Hot Rods I'M GOING TO BUILD AN ALTERED.

I run between 55 and 90 lb/inch spring rates at the backs of my altereds. The softer the spring rate the less energy is released when the springs move, which I think is desireable in a light car. On one car I actually took a set of helper springs off a LoadLeveler shock (55) and used them.

With your shop capabilities I am wondering why you don't narrow your own housing? I've done a few as shown.

 

So, do you think 90's would be ok, or should I go softer ? As for narrowing a housing, we could do it but my Son Dan bought his brand new from Autoweld when he built his rpu and it was a really nice piece. They will put whatever ends on it you want, make it to your width, and they supply the Moser axles to fit it.

By the time I find a suitable used housing, clean it up, narrow it, etc, I will have just as much in it, and then I will have to order axles anyway, so this will just be 1-800 and in it comes all done.

Don

 

Looking good Mr. Don. There is a lot cool pictures coming out of the woodwork. Thx! ......oh sorry. I'm suppose to be sitting quietly in the gallery aren't I?

 

Hey FF,
Are those WOODEN plugs for aligning the tubes and ends? My experience with Ford 9" rears (very limited) is that the housing tubes aren't very concentric with the centerline of the spool, and usually aren't very round. Thus, the need for a fixture. Mine is for centering housing ends on early Ford trumpets, but the idea is the same.
Bruce

 

I thought he was just showing that to go with Don's wooden frame.

 

PERFECT ! Love the look.

 

Haha, no, if you guys sat quietly it sure would be a boring thread ! It's the comments, jokes, and suggestions that make threads interesting. Thanks for contributing.

Don

 

I have owned the tooling to narrow rear end housings for about 25 years. I have never narrowed a housing ! I have only needed one housing narrowed and when I did I paid for one turn key. At the time I bought the tools to do it I thought I needed them, found out it was better to leave this task for a shop that does them on a regular basis. Who is Autoweld? Are they on the web? Your pics of the slicks look great.

 

http://autoweldchassis.com/rh.ivnu

 

Yes Don, I would try 90 #/".
Gearheads QCE, Once I square up the ends on a lathe I mic the ID and turn some wooden plugs a couple thou larger than the ID, leaving a 1/8 x 1/8 flange lip in the center of the plug. I lay the plug on end and saw an alignment notch along the OD. That will be used to align the internal weld flash lines of the tubes to the ends. Then I tap the plugs into the tubes, line up the ends and tap them on. The flange leaves a root opening for tack welding. Once tacked I smash out the wooden plugs with a punch and finish weld, being careful to alternate sides to reduce warpage. I also try to design the brackets for 360 degrees of weld so as not to pull the tubes out of alignment. I figure if the factory had everythig aligned my method will be no worse in alignment as factory. Everything has spun freely when complete.

 

I decided early this week to just make a decision on the front wheels and tires, so I ordered gasser 10 spokes from Speedway and Mickey Thompson front tires from Summit. They all came in and today I took them and had them mounted. Not exactly spindle mounts, but much more in my budget, and I actually like the look. I took them to the shop and put them beside the slicks for comparison and snapped a few pictures.








Ron Pope and I spoke on the phone this week, and my front end components are on their way........maybe even here tomorrow. Can't wait to see them and so happy to do business with such a nice guy as Ron...........they should all be this professional and helpful.
Don

 

I just got off the phone with Wilwood and ordered my front hubs, bearings, and studs. I was going to use 40-48 Ford hubs and have them redrilled to the 4.5 inch Ford bolt pattern, but by the time I had that done and then bought bearings and all, I would be almost to the price of the Wilwood setup. Plus, if I ever find the need to add front brakes I can put rotors and calipers on these very easily. These are the ones I bought:



One of these days I might even build the frame.

Don

 

beautiful parts

 

Thank you, coming from a guy with such a cool altered, that is a real compliment.

Don

 

Wheels are the perfect choice for the Altered. And you sure can't beat Wilwood stuff. Just put the same hubs ( along with the rest of the brakes) on my 57 Corvette.

 

I envy you on that Vette. It has the perfect look and stance.

Don

 

don, one reason to run front brakes is the burn out. i have found if your car is not heavy or got lots of torque and power it won't make much of a burn out. they'll spin but not much smoke. put a line lock on the front and then you can smokeum hahaha

 

Like your choices Mr. Don!

 

Thanks, guys. Did I mention I LOVE getting car parts in the mail ? Today the brown truck showed up again and my front end parts from Ron Pope Motorsports showed up. To say I am happy would be an understatement ! They are absolutely beautiful and really well done.

This transaction with Ron, from start to finish , was about as good as they come. He kept emailing me to make sure he was making them exactly how I wanted, and he got them done exactly when he promised. That is all most of us ask for, and a lot of businesses could learn from guys like Ron. I also like buying from HAMB members like him when I can. A big thanks, Ron, we will be doing more business for sure.

With Christmas and all the parts I have been ordering for this build I am going to have to pull in my reigns on buying stuff for a while and get my savings back in shape. But I have enough parts now to begin getting the frame further along. I picked up a little more 2 x 3 tubing today because I am rethinking the rear part of the frame to allow me to install a 4 bar setup the way it should be done.

Here are some pictures of the stuff that came from RPM today:





It's little details like the holes he added that really make these parts cool:




Don

 

Very nice, everything you're getting for this is great. Can't wait to see it going together, hope you will be posting a video of it when you are done.

 

Wow how did I miss this thread Don ??? The Hamb is so different these days its so easy to miss stuff, Looking forward to seeing more.
Please say hi to Dan & Don and I hope you all have a great xmas

 

Thanks, Dick, I will do that.

Hi, Steve ! I know what you mean about missing threads. I just realized you are building a second Willys, I missed it altogether.

I will say hi to the guys, and did Don tell you we only saw one 40 dash at TR and it was $550.00. It was too complete for what you were wanting. Say hi to that good looking lady of yours. (I heard you keep getting banned from Facebook............LMAO when I heard that ! )

Don

 

Thanks Don. You need to put red bows on all these parts and get them under your tree !

 

Hi Don,
We used 12 inch 95 lb springs on our altered,

 

Nice view ! Where did you get your coil overs and wheelie bars ? Do you have any Youtubes of that car running ?

Don

 

Shocks are the S&W kit just a reular shock with the coil over kit, part number 40-223-95 , the wheelie bars i modified a set of Jegs to look older, we are going to shorten them over the winter for a more classic look, the car leaves just fine usually picks one front wheel up punching it from an idle.

 

Thanks for that info. If I already hadn't done a couple of T bucket bodies, and if I didn't want a Bantam this time, my current project would have been a clone of yours. You probably saw that it was one of the pictures I posted early on, it just spoke altered to me. It has to be a blast to race.

Don

 

We have some in car camera shots linked below, check you mesages, i sent you one

 

Ok, dammit, now you've done it................I want to go racing ! Wow, that was FUN ! You guys sure have a long shut down area there before the turn off.

BTW, you might want to do some work to your carburetors, I notice it won't start without squirting some gas into them.

Thanks for the ride. Now I have to go cut some tubing.

Don

 

Don't forget Don, it's measure, cut, re-measure, cut again, they throw the tape measure away because that dam thing never did work right.