Projects Joe's American Graffiti Coupe with a Man A Fre (Milner Coupe Clone)

It will take time after all we are talking wear If it was a fast process brake life would be short. If you change your shoes front to back while they are off place them in the drum and see if they rock around .010 of an inch. Compare side to side because it is pulling. Shoes you get from a parts store are arced for standard drums when drums are turned oversize is when problems happen if one drum is turned more than the other. Good shops use unfinished shoes and are arced to the drum. Because most cars use disks on the front it might be hard to find someone to do it.

 

I'll need to find someone to arc the shoes. I'll still try to drive a little bit to see if it improves....if not then we'll put the shoes in the correct order, add the dust covers, and bevel the shoe tops. Thank you for the always helpful information.



Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

its not a matter of time it a matter of getting miles up on the brakes .my new discs and pads (front)took a good few hundred miles to bed in .they were stopping reasonably well,when i inspected the discs to reveal that only 60% of the pads were in contact with the discs.because they were stopping reasonably well i ventured farther away from home the more miles i put up the better they got.because any dust from the bedding in of your brakes are trapped in the drum it wouldnt hurt to service /inspect the brakes once a year or more often if you are putting up lots of miles.

 

Sounds good. Hopefully they will improve over time.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Alright,
Here we go Moriarity! We have a new/old direction folks! I was contacted by Mr. Tim Bowman of Old School Induction. He is the one who is currently carrying on the legacy of his friend and mentor Harold Graves. Mr Graves invented the Man A Fre system.

Tim will be inspecting and rebuilding the carburators and linkage according to Harold's original specifications.

I am beyond honored to know someone who helped tune the original American Graffiti coupe.

Thank you HAMB friends. Another great milestone.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Everything is ready for the ride. I can't wait to see how Tim fixes the over fueling. We've tried power valves and 50 jets, Partial power vales and 56 jets, and even Blocked power valves and 60 jets. He said that he is highly suspicious that something was wrong with the way that the carburators were restored.

I'll keep y'all posted. Thanks for following along. I know it has been a long ride.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

That sounds like great news, you can't scrip this.
I had a Man-A-Fre 2GC carburetor, not sure I could type out all the story with it, but man did that thing run.

 

Lets hope those will be removed so that baby can breath.

 

Looks like a million too,,,you lucky dog !
Tommy

 

A Man A Fre that is right ,,,,,and in a light chassis should go like a bullet .

Tommy

 

Yes sir. I told him that I will follow his direction to the letter. We can always go back to the block off plates. I'm really excited!

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hell yeah! I love that car. Exactly what the Man A Fre is designed for.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Tim said that I better be careful. To quote the great Bob Falfa:

You'll appreciate me soon. You're gonna be hangin' on for mercy when I get this sucker rollin'.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Just didn't have the balls to name Bob
Al !

 

Nick, let’s just say no one will be calling yours a “field car”.



Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hahaha...

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Thanks! I have had great help. Tim, Dan, Brad, and Rob have been wonderful. I owe so much to the HAMB. It's a fight, but now I think I'm winning!


Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Nick I know you are chasing carb demons right now. But on the brake issue you are never going to have good brakes until you mount the brakes correctly. unlike disc which clamp to the rotor. drum brakes are designed to wrap into the drums hence the reason for the longer shoe on rear. If you get the car to run like you want you will need good brakes. right now you would only be out 2 cotter keys. this advice from a really old school brake mech. tom

 

I was flipping through a 25th Anniversary issue of Rod&Custom August 1991 and run across this article , here's some shots from the article.

Sent from my SM-T387V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Don't confuse him. The long shoe and the big side of the cylinder go to the front on these Ford brakes.

 

Another reassurance from me that the big shoe and larger cylinder face forwards on the Ford juice brakes that he has. On bendix self energizing brakes it is the opposite.

 

This shot was taken of a page in a 1943 MoToR's factory shop manual, seventh edition 2nd printing , in the Ford and Mercury brake repair and adjustment section.
Old school ..new school.?.correct way..wrong way...?
Spoken word....visual proof..? You decide.

Sent from my SM-T387V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Very nice! Thank you.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Tim (Old School Induction) finished the carburators. He said they were pretty bad off. They were each restored to exact Man A Fre specifications.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hoping your on the right track .....finally !

 

What are the secret exact specifications incase I just have to have one of these manifolds?

 

Tim said for now we have to just trust him. He said that several changes were proprietary to Man A Fre.

I can't wait to get the correct gaskets and start it up!

I asked Tim to closely examine the original movie car photos. He noticed that the carburator bases were different during filming. He changed my bases to the small "D" shaped bases. Mine were small but square shaped.



Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You lucked out getting "The Man" to build them for you.