The old gal has plenty of blow by and sprayed a few speckles of water on the windshield from the radiator but no real problems at all. After the flathead meet we went to the East Wenatchee Super Oval and watched the season finale with 3 main events of 50, 75, and 125 laps for 3 different classes. Nice race track!
Sometime back I was asked what happened to the dropped front axle in one of the early black and white photos. It was a mystery until Thursday. I got it running well enough to drive it to Gordon's house and showed him and his wife the car. Also had him drive it. Afterwords we talked about the axle and noticed the dropped axle was a spring in front axle and of course when he went to put front fenders on it the axle was too far back so it got swapped out for the 40 axle with spring on top with cross steering. The dropped axle in the pic had traditional push pull steering. You can see the steering arm on the left spindle. So that clears that up.
Hey Dave, the car looks great! Glad it all came together for you and is working well. So, what is next for this car? Any other plans? Not that it needs anything....except a hood! Hahaha
Thanks Nash. It has the hood top. I just hadn't put it back on yet because it is a pain in the butt to work around! Next major item is the top and running boards. Needs all top wood, which I do have. Will be white as will the running boards. Dave
I had posted another thread trying to find parts for what I thought was a '49-'50 Cadillac steering box in this car as the play in the box is terrible. Turns out it is not Cadillac! OK! After many many hours searching the internet I have finally figured out what the steering box is! The box itself is a 1955-56 Dodge/Plymouth box, with a 1949-52 Plymouth pitman arm and the 1949-51 Cadillac column and steering wheel! At least now I have a direction to go to find parts or to have this box rebuilt! Gordon had said he thought the setup was Chrysler. Close but no cigar, actual Chrysler is different from Dodge/Plymouth in those years. Dave
Hey Dave you see that 1919 dodge cowl with the windshield frame on it in frame # 132 Just to right (looking at picture) next to the 1936 Dodge PU I would pay quite a bit for that windshield frame, IF it can be bot? Been to your house a few times on my way to Madras, yer never home..!!! thanks, Bob
Well Bob, it is actually a 1920-22 front clip and all those parts except the cowl and partial frame went on my son's '22 touring. Starting in 1920 the windshield got leaned back and is different than a 1919. Every couple years the diameter of the stantion where it bolts through the cowl brackets got larger and larger. Windshield width and height also changed. So if you really need 1 for a true 1919, this wouldn't fit. As far as not being home, I am always here............. unless I'm gone! I try to leave some cards in a bowl on the front porch. Has my contact number. I may be close by. Dave
Man, that's a seriously cool looking sedan. A set of full wheel caps would really set it off, give it that late 50's flavor.
Thanks Old-Soul. I have a set of 16" moon type discs, the clip on style but the grippers are so deep I don't think they will stay on the early Ford wheels. I would also run a set of 3 or 4 bar flippers, Lancers, etc but they are hard to find in 16". There are a few available new but are kinda spendy. I could drill the moons and screw to the rims but the other problem is they completely cover the rim, unlike the original 15" moons he had on the car. They showed the outer edge of the red wheels. That is the look I want. He did run some type of flipper caps he said but didn't have any pics of them. I have been tempted to put '40 Standard caps and trim rings on it but while I like those it would not be true to the original build. Dave
16" wheel covers are indeed hard to find, but they are out there! In the meantime, drive it as she be. "If you build it, they will come".
I have some 15" early ford wheels if you want to switch back to the original flippers..... im in Oregon just over the hill..sweet home Digging your Tudor and the story Also may be interested in 36/37 dodge pickup fenders if you have anything? Sent from my SCH-I535 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks for the offer, I have plenty of 15" wheels. I already had the Coker 16" WW radials so I had to use them. Sorry, no extra 36-38 fenders. Dave
View attachment 3762181 View attachment 3762182 Ok Thank you ! Sent from my SCH-I535 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have been doing a fair amount of work on this old jewel getting it ready to take to Bonneville this summer. Several things were particularly terrible. The steering box was really shot and I was not positive of its origin. I finally pulled it out and found way too many scary things! The Cadillac Steering wheel was for a taper fit and the shaft was splined! No splines in the wheel and no key! Just the nut and friction! At the drag link to steering arm, the tie rod end had been welded up to increase the diameter of the taper and was really rough and uneven. I decided it was time for a steering change, as much as I don't want to make changes on this car. I ended up installing a '40 Ford steering box, which matches the front axle setup. I used the cars existing steering column with built in turn signal switch and lengthened it by 3" and shorten the steering shaft by 2 1/2". This moved the box forward a little and also raised it a little inside. That made the bottom end line up better and made it more comfortable inside as well. I used a stock '40 Standard steering wheel. And of course it got a new tie rod end! The front shocks were leaking so I dug out a good used pair that came from my '51 Ford Coupe and installed those. At the same time, I pulled the front spring back out and reversed the eyes on the main leaf and left out one leaf to lower the front back down and soften the ride a little. If you remember way back, I had pulled the front spring and put the leaves in proper order and re-arched the two long leaves as they were stacked with shorter ones in the middle and looked really odd. Doing that unfortunately raised the front up too much. That's fixed now. The car drives SO much better now! Dave
The next thing I addressed was the terrible blow-by problem. I don't have time this summer to rebuild the engine so I had to come up with a solution so it could be driven without dying from breathing oil! First I made a tube from scrap 1 5/8" lakes header tube to fit tightly over the road draft apparatus on the right front of the oil pan. I then welded a big washer to the bottom of that and a 5/8" steel tube for a hose. I welded a nut to the top side so a longer bolt could go through that nut replacing an oil pan bolt. I put a good bead of high temp sealer on the upper edge and secured it with the bolt to the pan. I then drilled a hole in the left exhaust pipe and welded in a threaded pipe at 45 degrees and screwed on a check valve like used on drag race engines to evac the crankcase and hooked the two together with a hose. This helped a little with blow-by but still came in the cabin bad. Next I used some 1 3/4" roll bar scrap to fab up a riser from the oil filler/fuel pump stand. I drilled and welded in a 5/8" tube on the side and put an adjustable rubber plug in the top for an oil cap. I then drilled and welded in a 5/8" tube into the base of the air filter and connected those two with a hose. Near perfection! I can breath again. Only under really heavy load do I get any odor at all. I also redid the floor mat during this to help seal the cabin. Snyder's sells uncut rubber Model A floor mats so I ordered one. I am impressed. Very heavy rubber and lots of extra material. No extra holes this way too. It is twice the thickness of the old one I had in there. Dave
The next thing I did was work on getting the speedo working. The old cable was twisted off and housing was kinked so along with the floor mat and other things I ordered a new speedo cable assembly. I checked the speedo and it was stuck so out it came and got opened up and cleaned and lubed. This made me more aware of the next problem to solve. The old wood dash is disintegrating and the switches and such are falling out. As much as I dread replacing it and the work it will be it is going to have to happen soon. it is simply 1/4" or 5/16" plywood that's stained so the biggest deal is simply unhooking everything and reconnecting it all in a very tight space. I will try to keep the aged look when I redo it. Anyway, speedo works great now. The next big project will be taking that sheet of white painted plywood off the roof and installing a complete top wood kit and covering the top in white vinyl like it was originally. I have the wood kit, just need the time and energy. Oh yeah, and the white rubber running board covers. I have those too. Here are some bonus pics of the interior and engine. Dave
I took the car up to Gordon's house last week and got his approval on the recent changes. He said he was very lucky to have sold it to someone that wants to keep it as much as possible they way he built and envisioned it. I feel I am the lucky one and am proud to be able to carry on the mission! As a bonus, I have made a good friend. Dave
Dave, I'm so glad to see an update on your car. Your thread is one of my go to inspiration threads for my 30 Tudor. It's funny that you reversed the spring eyes and took one leave out cuz that's what I'm gonna do on mine along with using a 34 axle. So, do you have a side shot of the car with the lowering done? Thanks. NRM
Wow! That one pic of the front end makes it look like my grill shell is falling forward, but it is not. It is straight up and down. Weird. Dave
NRM, bear in mind it is not a Model A front spring so don't go by that on your car. It is a '40 front axle and split '40 bones and who knows what combo of front leaves, but not '40 or Model A. Dave
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