Have made a little more progress.. It's all pretty mundane stuff, though, nothing ground breaking or very interesting. previous posts: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258986 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=286520 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289424 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=286040 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295180 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293650 I modified the ends on the 32 radius rods to bolt up to my rear spring brackets. Not over pleased with the result, but they are functional so will stay unless I decide to rework them. The ends need radiusing. (Axle is upside down in 1st pic) I then laid out all the shocks I could muster and decided which ones to use where. Out of 7 original shox, (well, model A, I believe) I did have 2 that appear to be in good working order. They both need new o rings and shaft seals, but they will do for the front. Luckily the 2 good ones were a right and a left to make a pair. (pic to follow) I had a pair of 37 or 38 (I think) front shox in good condition and decided to use them on the back. I juggled around with various mounting schemes and settled on a simple setup using one of the original bolt holes, redrilling the front hole. Links were made up from two sets of links, to get the ends the right type and orientation. They attach to the axle via a threaded extension to an existing bolt. (7/16" wheelnut if anyone wants to know..). The radius rods were made a month or so ago, and the shox fitted a couple of weeks ago. The following bits were done yesterday and today (got a couple of days off). I removed the master cylinder mount and slotted the holes to allow it to be rotated to a vertical position (it was a bit out). I used a round nose milling cutter in the old fobco drilling machine. Came out well and was easier than filing. Holes were drilled to take the dual cylinder and the bracket and cylinder were remounted to the k-member. I was looking for simplicity and spent ages trying to work out how to come out of the master cylinder straight onto the axle with a flexy. I suddenly hit on the solution and had the hose connected to the rearmost outlet. (details to follow) With the master cyl in place and the hose attached I made up a little bracket to hold the hose to the torque tube. Held temporarily by cable ties, it will be welded later. The T-Piece was attached to a similar bracket at the rear of the torque tube. A brake pipe was made up from Kunifer and run along the torque tube following the factory weld. The pipe to the right hand backing plate was then ran along the axle. Pipes will be held with clips at appropriate intervals. Had to draw a halt there as that was all the brake pipe I had on hand. Have ordered some more so the rest of the pipes should get laid in place when it arrives. One other side-job that was tackled was removing the plugs from one of the 4" French cranks. (didn't take any snaps) the sludge traps were cleared out and the drillings rodded through. the existing plugs were rerworked and refitted. so now I have a crank ready to go, so if and when I get back to putting the motor together at least that little stumbling block is out of the way. I have another crank that wants the same job doing, I will take pics and write it up then. I tend to take a lot of time thinking and considering the best way to do a job, taking into consideration my equipment and abilities. Once I decide how to do something the actual doing doesn't take too long. The biggest holdup at the moment is deciding on paint, ie whether to paint or not, if so what to use etc. etc. I'm not great at such decisions, (hence my coupe still wearing it's 80's blue) but at least, as they say, indecision is the key to flexibility. Mart.
Nice work I would be concerned about any brake lines running over the axle or torque tube. You may not think that it will ever bottom out, but if it does, it will crush the brake line. and we all know what happens next. otherwise looks good.
I personally like to run my lines on the back side of an axle. That way if the car ever needs to be strapped down to a trailer or pulled backwards, the strap you use around the axle tube won't crush the brake line.
From the way I see the photos of your brake lines(pipes)they look as tho the are copper....Sure hope they are not.....Not a good idea for brakes.
It is an alloy of copper nickel and iron, marketed as kunifer. It isn't common or garden copper pipe, it's specifically made for use as brake pipe, in climates where rusting of steel pipe is a big problem. Mart.
I decided I'd fucked this job up on two counts, both very valid points raised by hambers Redbeard and Corn Fed. 1, there might be a risk of crushing the pipes if the axle grounds against the underside of the body or frame. 2, the pipes could get damaged if the car is lashed to a trailer or recovery vehicle. Luckily I had ran out of tubing so had halted the job while I got some more. this gave me thinking time. I started the job afresh, after seeing a nice tidy job by myke here on the hamb. I decided to do it more like a 40, where the [pipes follow the upper inside of the radius arms. I removed the bracket from the end of the torque tube, cut it down and welded it on to the radius arm, directly below the edge of the torque tube. I made a new pipe from the end of the flexy to the t-piece. I then ran new pipes along the radius rods to the wheel cylinders. Nice and simple, here's a more overall type shot. Apart from the two reasons already given for the change, one other advantage is that the screws for the clips (there will be 4 more clips than the 2 shown) can go into the radius rods, in the other setup the axle and torque tube would have had to be drilled and tapped. The radius rods already have holes where I have temporarily fitted the clips. Mart.
If I had a dollar for every time someone said "YOU CAN'T RUN COPPER BRAKE LINES!!!" when an Englishman posts a pic of his brake lines... I'd be rich. Sam
Yeah sam, bunch of dipshit armchair quarterbacks! It is called KUNIFER, Mart said so..........do a search before you spout off.
You might want to consider dropping the attachments for the radius rods down to lower the rods. They sometimes hit the frame if the car is lowered. Dropping them makes them clear
Very interesting.The only thing I would be concerned about is haveing that tube right up against the metal surfaces.That might create an issue with the vibration from the car..The tube being mounted like that may rub and fail.Instead of just using the half mounting bracket.I would use the ones that go all the way around the tube. that way the tube will not have contact with the metal surface. Other than that.That is a real nice job you are doing there.
This is a stock 39 brake line scheme. All the lines where sitting right on the metal diff and torque tube housing, attached by half round metal clips that screwed into the housings...
Only thing I see in the latest version is that when your rear end moves up and down, that line from the T at the front of the arms should be flex line and the on that is flex could be hard cause it doesn't move. just my .02 I think
Wideglide: that don't look like the rear under my 40! I'm guessing by the size of the spring and those heavy duty radius rod braces that while that may be a factory piece, it can only be a truck or some other heavy duty application. Man that thing would ride hard under a car! Andy: I've eyeballed the radius rods, thats why I dropped them slightly from being straight. They shouldn't hit the frame at full bump. I'm thinking I might remove the spring and let the frame sit direct on the axle (I'll fit the bumpstops first) just to check for problems. this car will ride pretty high so there shouldn't be fouling problems. 35mastr: The stock 40 just has hard metal clips, but I take your point. I might slip some pieces of heat shrink tube over the tube and set a short length in place under each clip. I'm pretty happy with it now.
I know the '40 rear end I have ran them down both wish bones like Mart redid them... maybe Ford had too many people die in horrific wrecks where the brakes went out because of that falty design used in '39! Sam
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