Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

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TORKWRENCH. ... its possible that whoever did the springs installed them backwards, that's why axle is in wrong position ????? Or take the main leaf off and have spring shop make new main leaf and drill for locating pin in correct location. Or take leaf off and re-drill locating pin. Then have other springs align with it. Once you get the axle centered in wheel well , time to get new springs made.

1934-1935 chev standard series leaf springs would be incorrect as the wheelbase on a master is 5" longer at 112" than a standard at 107". Standards pivot at the front and are a fixed position in the rear. You can fabricate new mounts.

My coupe is not a whole lot lighter than a master. From 1964 before I owned it, my friend frank installed a 371 cube 57 olds v8 , that got bored 1/8" over and a stroked 1/4" crank to bring it too 422 inches of horsepower and torque. Car with 4 speed hydramatic and slant pan fluid coupling trans, ran 12.89 at 118 mph at strip on street tires. First gear in hydramatic was 3.98---1 , a bull low gear to get those big heavy cads and olds moving. I kept that beam axle with 8 or 9 leafs on each side in the car until I took it out in 96 and went with a KUGEL IFS. Most people install the mustang 2 based system and they love it. Never heard a bad word.

NO, the 34 master only came with the Dubonet knee action front end. They used this from 1934---1938. In 1936 you could get a master with dubonet or without, same applies up to 38. Was horrible system that leaked like a siv and caused more problems that the improved ride was worth.

Re steering.....the style back in late 60's 70--80 was to mount a non power steering ford mustang type box upside down thru a 3 bolt bracket with the drag link running parallel to the frame. Simple, out of the way for hedders or starter, oil pans , works. Pete and Jakes might still make them ? Or Speedway motors ?

Re styles.........if front bumper and fenders are up in the air its GASSER STYLE. if it sits level then its street rod style. Other than those 2 anything else its a hot rod, with or without fenders.
Plus the dominant look of the time......RESTO-ROD, looks stock with all the optional doo dads...bumper guards, rad ornament, cowl lights, fog lights, right side rear tail light, rear view mirror with clock, luggage rack, right inside sun visor, radio, vent window insect screens. and MORE .

mike lynch

 

Chassis mostly done steering finished time to get it back in my shop to put body back on so I can finish wood replacement.

 

Oh and bolts and hardware just stuff thrown in while mocking up

 

Great job so far JGR! It's hard to tell from the photo, looks like your tie rod may be a bit too close to your mono leaf spring. With someone else looking closely, stand on top of the frame and jump up and down to check if there's enough clearance. You know you will hit some bumpy roads, dips, etc. I'm sure it will be a minor adjustment in your steering arms if necessary.

 

I just heard from Mike @drifter9 with his '34 Master 3 window coupe, happily telling me that the front end is bolting up with the original parts I gave him. Another HAMBER donated the original rear leaf spring bracket and shackles to bolt up the front axle completely. Mike told me that he is also going to run a mono leaf spring to hold up his axle as well. My 6" dropped axle might be too low for his car, waiting to see if he may have to run a 4" drop instead. For now, he is happily mocking up his chassis with his 9" rear and I believe, coil-overs with ladder bars like I will run in my '31. He's really stoked and very happy to receive the important advice and info lately from our members here on the HAMB!!

 

We did it clears not a whole lot of room under this thing front is on the ground but everything clears : ) we had three of us thinking same thing and did jump up and down and about 700lbs between us lol

 

Then your good to go buddy!

 

I'm more worried I messed up geometry somehow, never did a cross steer before.

 

That makes two of us, as I will do a cross steer setup as well. Only I will add a front panhard bar to completely eliminate any death wobble, bump steer, etc. You're right on track with your build - keep up the great work!

 

I may end up adjusting and adding too. I followed as much advise as I could get from guys that have more experience. I tried to keep as parallel as possible, the Pitman and steering arms are to same length for pivot the arms point towards center-line and all will be in plane or as close as possible. If that's all wrong advice I'm in trouble lol

 

The pickup springs were definitely installed in the right direction. The short end of the springs is to the front and the long end is to the rear. In addition, they were set up with the fixed position at the front, with the spring shackles at the rear.....Opposite of how an original 1950 Chevy pickup is.

Sounds like moving the locating pin forward on the 50 pickup springs is the way to go. By doing this, the spring perches that have already been fabricated, won't have to be changed. My main concern with this solution was that by moving the axle forward on the spring arch, this would affect the front end caster in a bad way. I was planning on new springs anyway, so it's just a matter of finding the right location for the locating pin.

It must have been the 1936 - 1938 Chevy Masters that I had read about. This was concerning the option of either a beam axle, or the Knee Action suspension.

Thanks, Mike.

 

torkwrench............on 33-36 chevys with solid axle , the springs were fixed at the front and the rear location was shackles . The rear was also fixed in front and pivot on shackles in the rear.

In 1935---1938 apparently you had a choice when you ordered the car whether it has the Knee action or the parallel leaf springs. Believe this only applied to the master series. The standard series continued to be leaves only.

Have the spring shop locate the front axle with new springs pin. Or take them the exact measurement.

Now that we have multiple people installing leaf springs, here is a tip for a smoother ride. POSIES HORSELESS CARRIAGE SHOP in PA makes springs with teflon pucks in the ends to smoooooooooooth out the leaf ride. Not sure if the pucks are available separately ??? Before Posies created that system we ground the ends of the leafs smooth, rounded them off and ground the ends on angle so they could not dig in to other leaves. At one time somebody sold rolls of TELFLON about 1/32" thick to go between the leaves. The 33 cabriolet member has posie springs on it, rears ?

mike lynch

 

One such company is Speedway Motors - one 20ft. roll for 1-3/4" springs is $12.99.

Description: Equal partners in a smooth-riding leaf spring suspension are quality shocks and friction-free movement of the spring leafs. This special compound of poly-vinyl plastic has a very "slippery" surface which works as a permanent dry lubricant to eliminate interleaf friction and squeaking. It also features a small lip to keep it in place.

One 20 ft. roll does one cross spring. Liner is less than 1/16" thick.

 

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I forgot all about that, its a superior product to the stuff I was talking about.

mike lynch

 

Here is the 283 I will be putting in

 

A very nice mill - pre '62, what year is the block JGR? Had a '61 283 in my coupe when it was built into a hot rod in '68. Whoever built the engine did NOT have the rods checked for hairline cracks and the motor let go on me on the way to a cruise night. Damaged the skirt too high on the one cylinder and could not sleeve it to save the engine. Engine was SUPER clean inside... Having the original hot rod engine still in the car today would have some bragging rights for sure. Oh well... My pain will be recovered completely when I drop the mighty hemi within the original rails a few months from now!

 

I think its a 64 can't remember, a friend built it for his wife's 57 chevy truck and changed mind since they are redoing frame. So I grabbed it for my build since I wanted 3 deuces

 

Haven’t been on here in awhile, here’s a few on my progress


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JA whose power brake are you using and it is a 35 frame right.Thanks

 

JGR nice looking 283!
Joseph great to see your progress, looks great!
Tom

 

Really dig those Buick Nailhead engines Joseph! Is it a 401? Looks like you'll see some boulevard bruisin' sometime this year!

 

Joe Allen.............buick V8 with 4 x 2 carbs. That looks great, well detailed . !!!!!

First time I have ever seen the 33---35 firewall done that way, very ingenious !

Joe, how long is the buick motor from tip of water pump to rear of right side head.

mike lynch

 

56 364 nailhead, for sure hope to be drivable by end of August [emoji106]


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I’ll measure it today mike,


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28 1/2 mike , if you mean the the right as your facing the motor


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no meant the passenger side head which should be farther back than drivers side .
JOE, what happened to the picture of the buick motor that was posted.

mike lynch

 

, I’m not sure what happened, but it the drivers side that is set back closer to the fire wall...



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side view



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That's a good looking setup!

 

Your killing me Joseph !!!!
I have a 33 3 window that I have been collecting for years for !!!
425 Buick , offy trans adapter to ford manual trans mission .
My wife prefers I dont start building the coupe till I finish her 34 pick up !!!!
Nice looking build you got going there !!!!