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Hot Rods Reapropriation of old Ford parts.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Limey Kid, Apr 17, 2019.

  1. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    I have a confession, I like brackets! I like home made ones, different from the usual store bought ones. These have their place. When I was building my coupe, I wanted to be driving it so bad, I used P+J stuff throughout. Its well made and gets the job done. My coupe is my daily driver, so I can take a bit more time with this build.
    The job for today was to design and build the front radius rod mounts. I like brackets with soft edges and rounded corners as if they had been stamped. I have replaced the front crossmember on my Model A frame with a '35 one, as I'm using a '35 front axle and suspension. As I was looking around deciding what steel to use, the old A crossmember caught my eye. There's my brackets I thought. Basically I was looking for a length of channel. There it was! So I cut out what I needed. I want the radius rods inside of the frame rails so they don't interfere with the drag link, as I'm using a side steer box. When I actually mocked it up, I channel section wouldn't work, I needed an Z section. No worries, cut the channel down the middle and turn one side around and weld it back up. I then needed a bung for the tie rod. Sure Speedy Bill sells them, but if you have old Ford parts laying around it would be rude not to use them. A couple of years ago I had a prang in my coupe. Bent the front rails, the axle, spring, spindle and wheel. It's all fixed and back on the road with battle scars. A buddy was looking for spindles. I gave him the ones off the coupe. The only damage was a bent steering arm. He wanted to use bolt on steering arms anyway so they worked out perfect for him. He gave me the bent arm back as a joke. There was my bung. Cut it off and sand it till it's round. Drill a hole in the bracket, and weld the bung in. Job done. Well after looking at the bracket, I've decided it looks too heavy, so I need to drill some lightening holes in it.
    Sorry for the ramble, the pictures probably show it all better. The lesson for today boys and girls, is never throw out any old Ford parts coz you never know what you could use them for!
    Cheers,
    Stewart. thumbnail_IMG_20190417_145139892.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20190417_152916972.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20190417_155652405.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20190417_173550159.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20190417_175324508.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20190417_175918691.jpg
     
  2. rusty rocket
    Joined: Oct 30, 2011
    Posts: 5,053

    rusty rocket
    Member

    I like the use what ya have thought process. I also really like building parts that have shape and style.
     
    48fordnut, INVISIBLEKID and charleyw like this.
  3. I have similar thoughts on brackets and have used all sorts of items to do the job rather than go with blister pack parts. My OT cars are Citroen 2CVs and I have used plenty of those parts. I also scour the airplane parts section of eBay. Made this twin stick gearshift with lockout from an aircraft cabin latch IMG_20181027_184554901.jpeg

    Sent from my moto g(6) play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  4. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,174

    manyolcars

     

  5. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,174

    manyolcars

    There should be a law against cutting up a good desirable Model A cross member that so many people need. You can make brackets out of scrap
     
    rusty valley likes this.
  6. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    i agree, good front cross members are scarce
     
  7. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    thumbnail_IMG_20190305_103043893.jpg
    Nobody would have wanted this one. I cut the crossmember out of the frame leaving 1" inboard of each rail. I then grafted in the middle of a '35 front crossmember, as I'm using a '35 front axle and suspension. I like the large radius of stamped parts, something you can't achieve welding 2 pieces at an angle. I also wanted to leave the frame stubs in the frame as I wanted to retain the rivets on the outside of the frame.
    Cheers'
    Stewart.
     
    Tim and Fordors like this.
  8. Just a quick note. Six years or so ago, when I replaced my front crossmember on my Model A for a better one, I drilled out the rivets and upon removing the old member I found a number of cracks in the member that were not readily visible without removal of the crossmember. My better one still required some welding in the same areas before installation. You might want to flip the frame on its side and get a flashlight into the sides of the old member to take a look. I found that riveting the replacement crossmember was not an impossible job even for one person, but would be much easier if you have one or two folks helping.
     
  9. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    Russ B, thanks for the info. I'll check mine out to be sure.
    Cheers,
    Stewart.
     
  10. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    I can appreciate when building points on a rod are thought out . Makes looking over a car enjoyable at a show and a good ice breaker. Good job.
     
  11. I don't understand the reasoning for cutting out the model a cross member for the 35??? What is changed or gained by doing that? The spring is still in the same location, the axle is still too far back behind the radiator, and now you no longer have the appropriate holes for mounting the radiator to in the front cross member. Does this Raise it up? I cant see how it would lower it. Are the springs different widths? Just curious as to why.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2019
  12. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    I'm building an early style Modified. Using a spring in front style set up lowers the car 3"-4". Trouble is the '35 spring is 1/4" wider. I have cut the A crossmember down the middle and widened it I suppose, but it seemed more work. Plus I wanted to set the castor on the spring, which is dictated by the crossmember, and I took the rake of the frame into account at the same time. I also wanted to narrow the front crossmember to better fit the T grille I'm using. The grille sits 5" behind the axle line. All in it was a much better deal to use the '35 crossmember. I have a thread on the build of it. Heres a shot of it mocked up at ride height
    Cheers,
    Stewart. bfhdmxhdfratq.PNG
     
  13. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    thumbnail_IMG_20200522_185059671.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20200526_154752226.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20200526_154813114.jpg OK, I changed direction on my modified when I found some turtle deck parts below retail. I'm now building a roadster!
    Kept the front crossmember from the modified. Wanted to have a transmission cradle that looked stamped. So I rounded up various crossmembers and bits. thumbnail_IMG_20200517_165024030.jpg
    I have been gifted some, bought some at swap meets and others are left over bits from other projects. No restored cars were harmed obtaining them. The restorers can sleep easy.
    Decided to use the leftover '28 front crossmember and a '30 crossmember.
    Cut the sides down, cut slits to flatten it out and tacked it.
    Needed to widen the mounting flange. Cut the radiator pads off the '28, and clamped it together. I the used parts of the '26 T frame stub to fill in the rest. Tacked it all together, double checked everything, then finished welded it. Put deep v grooves so the weld would fill it up. This meant I could sand it flat without losing strength. Did the same on the back side too. Now I just have to make the other side. Using all Ford parts made sure everything was the same gauge steel and had the same radius on the corners. In my opinion its starting to look like a stamped Ford part.
    Cheers,
    Stewart.
    thumbnail_IMG_20200526_130239222.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20200517_180912651.jpg
     
  14. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    I'm using an A frame for my roadster. The engine is a 251 Chrysler. I needed to move the middle crossmember back in the frame. To make it fit I would need to widen it. I also needed to raise the hump on one side to clear the transmission. So using another crossmember, I cut and shut to make it fit my needs. Once its fully welded and sanded, it will look like a Ford part, which it is. Mission accomplished.
    Cheers,
    Stewart. thumbnail_IMG_20200522_150214581.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20200522_150234893.jpg
     
  15. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,609

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You need one? I'll be more than happy to sell you one, and at a reasonable price

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  16. Limey Kid
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,024

    Limey Kid
    Member

    Crossmember and transmission cradle finish welded and sanded. A few days work to make it look like it came from the factory like this!
    Cheers,
    Stewart.
    thumbnail_IMG_20200528_180230795.jpg thumbnail_IMG_20200528_180138319.jpg
     

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