Thats not a bad idea, I was only going to do the one side. Do you think an 1/8" will make that much of a difference over all though, are these chassis that touchy on final setup. If they are I'm glad I'm being extra careful on the numbers. Side note, I ordered my the subrail kit from Steadfast Manufacturing a couple days ago. Looking forward to that showing up so I can start metal work on the body during any down time on the frame.
Great planning on chassis/angles/rear tails for body mounting! (Thought I was alone in that much 'chassis anal-ity') If you are able to play with a milling machine, remanufacture some shackles (4) from 1/4" stock. Mill .125" off the spring hanger ends, nice solid solution. (Or, as in your earlier post? Tig some washers to the spring ends of the existing shackles: Both, 1/8" each, make them 'equidistant') Superb project.
Thanks, I was told the more focus on getting the chassis dialed in, the better it will handle and drive correctly at the end. So I want to take my time and do it right. I do have access to a milling machine, I actually bought one years ago. I don't have the room so it's sitting at my buddy's shop down the road for the time being. I need to get that thing some day lol. I haven't got anything done on the car. Ended up putting my truck on the lift to diagnose a noise I was hearing recently. Found out the input shaft bearing in the transfercase was the culprit. Should have that back together tomorrow. I found that a newer input shaft with the larger double bearing setup fits! So that's the upgrade. The UPS man brought me a present yesterday. Stay tuned for pics of what's in the boxes! Have A Very Merry Christmas Everyone!
Well I was a bit bummed out today after going out in the shop to open my boxes from Modern Driveline. I'm by no means unsatisfied at this point with them or the quality of components, but no bellhousing and no shift lever. They are on backorder. The lever is no big deal but the bell housing is a huge deal since I'm waiting on that for crossmember setup. So no great pics of the lot. The smaller boxes had clutch and items like hardware, fluid and misc. The transmission looks really nice though! Complete with a made in USA stamped tail housing. Once I get that stuff I will be able to continue with the project, but at this time I'm at a stand still.
Thanks, it's a super nice setup. Hoping my bellhousing comes in soon. It's still not here, so I guess I get to make a phone call this next week. I have had a couple items show up. My tires from Diamond Back showed up. 7.50x16 rears and 5.50x16 fronts. Radials with a pie crust edge. They look awesome. I also got my wheels in, they to are really good looking. They are the Rocket Fire wheels in a cast finish. I can't wait to get this project on the go again, it's killing me to just sit and wait for parts.
Your work really looks good and I salute your enthusiasm. It's hard to maintain the 6 degrees on the front cross member all the way through the build, loads & stance may change things. The T spring works well with a quick change rear, giving it adequate clearance. When you had the body mocked up on the frame, was the rear axle centered in the wheel well radius? This can take some adjusting when putting a 30-31 body on Deuce rails. You probably already considered this, so just a suggestion. Centering the T springs with shims is a good idea, when you put the spring into the cross member you'll find it has space on both sides. The spring bolt will center it and you can make up some lower U bolt clamps that will hold it in place. Did they run a ream through the bushings on your front spindles. Hope we can help you here on the H.A.M.B.
Like others have said T spring is narrower. I just made a spacer for mine (T spring and A hanger). Of course I don't have a picture, but here's the washers that I used for mock up.
I’ve read through this post a few times now but am still wondering about the above quote. Either the frame shows the VIN number or the engine had the VIN number stamped on it. From what is written you are changing the frame to a 1932 Frame. Did it come with a vin number? Is there a title associated with the 32 frame? It’s written that you are changing over the engine to a flathead V8 So what I am getting at, is you say that you have a title in your name. It’s none of my business but if it’s for a Model A and you are not using either the frame or the engine then the title sounds like little more than a piece of paper. If you try to sell the vehicle what are you going to show as a VIN? If you passed away, what are you giving as a headache for your bride or your Folks to try to sort out? Do you plan on buying steel stamps and stamp a Model A VIN number on 32 rails? Don’t get caught. This state is nothing if not crazy. They may just make an example of you. I don’t want to rain on your parade. I would just as soon be left alone by the sicko’s in this state. I like your plan’s and applaud your creativity. Keep at it, just don’t get bit
Great project and progress! I wish I still had as much drive. I used the same MDL package. If you need any measurements to continue with the crossmember set-up since you don't have the bellhousing yet, let me know. You probably already know that the shift offset mount can be rotated 180 to move it back a few inches or can be replaced with a center mount. I found that helpful when setting up the steering, pedals, seat and shifter to fit me without any shifter bending. Things I like to sort early on during the build.
Thanks Nobey, I tried to set it up with a little give and take on the degrees. I figured as much like ya say, I will probably vary a degree or less on final build depending on some parameters. I just hope I'm spot on in the end. I did do some heating and bending of the rear 32 rails. They needed some slight adjustments. I used the center of the chicken's foot to locate the center of the rear axle to the body, so that should be dialed in. I haven't drilled any locating holes, I was waiting to do that till I had the frame done. I haven't run a ream through the spindles yet, I think I need to do that, they are way to tight. In fact they bind when turned, but only when turned, the center movement is good, so not sure whats up there. Wheels are Rocket Racing wheels, and the series of wheel is called Rocket Fire Series. I had bought a few sets of early ford steel wheels and every time they were so far out of true, I gave up on it. Just decided to buy new. The tires are from Diamond Back Tires, those guys were great to work with. Tires were well packaged, arrived promptly and look great. I appreciate the info for sure, I'll have it all sorted out legally. Fortunately, I have a good friend at the Department of Licensing. Thanks everyone for the follows and comments! I would have so much more for you if not for all these back ordered parts. Steadfast dropped the ball and forgot about my order all together. Looks like I get to wait for a slow truck for 2 more weeks to get here. So my hands are still tied. The local metal fab shop is out of business now and I am trying to find another company to bend up some K-member materials for me to work with.
I might just hit ya up for some details on this setup. Are you happy with the kit so far for fit and finish?
More than happy, they supply all the hardware needed and the instruction sheet is straight forward. Just make sure your crank pilot hole is large enough for clearance. The most critical detail for me was getting the Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing adjusted properly. It needs to be precise. After assembly it is no longer accessible. Break-in and wear are calculated in the equation. Just use a dial indicator to get it right and clutch adjustments will never be needed. I just used a universal TransDapt crossmember with a rubber isolated mount which allows for minute adjustment. I welded substantial steel plate to the inner frame rails and bolted the crossmember. This allows easy trans removal without pulling the engine. Four bolts on each side and the trans and crossmember will easily lower. I just didn't see the need for any more frame structure than that. I always liked to learn from other's mistakes. Here is one I made. If I had moved the engine 1" rearward I could have easily mounted my 7 blade fan and shroud. But then the firewall would need to be modified a bit more to enable head removal. It gets tight with a channeled, full fendered, hooded car. Seems like you are always stealing from Peter to pay Paul. With my 3.80 rear gear and the 2.95 T5 1st gear ratio, making left turns from a stop at an intersection sometimes requires shifting into second before completing the turn. Other than that its awesome and really brings a flattie to life. Sorry for going off on a tangent, just a few things that came to mind.
There is a dedicated Cyclecar thread here, it's huge Let's Talk Cyclecars | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
A2B, I appreciate the info. Good news, the bellhousing arrived today so that's good news. I won't be able to get out in the shop for a few days, but that's life. I elected to run the rod/arm linkage for my clutch. I had planned to run hydraulic but didn't like what I had read about it online. I would imagine that most of that was user inflicted. I will be locating my engine based on a mechanical fan as well, I'm not going to run an electric one if I can help it. I don't want a tornado to drown out the engine noise, though I think with the exhaust I have in mind that wouldn't happen A2B, what rear tire size are you running? I think these 700/16 tires will mount up between 31" to 32" tire height. Combine that with around a 4.11 ratio in the rear, a 2.94 first gear ratio and a 32" tire, if I shift at 2200rpms id be going about 17.34mph It would seem odd that you're shifting before you get through a corner. My guess is your tire size since your full fendered is much lower than mine. I'm curious though. Id change that rear gear, but Id like to do some math for ya.
This is my 4th flathead, the previous 3 being 3 speeds. The lower 1st gear is quite noticeable with the 5 speed. My tire height is 30". Consider being 3rd or 4th in line making a left turn at a major intersection. It sometimes warrants a shift to 2nd. Not a problem, just noticeable. Glad to hear you got the bellhousing in hand. Yeah, you can't go wrong with the tried and true mechanical clutch linkage. Today I revisited mounting my mechanical fan. It is a 6 blade, not 7, from a truck I believe. I think it will be possible to move the rad deeper into the shell and mill a 1/4" from the mounting surface of the fan mount. Onwards and upwards!
Well, I've been out with some nasty bug. Put me down for the last 2 weeks. I finally felt good enough to get back out in the shop. Picking up where I last stopped was figuring out where the engine sits exactly, k-member of some kind and to bolt up the trans to locate and fab some kind of mount for it. Didn't get to much done since I started around 2pm today. I located the engine and prepped the front crossmember for that. Had to trim the small lip off it so It looked better. It just looked terrible so I trimmed it to look better. I also trimmed it to avoid the balancer, or I hope so. I set the engine up at the 1.5 degrees and centered it in the frame. Since I'm using a set of 32 front engine mounts I went ahead and bolted those up. I located the furthest point forward on the firewall and transfered that to the frame rails. Took that measurement and compared to the engine. From mounting hole to rear of block is 26 1/4". I used that measurement and located the furthest forward location of the mount. Transfered the hole locations down with a center punch and went to town with the hole saw. After a little die grinding to get the holes a tiny bit larger the tubing fits snug. You can see the portion of the cut off lip section on the saw horse. After that I started work on the mount. I'm no where near finished with this but it was time for dinner so I had to pause for the night. I'm using some 2 1/4" tube. The lower portion of the mount will sit inside the tube, then the steel flat plate will have a large hole to accommodate the rubber to keep it from shifting. Then the top portion of the mount will sit on top of the plate and under the mount. Fairly simple and not overdone which I like. Here are the round pieces I'm making, no fancy tools here, just a grinder with a cut off wheel. Then I grind them into round pieces. This shows the circle plate that will be welded to the bigger tube. Note the rubber portion sits just flush with the top, this will allow the top mount to be snug up against it. I still have to finish grinding and smoothing it out. Also plan to so a small round over on the top edge. I wish I had a vertical band saw now. For the last pic here it's just the bellhousing. Of course I'd get sick right as parts show up. Just glad I finally got back out in the shop. I should be able to get out and finish up the mounts tomorrow!
Well I was back at it today. Got the engine mounts wrapped up. They will just need burned in after all the final fitment checks out. Started by finish grinding the round disks. I used the tig and just melted the 2 together using the thick material as a filler. Then I finished the end with the lathe and a final hand sand. Under the cap I did some quick tig tacks just to make me feel better about it holding. After that it was time to get them setup. Once I got the first one located I clamped a short piece of steel between the two and tacked the second in place. Took a bit to get the first one dialed in. I wanted it set at zero degrees/level across the chassis. Then I went 1.5 degrees to match the engine degree. Dead on each direction, so I'm super happy with that. After that I set the engine back in to check things. It lined up perfectly. I found that one of the factory duece mounts is bent. I guess the originals are just steel and the new re-pops are cast. I'm thinking that one got bent during its life so I'll have to make a little spacer to get the engine to sit at 0 degrees. I also put another cross bar under the engine. This gave it more rigidity, plus it gave a place for the back of the engine to rest. The one that's in there now will have to be removed to fit the transmission. However I will leave it to keep the chassis more solid till I finish up the K-member. As for that I will be making my own. I've looked around and am not thrilled with paying the minimum charges to get some stuff bent up. A quick shot of the transmission. So pretty! Tomorrow I will start figuring out what to do for a design on the k-member. I'm leaning to a 1"×1" square tube top and bottom and a single 1/8" rib in the middle. I will drill holes in it or buy a hydraulic punch tool to lighten it up and make it look a little more period correct.
Your picture shows the truck waterpumps with the integrated motor mounts. I'm not sure of the plan and am just a little curious why you didn't use them for engine mounting. It would have allowed for easier fore/aft engine positioning.
These water pumps are no good, just tossed on for location of water outlet/inlet. That way I could get a height location. I will be installing a new set of pumps and cutting the mounting tabs off. I didn't want to look at an engine mount off the side, that's really the only reason for going to the 32 set. They are slotted so I can move it front to back about 3/4" for total movement. I'm headed over to another steel fab shop this morning to give them my drawing and to see what it is going to cost to have some rails made for my K-member. Tomorrow I will be taking my tires down for mounting and balancing.
You'll also find the T spring too narrow for your A crossmember...I would not rely on that pin as a locator the solution to this is to cut a rectangular hole at the top of the cross the width of the T spring and weld a plate over the hole with a locator hole in it....this does 2 things it locates your spring solidly in the cross and also lowers it minutely....the T spring was a popular swap in the day because it lowers the spring height and has a softer rate Make an example out of you??? ooh made me shiver I think you'll be just fine having a plate stamped with your current vin# and screwed onto your firewall....can't see any corporation wanting to have their employee spend hours lifting a body off a frame to check a vin guys doing this job often care very little about cars let alone the minutia of 90 yr old ones...
Just found your thread. Looks like a fun build! The cycle karts look like a gas, too! Thanks for sharing the YT video.
Okay guys, sorry for the long time without an update. Been really sick as of late. I felt decent enough to get back out in the shop and actually get some work done. I got some k-member rails bent up and fabbed for me at a local shop. For a whopping $225 bucks I got 2 eight foot rails bent up and holes drilled. I thought that was a very decent buy. Today I got to working on them. Started withe the critical side of course, as the brake and clutch pedal layout is crucial for proper location. I did some figuring for steering column location and pedal location. After that I started bending and cutting. I'm happy with how it turned out so far. Onto the pics! First pie cut to get the angle I need for the front. I found that a ratchet strap worked great to hold it at the proper angle so I could tack weld it up. I went ahead and mocked up the pedal assembly. I'm curious from you guys on one thing. How long is the clutch linkage arm from the pedal to the shaft on the trans. Mine is in total about 3.5". Of course this is a very rough measurement but close. Here is a quick shot. I believe MDL sent me the wrong setup for the clutch arm, so I gotta take care of that. Here is the length to see if you guys think that's about right? After the front was good I went ahead and did the rear bend. That was much easier minus the coping in for the beauty line on the frame. The front had a pich and a few more cuts to make it fit the narrow front rail. Last but not least a shot of it mocked up in the chassis. I might be able to get back out tomorrow and mirror this one for the other side.
Had a little free time after work today so I headed out into the shop to work. Did some fine tuning to the driver side rail to get it set right. Made a mirror image of it and swapped it to the passenger side. I have 11-1/2" inside the rails for the trans to fit. Should have about 1" on each side of it. Took the time to cope in the K-member rails to fit the beauty line on the side of the chassis rails. A final look at both clamped in place. I'm happy with how they turned out.
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