Bangin' in the New Year - The January BANGER meet is now open

Been fuddling around with this 1920s sprint car project now and then between the 29 roadster. Got the rear quarter ellipticals made,...from a single T front spring. Took out the first small leaf as it was a bit short for where I'll need it to fit into the brackets I'm making, that shouldn't be very detrimental though. Also played with a '25 Chrysler radiator shell I had here. Thinned it out by about 5 inches or so, a little cathedral-looking, but I kind of like the way it turned out?...still not sure on the shell. Will need to be shortened up at least about 4" or so.

Started on the rear brackets to affix the springs to the frame yesterday. Still working out some details but the idea is to make something that can be made to look more as if it was one complete piece of forged steel rather than a welded part,...maybe it will work out, maybe it won't?

One idea I had for affixing the two quarter springs to the rear axle tubes was to use two front T spring perches, knock off the bolts from base flat areas of the heads, shape that to the radius of the axle tubes and weld then in. Then to brace them weld in 1/4 - 3/8" flat stock steel traiangular braces on either side of each one for any side pulling, etc.
What do you guys think of that idea? Keep in mind I'm trying to build this as per simple easy ways in which the guy at the corner garage would have done it in the 1920s. Take into consideration I'm a welder by profession and would have probably been one in the 1920s, welding some here and there is within the possibilities of the time period.

Heck we even got in some rest and relaxation time at some local water falls before the cold winter hit us!

Figuring out placement of springs,...

Playing with the radiator shell (this was at night, so photo came out a little strange/distorted)

 

I think that it was common to just run the springs out the back of the frame rails, rather than add the opportunity for a broken bracket.

To affix the spring to the axle housing would have been done with some sort of bolt on clamp/bracket that would go around the housing?

Figure you would want to eliminate the spring shackel and have the spring eye as the mounting point/ lower pivot point on the rearend then use the radius rods to control the lateral axle movement (and the torque tube to control vertical)? maybe a panhard rod?

 

solid affixed springs to the rear with no shackle, paired with a torque tube
wont work... no where to go when the arc of the leaf straightens unless theres a slip joint in the torque tube like a chevy

coaltown.....work on the 29!...i wana see it soon!

 

Steve, find yourself a good Winfield
thank you . so now i need a good winfield carb ! ................. steve

 

Sorry Dad,...you're right,.... I'll knock it off with the sprint car stuff for a while and get back to that 29!

lol.....

 

Talk to Bill about that, he might be able to help. If it gets to much, cash wise, etc. or a headche just go with a holley 94. I just much prefer the winfields,...

 

Just got in from messing around with the rear spring mounts an such on that 1920s sprint car project I have goin'...Gotta get back to the 29 thougha dn finsih it up, so that's it for the sprint car for now...

OR IS IT?!!!! ha, ha....

Just tacked things in place to see what it would look like, the shackle is a bit to straight, needs to have some more angle to it. Heck, I may not even got with using the old
T front spring perch heads,...who knows? I think I may just fabricate something "bolt-on" as Fur Biscuit suggested as that's the majority of what you saw back then was a LOT of bolt-on stuff,...brackets, crossbraces, etc. We'll see...

 

Hows your '29 coming along, Zach?!?

 

Yeah! What HE said!,... HA!!!

 

I'm behind you, Coaltown- keep that sprinter going!!!

 

Not always,... Roof's Ford Flyer and several others had brackets for their quarter ellipticals on the sides of the frames. That's where I got the idea from,....

....ahh them old boys left good blueprints!

 

Naw,.... Zach's my concscience,... he's totally right! I'm like 99% finished with that '29 roadster,.... and THAT HAS TO BE FINISHED, 100% and on the road in just a few months for an event I'm working on with Zach and a few friends...

A WWII-era gig! Keep 'yer eyes peeled and ears to the ground fellas!

Here's a little teaser info on it...
http://www.earlyera.com/futureevents

 

why is that so many fendered brass era T speedsters are so ugly? or is that Pete Eastwood makes the best looking speedsters around? Funny thing is that I remember seeing those seats at the Big 3 in about '03 perched atop the remains of a chevy speedster (the seats were the only part worth anything)

 

ok, here is one for all you sprint car genius type folks...

 

What the??!!

Ok,...I'm seeing the steering setup, and what looks to be a hand break lever bent up??,... not sure at what I'm looking at with all those clevis' and rods there though??!!

Wild!

 

Franklin automobile steering converted to center steering probably for a one man speedster or dirt car. Very common in the old days. A great steering box. I have one in each of my 2 speedsters.

 

Hmmm...that would be a green speedster with a big red 2...

so how about the hand lever, all I can figure is that it is to ensure engagement into direct if the bands come out of adjustment during a race: rather than hooking your heel over the top of pedal and pulling it towards you.

 

Hey that's cool,...great idea,..makes perfect sense!

I'LL BE SURE TO ADD ONE!! he, he....

 

They tell me my 1 5/8" SUs were on a Volvo but I forget the year.
I have been running SUs for more than 30 years and think they are the best carburetor made.

For the brake info--
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=682087&highlight=brake#post682087

Go down to post 16
My sons screen name is chrisntx

 

nope #46 and#49 on the nwvs.org web site.
steve

 

Ok. I spoke to you at the last lucky bastards show a few years ago, you had your red speedster there. Very cool.

 

Yes, SU's are the greatest carbs ever made. from a hopeless anglophile.

 

Manyolcars, I don't think I've ever seen 1 5/8" SU's before, have you got any pics? I had a Volvo Amazon once with twin SU's but I think they were 1 3/4", that was a '66. My mate still has that engine so I could check at some point.
The SU is a great carb, I've run them on a few engines I've owned, including a very small flathead four-banger. Once they're set-up correctly, they're cracking.
Enbloc got as far as making a manifold for twin SU's last year, but they stuck out a little too far, if I remember rightly. I'm sure he's got a pic to share somewhere, or there may be one in the archives around here...

 

I was going to suggest that very good inexpensive fuel/air ratio gauges make SU 'home tuning' far easier. Then went to Inovative Motorsports and found they no longer sell the unit I have and now only sell $500 up stuff

I've done a ton of SU tuning. It's complcated unless you have a F/A machine. And you NEED access to an endless supply of needles!

The work very well on inline motors. But the two on my Rolls we're a very bad joke. I finally switched to a Weber two-barrel and gained power and fuel economy

Anyone got an idea who sells a good F/A Ratio meter?

 

I've got the last two items on this list here...
http://www.mgocaccessories.co.uk/acatalog/Gunsons.html
...for setting up my carbs. The Colourtune is a good little bit of kit.
Here are the twin SU's I fitted to my little 100E four-banger some years ago, they're 1 1/4" tiddlers. Great fun.


Here's the car they were in...

 

CTK, the shackle should point straight down on your quarter elliptical setup. all the shackle is there to do is allow some movement between the spring and rear so the torque tube and spring don't bind. the closer you have the shackle to verticle the less bind there will be in the suspension. the mathematical calculation to determine the force on the shackle is F= weight on shackle/sin(angle) when the angle is straight down the force equals the weight, as it aproaches horizontal it approaches infinity. all theoretical crap, but it shows you how much extra uneeded force would be applied to the shackle by mounting it at an angle. for reference, if the spring rate is 200lbs per inch and the shackle is mounted at 30 degrees there will be 400 lbs of force applied to the shackle per inch the rear end moves

I don't see them, but I'm assuming you have a rear radius rod of some sort in them mix as well.

edit: I see the radius rods now!

 

you mean that "new" V8 car? who wants to work on them!
I've been working on the 32 (chicken) coupe.....with the CORRECT 4 banger

 

Thanks for the info,....
I'm going to be going a slightly different route with the spring perch heads, but not to far off from what you see here.

As far as radius rods,...not using the ones you see there, they are the old stock ones. I'm going to build a set using parts from a stock set of T rods.

 

Colortune is pretty good for idle

I can see you riding the wing at speed to get a road speed reading!!

 

hey bluto, how's that hal head you were setting up coming along!