Nice project. On my champ car build I was not sure I could pull off making a champ car body. So I built the chassis first to accept a '27 T body. In case my efforts at making a body were a bust, I could slap a '27 body on it and call it done. That is why I did not pinch the chassis in the rear. I still may acquire a T roadster body at some point and make it interchangeable with the race car body. Good luck with your body acquisition.
How I started. Originally was to be a speedster with a hopped up banger. Horse track said I could not run the car there , I changed direction. Picked up several cowls till I found one on Facebook. Doors were a hard find, had several, swapped and sold till I had the right ones. You are doing well. jim
Nice cars guys. Really cool to hear/see other’s projects. welp, fiddled with my tranny today (giggle). Pulled it apart, cleaned and painted the case while I inspected the internals. All was good but 1st gear which had half a tooth missing with no debris to be found anywhere. Fortunately Bert’s had a really nice gear in the used pile. Snagged that, bearings, shafts with o-rings and a good used universal. Everything looks good to go.
lookin good. lucky you are to be close to Burts for quick shopping trips. here in mpls we used to have "little dearborn", an old place been around for ever with a huge building full of goodys. property got too valuable, so they had an auction and downsized. still in business, but mostly new inventory now. you will be drivin around the block pretty soon !
Having Bert’s near is a blessing and a curse! With the weather being so crappy this weekend, hoping to have everything ready to accept the motor.....which is at Bert’s.
whats the matter, are ya scared to go to the candy store? its only money, heck they're printing lots more of it in Washington now !
Cool build, and great progress. You could drive around for quite a while with just a cowl and some kind of floor.
I’ve decided to go with a Brookville body. Just need to sell a T5 trans adapted for a closed model A torque tube and some pews to fund the damn thing. Sad to see stuff go but this thing needs to get on the road! Finished the transmission and installed it today. Well everything but the top. Man, work keeps getting in the way of this build.
Brake pedals and rods are in. Those emergency brake return springs were a royal PITA. The bushings in the pedals are pretty far gone and will have to get new bushings soon. Question...Do I have the anti rattle springs in correctly? I went with these rather than the original springs. Out of 6 springs, 1 was an odd ball that fit nicely in the front. It’s mate is the same as the longer rear springs and required bending for it to match the front rod geometry.
lookin good again. the brake springs, are refereed to as "anti rattle", but really they work as a team to return the pedal to the top, so no brakes dragging, and no brake light stuck on. return springs would be a more accurate term, but i know thats not always used . seems to me that most have more than one loop in the spring, yours may be some chinese fake. i do prefer the spring type over the flat band type, they seem to crack. hard to tell in the pics, but you have enough sense to know if they are pulling the brakes off as installed. your trans is near done, the T5 should be a saleable item, i like the 4 speed overdrive 170 for A's, but thats irrelevant at this point, as you dont need to cut the center cross member, and 5 gears is really not necessary IMHO. again, drivin around the block soon !
Makes sense but there's no way to slide the end of the springs over the eye of the brake rod. The springs can only slide over the threaded clevis end, hence the direction I have them mounted.
On the original Henry brake rods the forged eyes are smaller in outside dimensions than they are on the repro rods available today (or yesterday). The openings on the springs are oblong so that the eye can pass through the spring. You should be able to file down the forged eyes and get them through the springs. The springs are intended to help retract the brake rods not just keep them from rattling. The rear springs are in the correct orientation. Your chassis looks great!
That front spring is backwards, cupped part of spring points away from cross shaft. Do you have the rods on backwards?
If I swapped direction with the rods, the ball wouldn’t be close to lining up with the spring mounts.
Cool project man. Dont worry about the juice brakes thing... If you were running 10" wide tires sure upgrade, but mech brakes and juice will both lock up and skid the model a wheels and tires. Plus you got the cool factor for keeping old shit alive like that. Running Mech on the 31 in my avatar. Works great.
New Bertz 5 main bearing block and crank. My original block was toast and I had the option to go this route after someone cancelled their order....so I puled the trigger. It's basically a modern engine disguised as an original Henry block. The engine runs a redesigned fully balanced crank, modem bearings, and new rods. Every other engine component is stock Ford with the exception of a lightened flywheel. I'm planning to build it using most parts from my original engine with the addition of a high compression head. This is going to make a great platform for future performance upgrades and should be relatively headache free. Turn the key and go and go and go and go!
Now you have an engine that will push this car along quite fast would suggest you go back and revisit your plan for mechanical brakes. You'll take a hit on the parts you bought but should find a home for them on the Fordbarn etc. If it means it will take an additional 3 months to finsih the car that's going to be better than 3 months in hospital or hurting someone else.
extra cool! on one of my A's i used a v8 flywheel with the 9" clutch, and cut the blob off the flywheel to get it down to about 35lb's if i remember correct. the v8 pressure plate is easier on the leg for lighter pushin pressure
The lightened flywheel it comes with is only 22lbs. Considering the new crank weighs about 30lbs more than stock, it's needed.
X2 on revisiting brakes, unless the new engine is intended as a crumple zone. At this point it's lottsa go and very little whoa. You've strayed from what a 40s or 50s engine build would be, update to hydraulics like what was a normal upgrade in those days. People go on and on about how good mechanical brakes are, but even Henry switched to hydraulics in '39!
I am missing something here. The block is a copy of an original motor with insert bearings and five mains. His only modification is a different head. Where is the big performance jump? I have also stated before that the brakes only will stop as well as the tires have traction. If he is going to use Model A style tires, it does not take a lot to lock them up.
The engine won't be providing any additional go over a stock engine with a high compression head and Stipe cam. I'm using spec pistons, manifold and Zenith carb. The plan is to start there and build up over the years....why? because it's fun. The brakes will remain mechanical for now. After I've driven the car a bit, I'll revisit hydraulic brakes if I feel their necessary. I was fortunate enough to recently drive a sedan with good mechanicals and boy that thing could stop no problem. Not driving in the city by the way. As for straying away from a 40's-50's build....I guess anyone who has a reproduction part or Brookville body is guilty of the same. The decision to build this engine was made after trying to find a decent block to no avail. I want to drive the car, not look at it with pride that all internals were birthed in Henry’s foundries.
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