rear crossmember revisited again

this is post number fifteen, day fifteen of my modified series,

today I cut the rear crossmember apart and dropped the center an inch and a half, effectively raising the rear of the frame the same amount.

I also added some leaves to the front spring raising it about an inch.

this was done to help correct the undesirable angles in the driveline as shown in yesterdays post.

there is still some fine tuning to do to the wishbone and the motor/transmission mounts to bring it all together, but when done all will be well and good in that department..

so here's a couple pictures to show how I did it,

I was a little low on plywood template material so I layed the rear crossmember out on the floor,

 

then transered that to the crossmember itself and threw some bracing around

 

I uncerimoniously butchered the bitch, and started welding it back together

 

finished welding it up and stuck some bolts in it

 

then I went around to the front and stabbed three leaves in the front end and bolted her down too

 

and that my friends is that.

to be continued!

Paul

 

Great work.
Thanks for the updates I can't wait for the next one.
Any chance of a side shot so I can see how this changed the profile of your car?

 

howzat?

 

Thanks.
I guess nobodys home to night.

 

Paul- I'm having a little trouble wrapping my brain around the front spring part...

I don't see that changing the tranny to pinion angle.
It will change your caster angle, though.

It looks like you're fighting the pre-set angle of your welded spring/bone mounts on the rearend.

This is just a thought, but from the car's profile, it looks like you could stand to raise the rear of the tranny, a little.
Then, short of cutting the mounts and spinning the rear axle housing, you could rotate the rear crossmember forward about 5-degrees. I don't see that hurting anything, if your spring isn't straight up and down.
Ooh ooh... or you could heat the spring perches between the rear housing and the shackles and bend 'em down and forward. That way you won't have to mess with the crossmember AND your spring will stay the same.
You'll have to pie cut your joint at the rear of the bones, too.

That would give you a nice, straight shot.



I noticed, too, that you did a real precision job on the joints of the bones. You might want to bevel those out before you weld 'em. You'll get better penetration. Either that, or leave yourself a little gap when you tack 'em.

JOE

 

[ QUOTE ]
This is just a thought, but from the car's profile, it looks like you could stand to raise the rear of the tranny, a little.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't pretend to know anything about "bones" and your suspension setup cause I sure don't!

but with your engine laying back like the way it looks won't them carbs be unlevel and floats won't work properly? and if thats the case like junkyard said if you raise it up in the rear it'll fix your driveshaft problem and your floats

now I'm gonna go back to my lurking and learning and If I am way off base by butting in with my .0065 cents canadian
pay it no mind

 

Upchuck, nailhead intakes are angled so that his engine is in fact tilted, but the carbs are level. look real close.
I had a nailhead, of this I am certain, especially the dual quad or offy intakes. have rake to them. But then again I may be having a crackhead moment too
john

 

SBC are the same. I'm not sure, but I think you can cheat 'em, a little.

Since he brought the front of the car up, he can afford to bring the engine back to level.

JOE

 

Junkyard Dog 32,

here is my thought process,,

the raising of the front the same as the rear was more to maintain a constant rake, but by raising the frame I reduced the angle of the driveshaft,

I did break the tacks at the rear of the bones to roll the pinion down reducing it's angle,

and by raising the engine and transmission equally front and rear I maintain an acceptable angle for the intake and carbs, but more importantly the end result being the raising of the tailshaft to again reduce the angle of the driveshaft.

in the end the tailshaft will be about three degrees down towards the rear, the driveshaft close to level- maybe up a degree or two towards the rear, and the pinion about two or three degrees up towards the front.

that puts the tailshaft and pinion within one degree of each other and the driveshaft at about three but no more then four degrees to the tailshaft/pinion with suspension loaded, at rest, and without bind.

by keeping the pivot point where it is, the line of inertia on acceleration should be directed at the center of gravity so it should not squat or lift much if at all.

Paul

 

FarmerJohn,

not only Nailheads have this built in angle, Studebaker motors like the one I'm using here do too

Paul

 

I almost went and got a ruler to measure the tops of the carbs to the frame cause with that curved trunk in the background I couldn't really tell

I learned something about a non chevy engine today!

 

Junkyard Dog 32,

[ QUOTE ]
I noticed, too, that you did a real precision job on the joints of the bones. You might want to bevel those out before you weld 'em. You'll get better penetration. Either that, or leave yourself a little gap when you tack 'em.

[/ QUOTE ]

the tubes are only about an eighth of an inch thick, I will have no problem getting full penetration tig welding them together with a good clean butt weld, this will give me a true fusion weld without introducing any foriegn filler rod material. Even then I will reenforce the joints with added plates on the outside of the connection.

Paul

 

Dohhh! Paul, man it looks like nailhead valve covers to me,
it looks like the valve covers on the stude have ribs in them like the nailhead ones do. I gotta get off the crack.
hah John