Projects A V/8 parts gathering. New pics ,02/01 24

I think if you were to mount those brackets on your rear and measured from perch center to perch center you would get a dimension around 52.00"

 

I have a 35 rear end under my Av8 with a model rear spring hung on brackets like house of fabs. I just cut mine off some old model a bells. its works fine.
I wouldn't even bother boxing the frame if you are gonna put a flathead in it.

 

Wow that's great news. Thanks and awesome build you've got there Lodaddyo.

 

thanks! . I bought one of your throttle arms for my banger project. nice piece!

 

This is the left side that is almost finished and the rt side needing some more parts.
39 r/e with the spring mount cut off ,unknown shock mounts, House of Fabs spring mount,and 42 48 radius rods.
Nothing is a simple bolt on.
I'm getting there. Daughter will be home tomorrow and I may get some more done. Still having my problems with pics.

 

I cut these F 1 mounts and Friend welded them up. They are shortened 2 ''.Got to bead blast then paint. Unfortunately this is a weeks work. having to learn to cook and do all the wifely chores. Still fun .Don't stop.

 

Don't know how I have missed this thread Jim. But you seem to have things headed in the right direction for certain.
Was unaware of your situation with your wife's illness, and know personally how tough it is to deal with, as I had to deal with this terrible illness with my Mother. You have my thoughts and prayers on this.
On that rear spring width, you want things to wind up with the shackles at about a 45* angle with the weight of the car on them. Most times a spring spreader is used, but doesn't work too well with the "A" setup of spring over axle, as the center section gets in the way of the spreader. Often the best way is to install the main leaf by itself , get a very long center bolt, assemble the spring leaves above, drawing it together with tightening the center bolt and C clamps on each side. Then when you get it cinched up, tighten up the C Clamps, remove the long center bolt and install one the correct length.
I still remember back in '57 when I broke an axle in the "A" roadster I had. I didn't know to tear down spring pack after opening rear end to change axle, replaced axle and reassembled housing.
So when I got ready to hook up the spring, it was way too short!
Measured how much the spring eye needed to be jacked up above the housing, and made up a spacer to position the spring eye at the right height.
Then using a wheelbarrow, I hauled rocks to put in the trunk till I had pushed the spring down enough to hook up the shackle! So, as you can see, it's best to take the spring apart

 

thanks Dave. Might be able to get spring on this w/e. That's sorta the way I'll be going. Hopefully pics this w/e

 

One end of spring mounted, then the rain came. Oh well I got the easy end. only about 3'' to go. Going to try a strap.

I just deleted some of my original post that were trivia.

 

ATTACH] [/ATTACH] The eye to eye on the Havlir spring perches is 48 1/8 .The spring is 45.Put a strap on it and I got within 1'' of hook up. Had to come in. I think I might need some help with it the rest of the way. I had about a hour of shop time,and got the ft modified F1 shock mounts installed.
Got the wish bones pie cut also.
The ball for the F1 pedals is on the way.Sorry about the pics

 

Mr Havlir makes some very nice parts. Dave makes an AV8 cross member that addresses all the issues involved with putting a flathead 8 in a Model A frame and his quality is top shelf.

 

If I were to do this I would bend the shock mounts so that one bolt is higher than the other.. much stronger that way... HIH...

 

I agree about the quality. Did not know about the cross member
The mt lines up with 2 rivets in the ft cross member. Not a lot of pressure on that.

 

Have the rear /e in the frame

 

Really looking good. Can't wait to start my assembly.

 

Looking good!

 

Thanks. My rt 48 ford radius rod must have been in a wreck. I had to heat it to get it to line up for he install. Now it does not come close to lining up with the other. A friend and his torch will visit today an all will be well. Hopefully today the valves will come out of the eng.

 

Latest news. R/e mounted, radius rods bent into alignment, waiting for the pie cuts to be welded on the wish bones.

I have been dreading taking the valves out of the eng.
Vanness on here helped me. Said plasma cutter is best. I don't have one so I attacked them with my angle grinder, 1/4 air. I have cut out 10 valves . He also told me to drive the guides into the valley with a 3/8 extension and a bfh. Guides are out.
You don't have to have the lifters out. Comes out real easy. all new going back in . What a relief.
Pics this w/e. Almost a roller.

 

6 hrs labor= guides and valves out. No cut fingers or material in eyes.
Now to crawl under house and fix heat, hope its a relay. Daughter home today so I have had a unusual day for working.

 

I see it's been a while since my last post.

59a eng is apart,awaiting parts. I have found a 49 51 mercury eng that is in the machine shop as of this am. There seems to be no cracks ,but will know more later. Plans are to install as much of the 59 a parts into the later block. If I have to bore ,it will be to 3 5/16 .Will be using the 59 a heads as well. It has a filter but the oil looked like tar. I think I will just change oil every 500 miles instead of running a filter,


On the frame the shocks are installed on the rear, pedals have been shortened,F1 cross member has been tweaked for welding.

Have had a e mail failure that has me up in the air. Lost all of my e mail address. Wife has not been feeling well so I haven't had the opportunity to work on the project. When I get a handle on the e mail I will post pics.

When I bought the merc eng I found a near perfect 16x 4.5 wheel. Just needed one to match my other.

Thanks all for being patient.

 

Fine looking oil pan

 

Glad things are moving along. Do you have the bell housing you'll need to bolt the 32-48 transmission to the 8CM motor?

Cliff

 

Thanks Cliff that's a good question. I do have the stamped bell housing. I've had it for years.
Today will be a small victory pistons off rods.

 

Looking good can't wait to hear it run on that fancy new stand. You will have to video that part for sure.

 

Owen if it would only fit on that stand. It's made for sbc engs.
Pistons are off the rods this am. This is what the block looked like. The bearings were in exceptional shape for the tar that was being pushed thru them.

 

Jim, that's what they all looked like on teardown if they had been running a long while, back in the days of non detergent oil.

 

Dave ,I have torn hundreds of engs down and never seen anything like this. It had a filter, but I think I will leave it off and change oil every 500 miles. Bearings looked great.

 

On the dirty engine, I think a PCV system does a lot to keep a motor clean, most of the motors that I have been into that have a draft tube looked like that. Oh and the project looks great so far.

 

Another problem with the old flathead was in some cases cooling was a problem, so people's first attempt at a solution was removing the thermostat. In a vehicle not driven mostly for short trips this resulted in an engine never reaching optimum temperatures and creating sludge buildup. One taxi operator in NYC actually used body undercoat on the oil pans of their taxis to try and keep the oil hotter in their fleet.
Don't want to start a pissing contest about oil brands on Jim's thread, but I've found over the almost 65 years I've owned a car, that some oils seem to sludge more than others and for me the worst about sludge was Quaker State.

 

I was just going to say. He must not have ever tore down a engine that ran Quaker State.