March Hares - or Tortises...and BANGERS!

great help,,Thanks

 

My Brake light switch has me baffled. I am not sure how they were hooked up It’s a 28 AR right hand drive I had to modify a left hand drive switch. I am sure it connects to the brake pedal some how, the logic seems to be the lights are on until the hook is pulled by the brake pedal to turn them off, seems as if it should be off until its pulled. I am confused can anyone shed some light on this.
Brendan

 

Hi Brendan they had a piece of chain from the bottom of the brake pedal to the hook allow a small amount of slack

 

hello banger fans, had quick question for you guys

I wanted to ask who's running model a steering boxes in their a's?....

and I called bratton's (model a parts house) today to make an order and need a pitman arm for my father's model a steering box....

They have a "new" shortened pitman arm that i believe is 1.5'' shorter then stock n is cast overseas, My second question is if you guys have run this shorter pitman arm?

and like it or have any complaints??

He said they are rockwell tested n have been selling like hotcakes but wanted to ask around first....

Thank you for your time and help

 

Im runnnin a model a stearing box, it works well. i would think that the shorter pitman arm would take away from turning radius. but im interested, so bump

 

Why not get one on ebay? Nothing works finer than ole' Henry Ford.

And probably cheaper, too.

$5 --> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150424083060

$9 with the drag link! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160412183745

 

The shortened arms take a little of the "grunt" out of steering your A. If you have a decent set of arms (muscles) I wouldn't worry about a shortened pitman. If a female or a weaker gent is going to be driving, it's a good idea.

 

Elrod has a good point too, if you have access to a good welder, you can trim Henry's pitman and save some $. Don't be afraid to cut and paste on Henry's steering parts and pedal set-ups either- they are forged (even though they look like they are cast.) Luke

 

We've had a tough winter here in northern VA and today the temps finally hit 60! So old Dave swung by the shop while cruising in his banger, i know nothing about these things but would love to have one.
If you have a question you can ask, all i know is that the body is wooden, the head has 16 valves and it has got rythem when idling.

 

I've been bangin' on the banger...

The oil pan baffle needed a little work to clear the counterweights. I love ball peen hammers and a wood blocks. My right arm feels like I just turned 14 and found a stash of Playboys!

 

I am running a welded pitman arm (1.5"shorter) on a 30-31 steering box on my 30 2door sedan. Makes steering easier, gives the car a little more "road sense". The only time I miss the smaller turning circle that a stock arm gives, is when making a U turn on a narrow road. I would recomend using the shortened one.

Herb

 

Does anyone know if replacement starter motor armatures are available for model A starters, mine has bent a few times and I think its had it. I have seen a post about a bearing on the bell housing, has any one done this in the car? I think it may be possible to drill a hole in the bell housing and mount a bush in a plate with a spigot to the outside of the bell housing that picks up the end of the shaft, there is not much shaft sticking out of the bendix however.
Brendan

 

That a good spec to know; do you have any for the 7:1 and 10:1?

I just got a NOS head w/o the piston relief. Cyclone Kevin is betting that it's a 7:1.

Any other way to tell?

 

Mine has a fairly small combustion chamber that is @ 5/8" deep at the spark plug. When I lay a Best 509 gasket on the head, there is about an 1/8" of head not covered by the gasket (the combustion chamber is smaller then the gasket opening).

From what I could tell, the 7:1 will have a combustion chamber like mine, but deeper. 130 cc is about what 7:1 is.

From what Kevin has told me, the 10:1 has a different combustion chamber and be @ 85 cc.

.

 

ok how do you guy feel abou t a quick change behind a riley powered b dragster
i started mocking up my rail and decided that the austin healy sprite rear is A) too narrow and B) too tall of a gear( 4 33 or something) i dont think i can get a tire big enough to make my affectve gear ratio short enough to let the motor rev at 4,000 or less through the traps
so i was thinking about a quick change. i know they are not really that strong (at least a model a one) but i think a little later franklin or a champ should hold up fine. not alot of HP and not a big tire
so am i just spinning my tires here or should i just put a banjo in it and call it quits
tk

 

There were 2 Halibrand quick changes made for the model "A" rear end, one uses "1" gears (the Kiwi uses 1" gears) and the other uses the V8 size gears. Joe mac told me that the Halibrand with the 1" gears was used in midgets and the one with the V8 gears was used in sprint cars. Are you familliar with Art Chrisman's # 25 dragster? It has a model "A" quick change. I have an old much welded 'A" Halibrand in my Modified. At the 66 hillclimb it was just wind it up and drop the clutch in second gear. The main modification was adding a "snubber". With 4.11's in it it ran 84 at the antique nationals. It was Riley powered.

 

i don't thing/didnt think i would break it, but i think they are kind of hard to find(i may be wrong about that) what kind of tire are you using?
i see the later ones for sale alot and since this is a budget rail(lol banger with a riley and budget in the same sentence) i was just thinking it would be a better choice.
i love your car by the way
tk

 

I think a stock rear "A" end with 4.11's would probably work if you installed a snubber. Especially if you keep the weight down I have Firestone 6.50 16's from Coker's on the rear. The fit of the rear hubs to the axle is important. I lap mine and torque to 150 to 175 lb.

 

please do, I've searched and searched but haven't found the thread.

 

oj,

Thanks for posting- that's a great speedster your friend has!

 

Ok guys im trying to pull my cam out so i can get it ground, problem is the cam only comes out like 2 inchs then no more. all the lifters are up and the distribter drive is out so what gives?

 

Did you take out the oil pump? I don't know if it will hit but I never pulled a cam with the oil pump in. But if you pull the cam out 2" it is not supported buy the bearing surface. You are most likely smacking your lobe on the block. If your pan is off you can support the cam with your hand to guide the cam out.
hope this will help
later Bill

 

This probably wouldve helped, but i got it out. I turned the crank over a quarter turn and she slid right out. Another question tho. After my regrind should i use new lifters or the old? both sets are adjustable. Doi need to remove pan to installnew lifters? Im pretty sure i do

 

Have the lifters refinished by the cam grinder at the same time.

 

THis might help, if you are running 6.50 16 's you would need to have 3.50's in the rear end to break 100 at 4 grand, If you went up to a 1" taller tire you could break 100 at 3.6 grand. This is all taken from a power speed calculator. Is your Riley a 2 port or a 4 port? My car weighs or did weigh 1500 lbs,

 

2 port
i am guessing under 1,000 lbs
tube frame 96 inch wheel base
just the essentials
tk

 

Holy mackerel! I got the Pyle Special back on track.

After much troubleshooting, asking questions, changing this and changing that it was a matter of a fouled/bad spark plug that was giving me trouble. Weird part was all the back firing. Not sure why a bad spark plug would cause back fire.

While I am on that topic, what causes a bad spark plug?

CDO helped me out a lot over the phone trying to give me some ideas as to why it was running the way it was. Anyway, I drove the roadster to Church this morning and wowed old and young alike. I was serving as an usher today and an elderly lady came up to me with a big smile on her face and said, "Is that your Hot Rod out there?" "Boy that sure does look like fun, we all heard you drive into the parking lot". What a great response from the generation that started it all. I loved the fact she didn't call it an old car or a car in general, it was a Hot Rod to her.

Thanks to you guys for the input this month and to CrazyDaddyO for the help.

Now back to cruisin!

 

that's awesome!

 

Well Brothers, my Dad finally made the leap! He's one of us now. Yesterday I closed a deal for him on a BSO 1929 AA Closed Cab Stake Truck with dual high and a dump bed. It was sitting in a barn about 15 miles from here. As far as we know it hasn't moved for at least 20 years, but it turns over and has compression, and even has some not-quite-petrified gas in the tank. Has documentation that it has been owned by three generations of the same farming family since it was purchased new. Dad's planning on a full resto, so it won't exactally be a HAMB-friendly traditional hot rod, but we'll find a way to squeeze some more HP under that old hood. Now if I can only convince him to put a ramp back on it...
Newport Hill Climb here we come!
Luke

 

Hi guys.
Have you seen a piston like this!
Im stripping down some bangers and found this one, all 4 in that engine had this type of piston in it, its 0.40 over dim. the engine were relly fine.
There were som text in swedish on them.
2 oil rings, first time for me!