Hot Rods Spalding Bros Repro, for "Too Tall" Ganahl.

It was time to mount the rear shocks. Because there will be cutouts in the turtle deck, where the shocks extend outside the body line, I made a cardboard template to trim out around the shocks. Then I will transfer the cutouts to the deck, without making them oversize. To make a mock up on the shock mounts, I used some scrap 18 ga sheet metal. That way I can bolt on the shocks and clamp the setup brackets to the roll bar mounting, to finalize the design. Using some 3/16 X 5" flat bar, I bent the mounting plates with a radius die in a press. More to follow .

 

Now to layout and shape the brackets. With the shocks bolted to the oversize plates, I draw the desired shape, and with a trip through the band saw, all is left is belt sanding , and some touch up with a mop disc. I will use a pitman arm puller to remove the old remnants of the arms, and bead blast the mill scale off of the brackets, and cleanup the shocks too.

 

nice work.

 

This is more than nice work. Thanks Marty. I'm a lucky guy.
But let me take this opportunity to try networking once again. Since these A2 RotoFlo shocks are prominently shown here (which I acquired thanks to Squeak Bell and his NZ connections), does anyone out there have another pair--in at least this nice condition--available to replace the smaller ones I now have on the front? I've seen very nice sets on at least 3 or 4 street rods lately. I'll pay reasonable price, but I'd prefer original, unpittted, complete, working ones. Greasy originals are preferable to "rebuilt" or disassembled. I understand they're more common down OZ/NZ way.
2) I'm also searching for any sort of GMC six distributor incorporating a tach drive (from a truck?). Or a rare Stewart-Warner tach-drive adapter to fit the GMC block and accept a dog-drive distributor. Or an S-W two-to-one front-mount (crank-driven) mechanical tach drive.
3) And a decent S-W 2-5/8" black-face, flat glass fuel gauge to match the ones seen a couple pages back. I need two of these.
I probably need a lot more than that. But at least these are things I might be able to buy with money. Anyone?
Thanks,
Pat Ganahl

 

Pat, any idea what those shocks might have been on originally? If I know what to look for I can make enquiries down here.
Russell

 

I don't know if they were OE on anything, just an aftermarket shock. The last pair I saw were fitted to an unrestored '46 Chevy truck. I offered to buy them if the owner wanted to get rid of them, but he ended up selling them on TradeMe. So keep your eye out as they could be on anything. Some vintage car guy will probably have a stash, and not know their worth.

 

Yes, as the ad above states, Rotoflos were made in England, apparently in the early '50s, as an aftermarket replacement for liquid-filled or other lever shocks ("dampers"). As it says, they have a thick "plastic" substance inside, that works against a vane. No-one seems to know what this plastic is, or any workable replacement today. But the smaller A1s currently on the front of my car I found on a parts shelf N.O.S., and after some exercising in a bench vise holder, seem to work fine. The larger A2s, which Marty is mounting to the rear, are about the same size as early Ford Houdailles. Squeak found these on his annual trek to New Zealand, and he says he's seen them on early Holdens and Fords there and in Australia, even in junkyards. I paid very decent prices for the ones I have. I'd be happy to trade the smaller N.O.S. A1s for good used A2s. I've been shopping for these for a few years, but what I have found here have been broken, badly pitted, mismatched, or disassembled, and usually for very high prices. A good pair like the one in the ad (and that Marty is mounting on the rear) is what I'm looking for.
Thanks, Pat

 

Pat, don't know if this is what you want, just saw it... Gary
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/roto-flo-shocks.1045420/

 

Gary, Those are A-1's, just like the ones we have mounted on the front, we want a pair of A-2's to replace them. Thanks for searching !

 

Progress is looking good, Pat it was nice to meet you at your book signing back in October when we were over visiting.

From what I know of the Rotoflo's they were made over here for light trailer/caravan use and got used on early fords as the bolt holes meant they were a direct replacement. I have a set of 4 a2's but I don't really want to sell them but they aren't too rare here so I will take a look around there is a few swap meets coming up.


Harley

 

I worked on the turtle deck repair and the rear shock mountings, along with making the cutouts to clear the shocks.

 

After making the layouts, I used a plywood backup for the 1-1/4" hole saw, and trimmed it up with a slitting wheel on a die grinder. The cutouts may need to be larger in the end, but they are pretty close.

 

Now for the rear shock arms. I have been nervous about removing the the remnants of the original arms, for fear of damage to these rare units. I started out by machining a spud, to use in conjunction with my friend Ern's pitman arm puller. After getting the old pieces removed, and everything bead blasted, I band sawed the square portion off. The next thing was to machine a stub shaft to hold the the boss of the arm, without hurting the splines while machining it round. Now I can make some arms from flat stock, to weld to the bosses, with a pinch-clamp like the original car.

 

I bought an arm from Schroeder that had the same spline as my Rotoflo shocks. I haven't installed them in a car yet, but it seemed to fit when I tested it on the bench.

It was a plain steel arm with the pinch bolt on the splined end. Plenty of material to shape the outboard end however you want.

 

"Neither Rain, Nor Snow", will keep me from my appointed duties, and we have had plenty of both lately ! Jeff, thanks for the tip on the Schroeder arms, but I am well on the way of making a pair. With a simple layout, and making a mock-up out of scrap aluminum, this is what I came up with. the real ones will be 3/16" steel, with 1/4" pinch bolts.

 

FYI: Here's a Wayne headed 302 Jimmy for sale on ebay. Not mine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/302-GMC-TRUCK-MOTOR-/302194452275

 

Brrrrrrrrr

 

Dale, This is the longest cold spell we have had in quite a while ! Things are looking up, back to work tomorrow.

 

I got the shock arms finished with the exception of profiling the outboard end, and the hole for the link rod. Now I can build the rear bumper !

 

Love the horizontal mill Marty. I had one of those in our shop with an air/hydraulic feed on the table. Did a ton of second operation work on that machine in 40 years!

 

Is there enough clearance for the pinch bolt head against the side of the body there? Looks pretty close if you get a lot of travel on the shock arm...

 

DAMN! This thread is like "Tech week" times 1,000!! Love it!

 

Just limit the travel Marty LOL

Don

 

The RH side of the turtle deck, is going to require some shrinking, due to some trauma from a prior body man. This shot of the LH side (unmolested) is what the RH side will look like, when "The Tall Cool One" gets done with it !

 

Dean, I don't use the Nichols mill all that much, but it is certainly handy to have around for cutting key-ways.

 

Now for the rear bumper. 1 1/4"X .120 wall tube for the bumper, 1 1/2"X .120 wall for the receptacles. With everything fit and tacked in place, there will be gussets that cap the receptacles and extend into the channels of the frame rails. The bumper tubes will make a solid platform to mount the aluminum fuel tank, coming soon !

 

Nice clean design, just like the rest of the car.

 

Marty,
Really like your tube notcher. Is that a commercial item or did you make it?

 

Bruce, It's a Pro-Tools "Industrial" unit, with the "offset" feature. About $230 bucks.