Hot Rods The Hitchhikers Guide:The Hot Rod Ford Model A or AV8 Coupe. Post war 40's build.

True those trucks had open drives, but I believe 1942-up cars and trucks used the same mount. Just get a late style closed drive line rear bearing retainer (ears will be closer together then the early style) and it will bolt right up.

 

The '42 passenger also got the one piece trans mount and it is for the CLOSED DRIVE, used through '48. Common as dirt, probably cheaper than a open drive setup for the back of the Ford trans. Ford used the one piece somewhere such as commercials until the early fifties, maybe 52 with the last F1. The commercials used that mount with open drive from '42, some time before the F1, along with what we call the F1 trans crossmember. Many of those crossmembers have the 21C number, meaning '42 commercial stamped on them, as always the year of introduction. The huge number of those parts on pickups is why we use them instead of the pricey K members. Not as elegant, but easier to use and affordable. Good Luck: Fred A

 

So last time I left off I was carving some engine mounts. I followed the BT Method. I cut 2x3 stock 4 1/2 inches long. I wanted to wrap the curved edge to add some strength. I was pussyfooting around over thinking it, when J scow, fellow hamber and brother from another mother came over and took my idea and ran with it. Here is what he came up with.



He made 4 in 2 hours. 2 for me and 2 for him. It cost 20 dollars in material. We'll end up capping the open part during finish welding. I also waited to get them in the chassis before I drilled the hole for the engine mount. Just to get it perfect. So at about this point I had just about everything I needed to make a car..... except a complete engine, while I do have a good builder. It's not ready to go in a car.....J scow to the rescue again. He had this 100 dollar complete turns over 59AB out of 46 sedan that he was storing in my garage.(he doesn't have a garage yet, we're working on it.) So I pulled off the side shift trans and bolted my free toploader up. It had a 33-34 rear mount on it. But it luckily came with the correct one suggested above. the one on the left.



Here we are mocking it up. We set the motor at the right height on jack stands and we rolled the chassis back and forth to see where we liked the motor.


We tried to set it as far forward as was reasonable. We ended up setting the mounts right up against the crossmember.



With the motor on it's mounts it was time to figure out the trans crossmember.



I decided to go with the F1 crossmember I got for free.



Where it needed to go was 29 1/2 inches wide and way to tall. So I cut 1.5 inches off each end and fit it to inside the rails. I left the bottom portion of the crossmember so it can be shaped to fit the bottom of the rail.



We put in the crossmember and rolled it out side.



then set the body back on......luckily it seems to fit.



As you can see I put the drivers door on a while back. along with getting things a little more solid and connected. The body is really starting to come together. I've got a little bit more I could post, But I want to finish that step first. Thanks for looking.

 

I should add at this point I have $3500 tied up in it and a lot of the stuff I need to get it drivable.

 

The BT book says to put the mount in so that the front edge is 3 inches from the radiator hole in the front cross member, making it 4 1/2" center to center. How far back did you end up, and how is your clearance from the firewall/radiator? I put mine in last weekend at 4 1/2, and they are way further forward than yours. I'm waiting on my water pumps to show up before I can test fit the motor.

 

I believe the BT book to be wrong in that respect. The measurements in the book would put my front pulley almost into the crossmember. That's why I set them where I wanted. My mounts are set so the front edge is 5 inches from the center of the radiator mount holes. Here is a picture of the front pulley in the crossmember.



Here is the full view. I'm using an early Gen mounted fan.



And here is the firewall by the passenger head.....which I hear can be hard to remove in a 30-31 AV8



everything seems to fit....I'm sure I overlooked something....

 

Your engine and mounts seem to be almost exactly where I put mine. My pulley is inside the crossmember just like yours is. I put my mounts practically up against the back of the crossmember also. It does all fit, Barely! But barely fitting is still a fit!

 

Good stuff! Glad to see the progress.

 

That is good to hear.

thanks....now to make everything work.


Anyone have any input of what color to paint this thing?

 

also what type of distributor is that on the front of my engine? I want the one that comes out the sides not the top.

 

You're looking for a crab distributor. As for the front pulley, I was looking at a mates 28 roadster and he had it in the same spot as you, but the front pulley wasn't doing anything since he was running the gen mounted fan. I'm thinking I could turn off the front pulley and get a bit more firewall clearance.

 

That distributor is a 1946-1948, all you need is the correct cap clips, cap and rotor to make it a crab. All you can get new.

The rear mount on the left is a 42-48 car, mount on the right (open driveline) is 42-52ish pickup)

 

Sweet, that is an easy swap then. I was pretty lucky to get the right mount with the trans too. I've been meaning to ask, How close was your wishbone to oil pan clearance on your A roadster? It looks really close on mine. But it doesn't seem like it will hit.

 

Isn't super close, maybe 1-2"

That end of the wishbone won't move much

 

Hmmm. maybe I should move my engine further forward. Mine are no more than 1 inch, probably a little less. The wishbone doesn't seem to move much. I guess we will find out.

 

Does any one have pictures of how the body mounts go in?

 

That's some awesome progress, I'm really enjoying being able to see it done.
You're pretty much using parts that I have been getting for my future roadster build, so I will be referring to this thread some day.

 

thanks man! It feels pretty good to go down stairs and see it sitting there. I might have an update tonight too....depends how long I spend in the garage today.

 

The car is looking good! I know what you mean about it being cool seeing it sitting there. I went out to my shop last night after I had cleaned it a few days before and there was a car sitting there... not sure when it showed up, there used to be just be a pile of parts!

Keep up the good work, its definitely motivates me to get off of my ass to see other guys getting work done on their cars.

 

I'm going to go a little out of order now, it makes more sense to show a few of the steps from before this later on when you can see the big picture.

So I figured it was time to get the steering box ready to install. I am using a F1 box. I initially was trying to figure out how I could get away with this without getting to crazy with the machine work.....That didn't happen. In the end my new friend NealinCA stepped in and offered his services to help me. If you haven't taken apart an early ford box before don't be scared of it. They are super simple. I'll let Neal explain.

So with that said I took it apart. I'm not going to show all those steps, I'm sure if you have followed this far you know what a f1 box looks like and taking it apart is even easier than it sounds.

So than I mail my box to Neal.

I'll let him explain again.

there you go. That's how you machine a F1 box. I'll show the install in the frame when I get it back.

Thanks Neal! It's really cool to have another person help me with this and to make a new friend.

Edit: holy crap! this is my 3000th post.

 

Nice steering box. I just did mine for the second time as I didn't have enough clearance for the exhaust. This time I put the innards from a 1940 box into the F1 box as the 1940 internals were in better condition. That way it gives me the keyed instead of splined column so I can use the 1940 steering wheel.

 

Nice box indeed! Thanks for the quick explanation, so simple.

 

Cool deal on the steering box!

 

X2!


iPhone - TJJ App

 

Thanks, But the praise goes to Neal. I just boxed it and shipped it.

 

That doesn't look so scarey, it's great seeing this thing come along!

 

Question for anyone that has installed a F1 box in a model A frame.

Did you use the stock box location or push it forward?

 

Neal would be a good friend to have. Nice job fellas.

 

I put it in the stock spot

 

So did I. It drops the column down a bit since it comes out the bottom of the box instead of the top. Make sure you have watever you plan on using for exhaust bolted to the engine before you make anything permanent with the steering box. It will all fit, but its a tight squeeze. I had to modify my headers to clear the steering box.