Projects 1950's Tube Frame Sports Car

I guess I have always been happy with the innumerable king pin bushings I have reamed with .814 piloted reamers over the past 50 odd years. Is there really the need for the ultra precision sizing that some people advocate?

 

As the song says, Don't fear the reamer.

 

Guess I'm not sure. Not saying any of you guys are wrong. You all have way more experience with this than I do. I'm just surprised that they went almost 0.002 over what new kingpins measure with the reamer. I'd have thought that since I've never had a reamer cut small they'd have made one closer to size, but in the real world maybe that's overthinking it. On the Ford Barn the consensus seems to be that desired clearance is 0.0005-0.001. I'm not sure what an actual Ford manual said. An 0.814 reamer will probably give you between an .814 and .815 hole.

 

.002 clearance will equal play in the pins , which will beat the bushings out in short order if you actually drive the car.

 

I have done both with good results. I am fortunate in having been given a vintage Sunnen bushing grinder in 75, and since then I have used it for king pins on my dirt cars back in that era, and now for the "Whatever" axle and spindles that I am using. On the dirt cars wear was never an issue, crash damage usually took out king pins long before wear. With the reamer I had the only problem occasionally was chatter when reaming the spindle bushings. Being careful when using and not hurrying the job was the answer. With the grinder I get the desired 0.0005 to 0.001 inch clearance relatively fast and easy.

The only problem now is I finallyneed new stones. Currently out of usable ones so...

 

I have done hundreds of sets, of all different manufacturers, spindles on my Sunnen pin hone... I usually clearance them to .0005 unless asked to use another spec. Nothing wrong with reaming them but the finish and the ability to set the clearance where every you like makes the hone the better choice IMHO

 

I measured the old king pin retainer bolts after I got them out. The tube axle ones are part number 78-3221. They're unique to the "V8-60" tubular Ford axle. I made these out of 4140 steel. I was able to save the original nuts.

 

Looks Great! Gary

 

So, are the kingpins for a tube axle different than I-beam kingpins? There is a notch on the regular kingpins, and a corresponding tapered keyway in the regular lock pins. I see no keyway in these tube axle lock pins. What makes them press the kingpin sideways to take up the slop?

 

I will take pics of the kingpins once I get them out. The Green Book doesn't list special kingpins for the tube axle. If you look at the pics of the old pins it seems like they just get pulled thru the notch. They're marked up from where the kingpin notches cut into the pins/bolts. I've heard several guys say that the kingpins are the same as the normal ones. Will report back.

 

After sitting a couple weeks with penetrating oil on them the old kingpins came out. I used a brass drift and they drove out easily. @alchemy The kingpins are the typical notched kind.

 

After all the discussion here about methods of sizing kingpin bushings, I decided to try it myself with an adjustable reamer. I figured bushings were cheap, if I screwed up I could just press the bushings out and put in another set. Also, if anyone needs bushings, I'd recommend the ones Snyder's Model A parts sells. They're really nice bushings. I did two sets of spindles and the quality of the Snyders bushings seemed better than the other set I used. They even come in a bag saying they're licensed by Ford Motor Company.
https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/...HING?fromCategory=Products/model-a/axle/front

I bought a vintage Craftsman set of Critchley style reamers and gave it a shot. The pins ended up being a light push fit and I'm very happy how they turned out. I did two sets of spindles while I was at it.

 

When I was rebuilding the Lincoln brakes for my car I ground the top of the spindles for clearance. While this worked, I decided to build a fixture so I could mill the clearance angle on them. This makes it easy to do and looks way nicer.

 

Got the rear ends of my four bar links tapped for the 11/16-18 LH tie rod ends. Now I need to slot the ends so I can use the original Ford clamps. Once I figure out the correct length I'll cut it them off and thread the other end for the right hand tie rod ends. Also, if anyone has Ford tie rod ends that just need boots, these repop Willy's Jeep ones work well and are cheap at Summit Racing.

 

Did you buy the Olds to early Ford mounts ?

 

I have a question on the reamer, is the pilot adjustable as well? Or maybe a taper?

 

I plan to give him a call but haven't yet.

 

If you look at the picture there is a black piece visible down by the end of the pilot. That is a tapered sleeve that slides on the pilot. You keep that slid against the lower bore while you're reaming the top one.

 

Thanks, I’d never done them myself and had been curious.

 

You are a craftsman and machinist, so creative.

 

I like every thing you are doing! Gary

 

Spindles came out great.

 

Thanks guys. I know this set would have been fine how I ground them but now if I need to do another set it is really an easy job. It's also way more relaxing when you don't have to worry about grinding wrong and wrecking an original spindle. Like most machining jobs though, I have about half a day in making the fixture and used it for about 20 min.

 

Question: are the Ford clamps new or repops? Ifrepops where didyou purchase them?

And just a note about the use of that type of clamp: they are preferable to jamb nuts as they reduce stresses at the tie rod end. A jamb nut puts the last thread in the tie rod end in tension, which preloads that area in a negative way for fatigue failures to occur.

 

They're original Ford clamps. Some came on my car's original wishbones and then I bought some nos Ford drag link adjusting sleeves on eBay just for the clamps. I agree about the jam nuts.

 

I was afraid of that, i.e. having to buy the adjusters to get the clamps. I was hoping you found a source for just the clamps by the bagfull. Oh well, guess I'll do like you and buy a few adjusters.

 

I agree with what you say about making the fixture. I have done some machine work for people in the past. They don't understand the set-up time at all. They don't realize that without the proper set-up, you can't produce a good finished product.

 

Beautiful work! I often make jigs and fixtures to accomplish whatever task is at hand; it often takes longer to make the jig than to do the job, but I like to make nice stuff.

 

Here is a source but I'm not sure if it's any cheaper. I found some nos adjusting sleeves for about $7 each on eBay. Each got me two clamps so it was about the same price.
https://cwmoss.com/products/tie-rod-end-clamp-1935-48