still puzzling that one out. As always, I appreciate the views and comments.

 

Another step forward and one of many. Look'n good.

 

Looks great! Very old timey!

 

Love it, love it, love it!!
Sure would be fun to get all these little wacky cars together and have a wacky cars nationals!

 

My comment is awesome...

My only concern is the Bronze...they say Brass is self lubricating which if Bronze shares that attribute...good.

I just wonder about wearability over time with vibration and usage. I had a Harley Hydra Glide and replaced a steel fastener in a brake rod clevis fitting and when I disassembled it in a year it was worn halfway thru......I replaced steel with titanium which I found to be not so good in this application.

Your results may in fact be positive but I thought I would mention to at least monitor this with all the rest of the Do Dads...

By the way nice job on the fabrication...

 

Rusty,
Wouldn't that be something? We're all so far apart, though. Stogy, I think bronze is self lubricating, too. I wouldn't use it on the real brakes, though. Here, it'll get used so infrequently that I don't think it will be an issue. Knock on wood. Here's a video, just because .

 

It's all in the Mechanics..!.. awesome turned / massaged little details..!! .Great Read / inspiration!
Mahalo!

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Got the new rod made this afternoon. Nothing special, but it does the job. Still puzzling out how to link the handle to the e brake system.

 

I decided to go with the simplest option on this connection. Just modified the connecting rod that came with the handle so that it hooks over the end of the cross arm that pulls the brake rods. The string is there to cut down on ratting, doesn't really serve any structural purpose. It works, but turns out the mechanism inside the backing plates is kind of gummy, and the e brake bands don't want to release, so I guess I'll end up pulling the drums again and working that out, eventually. I'm not too stressed about it, though. I never really use the emergency brakes, it's real flat down here. They engage just fine, in case of an actual emergency, just won't release without a little outside persuasion. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of my solution. Predictably jack-legged, I guess.

 

Patent Pending!!??