Continuing on with my cross member I have attached the wishbone ball by using a hole saw and heating and punching out the face of the cross member with a round dolly.
After test fitting the model A wish bone I have I realized the split bone sections (which i will use to lengthen my model a wish bone) are at the wrong angle so I needed to straighten these out. The last photo was after I quickly ground down, ill have to go back and refinish that some. Now that these are both level and I can set up for adding the wishbone to these pieces basically creating a cheap 32 wishbone.
Next I mounted the model A full wish bone into the cross member and set it on short jack stands. Mounted the split bones into the axle at the perch upfront and stacked 2x4's and flat wood till I reached the height were they were stacked touching. I heated up the wishbone and bent it in till it was even with the split bones. I used a small tie down strap, but a cum along would work as well. Once I had them at the same width I made my marks and cut the top off the full wish bone and cut the end off the split bones I had (they had bungs in them for mounting into the frame if you were going to run split bones). After this I made my cuts while they were still in the frame to keep everything straight. Took it all apart and chambered the ends and inserted schedule 80 thick wall tubing in the ends of the split bones and the top of the full wishbone. Drilled holes in each side (top and bottom) to plug weld. At this point I stuck all of the dissembled pieces back in the chassis to test fit and plug welded it all together. I then took it back out and finished welding around and ground down to make it look a little smoother. Didn't come out perfect, but I got good penetration so I know its very strong and this route saved me a bunch of money. This is obviously nothing new tons of guys and girls on here went this route. Really wasn't too hard just lots and lots of test fitting prior to welding and cutting.
I am about to start mounting shocks to the chassis. I am going to run tube shocks and will be using F1 uppers in the front, but am having trouble figuring out the bottom mount. I would prefer to run the weld bung style to the axle boss for appearance. I am confused in that Bishop/Tardel claim a 7/16 nf (fine thread) is needed for the weld on bung when using a standard shock stud/bolt. I only seem to find ones that are 1/2 -20 on the mount side and 7/16 - 20 on the shock side, which to me means i would need a 1/2 bung. I am going to run the NAPA 6501100 studs for the upper rear mounts. . I have looked around pretty extensively on here for more info on parts and or bungs sizes used on the front and cant seem to find any info.
I used these https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...t-Stud-Bolt,5485.html?OriginalQuery=910-36096 I cut off the threaded portion and had them TIG welded to the axle. The tube shocks slide right on them.
Thank you for the reply! Been following your videos on this build as you can tell. Really amazing having them! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Spent yesterday welding on bungs to the perch boss and drilling out the side crossmember holes so I could mount the F1 upper shock mounts. Wanted to get to the rear but that’ll maybe be tomorrow.
Been to long since I have updated on my slow progress: Was able to weld in a lip on the original center cross member where i had to cut out a piece for clearance of the torque tube. Ended up having to do the same thing for the Master Cylinder to make room behind the F1 truck cross member I had to cut a small piece out for clearance and then make a little lip piece to keep strength in the center cross member. I had Dave Havlir rebuilt a steering box from a F1 and I needed to open the original steering box hole some. I needed it to come out to 1 & 7/8's so I used a hole saw from home depot, worked OK, just took about an hour to make the slow cut through the frame. Next up will be getting the Subrails/frame in place putting the body back on and drilling holes to plug weld it all together and get on the much needed body work. I did go ahead and cut the edges of the rear cross member off to fit the body now that i have stepped the frame. I have welded up that cut to make it a little stronger as well.
So now that I have drilled out the steering box hole I will need to weld it in place to the flange. To do this I will need to assemble the sub frame and body blocks and cowl so i know i am going to be in the right angle and space for the steering column. So the last few days i have been looking at photos on here of how these blocks fit and sit and how the sub frame goes together. Photos below tell the story. I did have to trim off the rear section around the cross member. I have not reinforced them yet which I will.
After the longest break i have taken from this car i am finally back on it. During this break I was able to Reinforce by boxing the rear sub frame where I made cuts for the cross member to drop over. I finally got the back of the body back on the car to test fit everything. I was able to score a couple more doors locally from a guy in San Antonio. The car came with only skins and I have another pair with funny 50's custom hinge that i don't like the look of personally.
The body was not lining up in many spots, figured that it was just the old homemade subframe a previous owner assembled mainly for bracing. I cut out most of it and clamped the body to the rear and sides, but realized that the B pillars were completely trashed. The passenger side top mount for the B pillar had been cut short, which was a cinch to fix. Recreating he lower feet for the B pillar was not as easy. The route I took is not pro by any means, but it is strong. The photos below you can see the remnants of the drivers side B pillar foot that I based both pass and drivers side off. I have now hard tacked the body back to the B pillars, but not finished weld because I assume with the condition of this body I am going to have to keep changing things little by little.
Now that the body is on somewhat straight and square i need to fully brace up the subframe with a box, trunk riser. I found one that Rusty from Dirty s Speed Shop made in Denton, i will try to recreate it best i can.
The Jalopy Journal
