Working out some bugs... QA1 coilovers a little soft. Also, I have burned up a couple condensers.. might be a ground issue.. all in all very happy with the build so far. Sent from my SM-G930V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
In my opinion I think a dropped headlight bar is in order next Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hi guys, I decided to build some metal floors for the model a last month.. so far so good. Complete novice at this stuff. So don't judge too harshly. [emoji3] Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have a couple questions for you, sorry if they have already been answered before. What size tire are you running front & back? What is the width of the rear axle you are using WMS - WMS? How wide are those wheel spacers? You are running a 4" drop axle, but is the spring stock in front? My brother and I are building a 31 5 window coupe for my dad. Using the same wheels. But went with a Speedway chassis. Love the way yours sits. Hopefully we can achieve the same stance with ours. We are keeping the fenders on ours too.
Specs.. off the top of my head .. I know front tires are 5.50s and rear are 7.00.. 4 inch drop axle In front. With a reverse eye spring. Rear axle is out of a 1998 s10.. measures 54.5 WMS to WMS. I believe the spacers are 2 inch. What rear suspension are you going to run? To get it low enough I had to do a tangled 4 link with Qa1 coilovers and modify the rear of the frame.. Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The rear is parallel 4 link with a panhard and coilover shocks. We don't have the shocks yet and the rear axle still needs to be installed. The Speedway frames have a rear kick up. For a rear axle, we are using a 1966 Ford Bronco 9". They are 58" WMS to WMS I think, so happy to see that will be very close to your setup. We have the wheel support rings on it which I think are only 1/2" wide
Very nice.. good luck. And have fun. I sure have [emoji3] Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
will you please measure from radiator mounting hole to the bolt that holds Vega box. the top one, showing in picture.. AND let me know thanks, verde
I just found this thread. Great looking car. It's very much the direction I'm going on my '31 Coupe. I'm using a later 2.5L (151 Cu In) Chevy from a '88 S-10. I'm wondering how the two engines compare in length? Could you measure the 153 from the rear face of the block to the fan flange on the water pump? Maybe from the back of the block to the front of the crank pulley too? By my initial measurements (un-modified firewall, and the body is currently off) it appeared I was going to have interference with the rear lip of the front crossmember, so I cut the vertical lip and part of the bottom lip off just yesterday. I left about 3/4" of the horizontal section behind the spring U-bolts. I was planning to mount my engine with the crankshaft centerline at the same height as where the stock 4-banger crank was and it seemed, by my measurement, that the lower pulley and the lip of the crossmember were going to try to occupy the same space. It almost appears you mounted the engine a bit higher than the stock A engine in the front? Perhaps it's just camera angle. I wish I had been watching this thread all along. Lots of good info! Thanks. Lynn
Looks to be about 25 inches and 22 and 1/2 inches Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks. I'll have to measure my 2.5L again to compare. From memory, I think the 2.5L is a bit shorter at the pump, but slightly longer at the crank. Lynn
Nice work. There is much talk and a lot of good technical data on coilovers. Here is what I have learned in the real world. I have 2 Model A's; my '29 Coupster and my wife's '31 5-window. Both run QA1 coilovers. The coupe is all steel, rear fenders only, 350/350, parallel 4-bars front and rear, 16 gal tank in the trunk... pretty typical. When I started on the coupe it had very stiff rear springs. I used the speedway chart to determine spring rate and ordered 225 in/# springs. Mistake! The chart includes unsprung weight. You must subtract the rear axle, tires and wheels. The ride was very harsh. I looked at the receipts from my '29 and it has 130 pound springs and rides great. It has been on several trip >4000 miles and the ride is very smooth. Still conflicted, I ordered 175 springs. Huge improvement, good ride, but not near my '29. I will keep the 175's, but 150's would have been better. I have seen many posts advocating spring rates that are way too high and that influenced my decision on 225's and the 175's. I have the rebound damping set at 3 clicks and it feels about right. Our cars are driven A LOT. I have over 50k miles on my '29 in a little over 2 years. I finished the coupe last Feb and it has 14k+. From someone who drives his A every day, this worked for me. Be careful out there.
Last thing a coil-over manufacturer wants is someone filing a suit because the car pancaked hitting a bad railroad track... the manuf. will recommend a higher weight than needed to be safe... listen to the guy with a very similar car and go that route... my $0.02.
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