Oh how I love my Banger- FEBUARY banger meet

I followed that closely. I could see that you also did a bit of "budget rebuild too. I reworked a couple of E series Fords years ago for use in cheapy boats so my younger brothers could go out fishing. It takes a lot of care and patience to get the bottom end to live a long and happy life and in a boat, out of sight of land, you want the thing to keep running.
A copy of that old book about building a Ford Special ( can't remember the title) is required reading for any Anglia,Popular ,Prefect owner I reckon.

 

I was talking about Jay Steel on a UK forum and scanned in an article from a FAST newsletter from 2004 about how Jay got started with cars. I figured it would fit in a treat here as well. It makes for a good read, if you knew Jay or not.


****************************************************************************

 

That same roadster pick up was parked at the gate at Taylor Engine last Saturday at the " Jay's Christmas Party" as the memorial gathering was called. Jay had repurchased it in pieces and there was a rush to finish it for him but sadly he didn't see the finished project. Bitchn' paint and a polished 4 port under the hood.
The story is that he sold it to help finance his purchase of Taylor Engine in 1972. Bill LaRosa still has the 2 port that was on it. Jay told me that he had tried to buy it back but no sale.

"You are on the list"

 

I had seen the pick up in the rafters of Taylor Engine and would love to see the finished article. There were a few photographs of the memorial gathering on the UK NSRA site but the the pick up was only in the background of one shot obscured by a T speedster.

What does "You are on the list" refer to?

 

Anyone know what wsa used as the pad bolted to the frame to hold this setup? Its on a Model T speedster. Its from another board, I tried contacting the fellow who posted it several times but no response. I think he's a HAMBer also so maybe he'll respond to this??

Thanks in advance guys.

 

Tractors... And they look better in my opinion than those in the picture above.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260326604023

 

HA! I was gonna suggest if its something from an old tractor, but I held off,... guess I shyed away from assuming they used something silimar! Wow, we're frieghteningly on the same wavelength! LOL!

Any idea what tractor you got those from? Ford, Oliver,??.....
I just need to make sure I fot them to the Model T ball end off the T wishbones...

 

Been working on that 1920s dirt track car I'm building.....

Almost got the enitire rear suspension done,...


Gonna add a strap of 1/4' riveted to the rear crossmember. Strength and good looks,... a bit industrial looking with the riveted strap I was thinking....

 

Is that torque tube gonna hit the crossmember???

 

Yeah, early 9N's had em...should be able to get em new.

 

Yup. Chris is right. 8N / 9N.. The link to the eBay Auction I posted also lists another application of Ford stuff. 'Nother link to more of 'em

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360129954334

 

That is what Jay would say when you asked about your project Actually, it should be "You're on the list" They gave away ball point pens with that printed on them. It took me about 5 "Next Weeks" before I heard the condition of my 4 port. Gonna miss that guy. There was 1 counter covered with trophies won by Jay. Boats, cars, sand rails whatever, if it had an engine in it or on it he drove it or built it. I once had a line boring job stalled for a week because Jay Leno's Duesenberg head was on the machine waiting for a bearing.
Jay once told me that he was a "clutch slipper", he just wound it up and slipped his foot off of the clutch pedal.

 

That makes sense now. When Jay built my engine I never rushed him and he took his time to do the job properly. Good things come to those that wait. I only ever had the one job done by Jay, most every time I saw him it was on a social basis so I got to hear a good few of his tales. Like you I'll miss him, I guess that's true of most people that met Jay, he was such a likeable character.

 

I know the photos make it look like there's no room at all,... There's more room under there than you'd think. Mind you, there isn't much, but the rear springs are pretty stiff, and its not going to go very far over any bumpy roads as its something that I'm building to race at exhibition races, etc. it will probably see a little bit of road use, but not much if any at all. There's about 2.5" I'd say.

 

Geez, I looked at it so quick I missed the fact you had the ebay link there,.... sorry!

 

I know you have torque tube there but are you going to run a torque arm arrangement to take the strain off the ball end? with the springs like that i am guessing that the ball will be carrying all the load of the cars mass. It's slightly different to the stock set up where the spring sort of stops it moving backwards and forwards...just a thought

 

"Torque arm"? Nope,... this is an 1920s era dirt track car, not a modern street rod. No one was running toruqe arms back then, (not to my knowledge) so there won't be anything like that on this. When I set out to build something in a particular "era" I do it right, use parts from the period or quality repro parts of the period. Doing otherwise is compromising, and worse yet, misrepresenting yourself, and history.
Especially if you're toting what you're building or have built as something, when its truely not,... (ie. having modern parts on it when its supposed to be something from the 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.)

Now, radius rods, yes...

I'll be running rear radius rods on either side connected to the frame. Not to mention that there are spring shackles in use so the springs will not push or pull the rear end anywhere.

The setup of the two quarter ellipticals was something that was seen many times back in the 1920s and 1930s. Robert Roof built a car by the name of "The Ford Flyer" that incorporated four springs on each corner. (sorry no photos)
In addition Rajo Jack built one of his first cars with four quarter elliptical springs. (look up Rajo Jack, I had a post here on the HAMB on him)

Johnny Gerber also used the same cut-in-half Model T front spring setup I'm suing on the rear, except he set his up a little differntly as far as mounting, otherise its the same thing. Of course the tiney radius rods seen in tis photo were not made to be radius rods!! later it was changed!)
Gerber was an amazing racer and way ahead of his time in many ways! I highly recommend his autobiography, "Outlaw Sprint Car Driver".
(Johhny Gerber's #15 car)


There were other various people who also used this two spring rear setup who's names escape me right now,... I can see the cars, just can't remember the names!

So yeah, there shouldn't be any issues. It was done so many times in the past and with great success,..... old technology is grand. There's been practically nothing new invented since 1938!

 

The little banger made it to work today it was only 26 deg. nice ride home was 42 degs. I wish I had heat. It has blow by that comes out of the filler cap I have to keep the window down so I dont get smoked out. going to work in a hot rod is allways a good day.
later BILL

 

My '37 Y I had whilst in the UK was "interesting" to drive. Not quick or fast by any definition - 45mph seemed to be it's "happy" speed. The rod brakes were just slightly more than adequate for those speeds. It could run at top speed or idle for days on end and never overheat - a great little car.

When I go back in May for 2yrs time, I truly hope to find another nice one and bring it back home!

 

Hey Guys,
I have a freind that is looking for a place to get his engine re-Babbited.
Does anyone know someone in So Cal other then Taylor or H&H that can re babbit a Model A banger?

Does EGGE still do Babbit?

I think he needs it in a hurry.
Thanks.

 

Like I said...Just A THOUGHT.
..Perhaps you are confusing my use of the words "torque arm" with Lift bar? but in the meantime there is this...

[
The Wickner Special ,the oldest race car in OZ to still have a current CAMS log bok and only two owners since 1924, and apart from paint is unchanged from then .So maybe I have seen 1920's model T racers up close....

 

Yes they do. I'd had mine done by them some years ago and followed with them just recently to check on the condition after sitting so long. They have this service listed on their website.

 

My sincere apologies if it appeared as if I was assuming anything about your knowledge, my purpose was solely to explain what I was doing and why.

My knowledge of a "Torque Arm" is that of a modern day arm, such as this... its very possibly we misunderstood each other?


Now, that Wickner Special,... that's a great little rig there! Wonderful history on it also,... only two owners too, amazing!! That's a hell of a gem to own! Thank you very much for sharing.

 

One thing I'd consider would be to replace the A spring with a T one. It'll sit around 2" lower at a guess. I use a complete T spring on the rear of my '24T modified. The ride is the opposite of terrible, and handles a treat.

 

Yeah, I put an 8 leaf T spring under my car...about 2 1/2" lower.

 

In the current S O S S magazine there is an article about some new 1 piece inserts for "A" mains. The article describes the installation and how they machine for the thrust. This is from the same company that makes the inserted "A" rods. Which also use 1 piece inserts. Quite an improvement over stacking 2 or 3 to get enough surface.

 

I see alot of posts refering to FAST and SOSS, what are they, and can someone post a link to them (if there is one)? Luke

 

http://www.secretsofspeed.com/YAPPINC.
htmhttp://www.hotforhotfours.com/index.html

You may have to google these as they may not be current!

Check it out!

 

thats OK,I have a thick skin
Actually if you were to make something in the same principle but using older technology without heim joints and a radius rod you may have stumbled onto something . A lot of those (in fact i suspect, most of them ) back in those days relied upon the knowledge of the local blacksmith for ideas as to how an idea could be made to work. Tie rod ends were too expensive to use as joints so simple things like shaft hangers ( over head machine drive tech here) would be used as pivots and so on. I like what you are dfoing so fqar especially details like the riveted rear cross member.
Check out some of the cars in the Aircraft engined car thread for pics of contemporary race cars for more period features.

 

Sorry for not answering your question man, I've been away in Washington trying to get my piece of the stimulus package ahead of time...or I was lazy. Playing video games?

Anyway, I can't remember where those mounts came from. They may have come with the radius rods themselves...may have found them in a junk drawer or something. I'll probably be getting a call from my dad any second saying "someone on the HAMB is asking about the Speedster, tell them..."

I like those tractor mounts. I wonder how tall they are?

Cris