Technical Ford Model AV8 with no K Member

Soon I'll have a 28/29 Sedan and a '49 8ba with a top loader.
Ideally I would like to keep the car all stock, excluding split front wishbones, juice brakes all around, and lower suspension.

After speaking to a few friends, one of them mentioned that they did an AV8 build with no K member. I did some research, and found Salty City Speed Shop makes these Model A Flathead engine mounts, that allow you to install the engine without having to clearance your firewall. Essentially the trans would adapt to the A torque tube using the later clamshell, the engine would be mounted with these, then mounts for the transmission would be created. The flathead will be stock, as it would be stock rearend.

My question is, how many have gone this route, and what did you guys use for pedals?
Ideally I would want to go with something like '37-40 pedals.

 

This car I cant take credit for the 8ba swap, it was done in the 50s... But no K member.... Some firewall needed notched due to how they did it but it was a 31 tudor also... I know the firewall on 28-29 is more flat.

 

Personally I would get a trans crossmember out of an F1 pickup. I'm sure if you did search, you can find postings here on the HAMB of guys using one. And get the steering column/box out of an F1 too. It is a much superior design than the original Model A.

 

That is killer!! I have something in mind similar to your setup. All painted chassis, then the patina'ed body on top. Mind sharing some up close photos of the mounts for the engine, trans, and pedals?

Cheers!

 

I've read with the F1 crossmember, you run into problems with the pedals hitting the stock box. Is there any problem with running a stock A torque tube as well as the F1 crossmember?

 

A friend building an AV8 found that the 32 grill curved out and hit his 31 light bar and he had to modify that.

 

I built this for a friend, followed Vern Tardell sp. book with F3 crossmember modified and steering box from same truck.

Pat

 

Luckily I'll be running a stock grill!

 

That's killer! I'm doing an early style build. Hoping to not have to use a crossmember

 

Best ones I have, Sold this one a few months ago...

 

Those work for me, thanks!!

 

Could just buy the trans cross member and pedals that they sell with those front motor
Mounts

 

clearance the arch in the original A X member, then box it . Then fabricate a couple of mounts similar to the engine mounts. Weld these to the A x member to locate on the gearbox bearing retainer / rear mount . and your done .

Your next problem will be pedals , model A are mounted to the bellhousing. No problem , save the pedals and fabricate a bracket to mount to the V8 transmission . If your not so hot on the fabrication purchase a conversion from Clings .

https://www.clingsaftermarket.com/addtocart.asp?prod=3000

You wont require the bellhousing as the one in the link is for a V8 box to model A engine .. the link is just showing the pedal adapter but if you look at the site you will find the pedal bracketry sold separately .

 

At $1450 for the K member and pedal assembly, that's a bit steep for my current project. This wont be a show rod or anything even remotely nice. It's just a low buck jalopy.

 

Well hot damn, thank you!!!

 

Another thing I've seen is using an F1 trans crossmember. What would be the going rate for one of these?

 

I bought an F1 chassis for $300 scoring the crossmember, pedals, 9" ford rear end someone had put in, and the front beam and springs to build a small camper later with. Deals are out there, but not readily available. Both the F1 crossmember and the 32' K-member will require alot of fabrication to work. They do not just bolt in. If you do not want the cost of buying a parts truck or 32' Ford parts, you could fab your own crossmember utilizing what ever rear bearing retainer you have on your transmission and steel stock. All options require fabrication and trial and error. There is no template or off the shelf part to put a flatty in an "A" except for Salt City's K-member witch is similar to Tardels out of stock K-member. I assume your "toploader" is an early 3 speed and not a later toploader 3 or 4 speed. The later toploaders would not work with an F1 or 32' crossmember. If a budget is the restraint, mock the flatty in the chassis with your engine hoist and wood blocks or whatnot and start cutting cardboard until your happy with the results. Transfer patterns over to steel and fab up your brackets.

 

This was on evilpay a while back. It's sold now, but gives some good ideas.

 

It's a 49 8ba with an earlier trans. After doing some research, I found that this guy made his own trans crossmember, and adapted a pedal mount to it. I might try and do this!

 

Great project. Definitely get Vern’s new book about hopping up a Model A. Follow it to a T. Proven to work.

 

I've got it! I'm trying to figure out the best way to run a flatty without a k member.

 

Anyone got a link to this book?

 

Something similar to this could work, however I caution you, do not solid mount the rear of the transmission. There really needs to be a rubber insulator of some sort. Depending on what you do for a cross member, there are many under floor brake/clutch pedal assemblies that could work. 1939 into the 50s have hydraulic brake components that could be adapted. If I was going to make my own crossmember, I would take the basic idea of the 32' K-member and make a simplified version. I would mock up the engine and trans, cut cardboard into a templet, take the templet to a local metal shop to get the harder 90 deg brakes done, and cut out the trans hole and other holes. Then I would find what ever brake and clutch assembly I was going to use, and build out a support for it. If you did it right. You may not even have to weld anything. It could bolt all together. A grade 8 bolt is stronger than a shitty weld. Keep it simple and basic if you fab your own mount. It also makes a difference what rear bearing retainer you have on the trans. I like the 32' bearing retainer, but the parts can be hard to find. The later "banana" looking mount works, like with the F1 setup, but is bulky if starting from scratch. I have seen the use of the same pucks that the front engine mounts utilize work for the rear trans mounts as well. Weather it be flat plate or square tube, there are many options. Your only limited by your skills and tools.

 

That's a smart idea. I could definitely utilize the same biscuit mounts that I'd use on the front of the engine, on the transmission mounts. As far as bearing retainer, I haven't seen whats on that transmission yet, but I've got a 40's bearing retainer sitting around.

What I was thinking about is once I get the trans and engine somewhat installed / mocked up, I can figure out pedal placement, then create a mount for it.

 

https://www.verntardel.com/store/p2...del_A_-_International_Book_Award_Winner!.html

Here you go!

 

I've built two V8 A's and used 2" square tubing to build the rear trans crossmember and mounted the master cylinder on it.

View attachment 5120884 View attachment 5120885 View attachment 5120886

 

Have any photos of the master cylinder or the pedals mounted?

 

Just this one, did both cars the same. Pedal mount is an adapter available from several Model A vendors and uses stock pedals. The master cylinder is for a 56 F1 pickup and has a cover in the floor. The brackets are used to mount a V8 trans behind a stock engine, there is also a bracket to mount the stock wishbone to the trans, my avatar had an unsplit wishbone and the 30 Sport Coupe has split wishbones.

 

A bonus with the F-1 is the bendix style brakes, which are more efficient than early, non energizing Ford hydraulics

 

I've got 39 lincolns on my coupe, and definitely might consider that route for this build!