Projects Shade tree Model A speedster kind of thing

Wayne,
I hate to disagree, but Model A wire wheel spokes are welded to the rim and hub. Adjustment for them is to bend the spokes, usually the long ones that go out to the snout of the hub, at least as far as I understand it. Your method is right for motorcycles and British cars and such, though. Mine's got a definite woopty in it, must have hit a curb or something.

On another note, the brake job is done. I still have a little fine tuning to do, you can see it pulling a bit, but I'm real pleased with the results. I wish I had taken a "before" video to show just how drastic the improvement is, but I guess you'll all just have to take my word for it. All the action starts about 35 seconds in. You can hear me start off in 2nd to build a little speed.

 

Just Googled this up on the wheel thing. I still think my wheel is too drastically bent to do this to, but it's interesting.

Do_it_Yourself_Wheel_Straightening.revised.12.4.09.web.pdf

 

I wasn't aware the spokes were welded
The info you found looks doable.

 

Yeah, I was wrong, too. Turns out what I'd always heard about bending them must be kind of the hack way of doing it. Figures. Haha. I'll have to remove the tire to try it the right way. I'm wondering if I heat the inside section of the rim where it's bent, along with the ***ociated spokes, then douse it, if it might move enough. I'll be sure to post it up here, if I try it. Might stumble onto a cheap, true rim before I get around to all of that, though.

 

As a former video guy, I need to know...did you get that in one take?[emoji849]


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Haha, yeah, that was the one and only video take. I'd been stopping there all morning, though, adjusting the brakes. It's a tedious process, trying to get an even skid from the rear tires and the fronts barely sliding. Lots of trial and error. I guess all of the practice paid off for the video. I'm still not happy with the front adjustment, but my back brakes seem good to me. I really can't emphasize enough how much better the brakes are. Before, they would barely lock on dirt, and just on the p***engers side, but they were so weak I could never have avoided an accident. No chance of locking up on pavement, and didn't even pull to the right, even though all of the braking was being done on that side. I'll just say that the car stopped in a deliberate, thoughtful fashion, and leave it at that.

 

Sunday morning fun. The old thing did pretty well, the brakes actually inspire confidence now. I really have to get the wheels balanced and do something about that bent one. Speedometer is 5 mph slow at 40, no big deal, it's because of those tall back tires. I didn't think to turn the app on util I was turning around to come home, but I didn't go any faster on the way out, so I guess that's accurate. I just drove at what felt like a comfortable speed. I wouldn't have any problem going faster, if it wasn't bouncing so much. Hahaaa. The old motor was turning over real easy. Again, those tall rear tires. Another benefit of those tires is that 1st gear in this car is more functional than it was when I had the stock tires on it. I love the sound of the car. Kind of angry old tractor.

 

I suddenly remembered where one of my father's old wheels was and drug it out. It looked terrible, but it was mostly just heavy surface rust that wire-brushed and hand sanded off pretty easily. I painted it with original style Rustoleum primer. I'm going to have to re-paint all 4 rims now, no way I'll match that yellow on just one, but that's no big deal. Here's a before and after picture set:





I was tempted to run up to town and have the tire switched over, but decided to try it myself, and I'm glad I did. It took less time than just getting to the tire shop would have, and gave me a sense of accomplishment, to boot. I've been wondering what to do about a spare for this thing, now I think a tire iron, an inner tube, and a bicycle pump will be all I need.
Anyway, I made a little video to show the difference between the two wheels. The new (?) one still wobbles, but no worse than the rest of them. It doesn't show up in the video, maybe because of the angle I'm filming from, but the old one is twice as far out, and it's a real abrupt change over a smaller section of the rim, if that makes sense. It introduced a really noticeable shaking at speed, really disconcerting to me. It's still not what you would call a smooth ride, but it sure seems safer now. I have some of those dynamic balancing beads coming in the mail, I think they will help, as well.

 

The Beads didn't completely eliminate my wonkiness issues but aside from notably less bounce they did make speeding easier...

RW...great journey your taking us on ...thanks...always interesting...

 

I have taken the tanks off a radiator a couple of times. The trick to removing them is to have the radiator on it's side, so the solder runs out. Start at one end and flow the solder out of there. Once rodded out, you put the radiator the right way up so the solder can stay in place and flow around the joint. to be honest, it might have been easier than making the two patches. Not criticising, but saying if there is a next time, give it a go.
Enjoying all the work you're doing.
Mart.

 

Stogy,
The beads were pretty inexpensive, so I thought I'd give them a try. I don't expect them to come in until after the holiday. All the tire stores I've found around here have the cone style balancing machines, which won't work with these old rims. I'll report back. The new front rim helps a good bit.

Mart,
That's good to know. I'm sure glad I have the radiator shell to cover those ugly patches. Haha. Serioulsly, it's probably the worst looking thing I've done to the car, but it sure is cooling better now.

Happy 4th, everybody.

 

I know red wheels are kind of cliche, but I have my reasons. Like I said, I couldn't match the yellow for my "new" rim, so I was going to have to paint them all, anyway. I have never been a big fan of those yellow wheels, but that's how they were when I got the ch***is, and I just haven't gotten that far down the priority list until now. I do want the wheels to stand out for the sake of visibility. I want people to see the car on the road. Not because I'm a narcissist, but for some modi*** of safety. All things being equal, I'd paint them black, but black wheels on a grey car... I'm afraid I would just blend into the road. At least it's the same red as the cylinder head and intake manifold. Hahaa. You might also notice the red radiator guard. I made that out of the wire shroud of an old swamp cooler. I wanted to center those two sections of closer-together wires, but it wasn't wide enough to do that, so I just did what I could. I've already poked one hole in the radiator with a stick blasting around in the woods. so I thought this would help. I'd prefer it black, too, but...

Oh yeah, I'll put my hubcaps back on once the paint is fully cured.

 

You get more done on your days off than I do full time. Looks good.

jim

 

Hahaaa. Thank you. It's definitely a quan***y versus quality thing. I don't show a lot of close-ups of some stuff.

 

I like the red. Don't see why so many guys don't care for it. It is pretty traditional like everyone seems to worry so much about on here.

 

I like the red mesh in the grille. It kinda looks plaid

 

Thank you, Fabber. The red is growing on me, and I really like it much better than the yellow.

Inked,
Thanks. It's a little weird with the extra section. I thought about figuring out a way to remove that one set of extra wires, but I kind of like it like that, too. Fits the car, I guess. It's a cool thing, made out of these little kinked rods.

 

PLAID LOOK....perfect!

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Why not 'static balance' them yourself? I do all my motorcycle wheels that way. Check out this web page http://www.marcparnes.com/ . I saw that you have a lathe, you could easily make something similar to those. Wrap wire around the spokes for weights.

 

Yeah, I always did my own motorcycle tires too. IIRC I used solder, the heavy thick solid wire solder, not the skinny acid core type, wrapped around the spoke back when I had spoked wheels.

 

I thought about that, but I'd have to use an old brake drum to make the balancer. Model A's are centered by the lugs. My understanding is that conical balancers give inconsistent results. I got those beads put in the rear tires, but too much law enforcement this weekend for me to try it out.

 

I put 3 ounces of beads in each of my rear tires, and that has done the trick. She doesn't drive like a modern car, by any means, but she's at least halfway there from the buggy rides I was getting before. Much more comfortable and enjoyable to drive now. One thing, though. When you get above about 35 in this thing, you can hardly hear the motor for all of the wind noise. I could be pinging, or throwing a rod, and I'd be none the wiser. Oh well. It's not overheating or smoking anymore, and seems to have a decent amount of power. Then again, how would I know what decent power is in such as this?

Old Shadetree has some new digs, Y'all. No more dashing out to cover it up with a tarp every time it clouds up a little. Getting fancy down here. If you look carefully, you can see my little v8 60 waiting patiently in the back.

 

Love it, dig the red!

 

Well rwrj I hope your happy. After watching and reading through your thread I bought me a ch***is yesterday. You look like your having too much fun so I decided I needed to join you.

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Hahahaa, Kulture. I saw that in the Banger thread. Sure looks like a better start than I had. Please start a thread, and link to it from here. Good luck.

 

The old girl developed a dead skip. What I love about this thing is how simple and honest it is. Just take a scredriver (with a non-conductive handle, voice of experience there) and short the plugs one at a time to a head bolt, #3 had no spark. Funny thing, on first start-up, there's a strong spark, but after a minute or so, nothing. Swapped #3 and 4 plugs, #3 still dead, so not the plug. Didn't have a new condenser to try, so I sat and pondered for a bit. Must be the cap. sanded the rotor ends and the little metal studs in the cap a little, didn't help. Broke out the multi-meter and checked for continuity from the studs on the inside of the cap to the ones on the arms, all is well. Checked resistance, and #3 reads spotty and low. Must be a break in the wire inside the bakelite arm? I ordered a new, modern-wire style cap and a spare condenser then, rather than sit around waiting, I started fiddling. Rigged up this little wire and filed a notch for it in the cap rim, kind of duplicating a desperation roadside repair job. It worked. Try that with a computer controlled modern mess. Hahaaa. (Don't worry about that #4 connector being loose. One or another pops off every time you unclip the cap.)




I also found another small saddlebag and mounted it on the drivers side. My knee touches it when I'm cruising along, but it's not obtrusive. Doesn't stick out past that new frame. Just another spot to put miscellaneous little bits and pieces. My spare condenser, when it comes, for example. I have a screwdriver (straight slot, dammit), a pair of pliers, and a Crescent wrench in there right now. It's more convenient because of the little twisty metal closure. The other ones are much bigger, but the buckles on them are more trouble to deal with. Anyway...




I'm going to miss the look of those br*** straps going to the big old plugs, but I wont miss getting sensitive parts of my anatomy too near one of them accidentally while I'm messing around with other stuff under the hood. It'll pop the hell out of you.

 

Great “hot rod” site gotta love the make do getter done stuff. Junked my little six but back collecting parts for something like this.

 

Got the new distributor cap in today's mail. Couldn't wait to pop it on there and see if it solved my problem. The wires are from a kit at Tractor Supply. I had to buy the whole thing a while ago just to make a coil-to-distributor wire for something or other, so I was delighted to get some use from the rest of it. I might have cut a couple of the wires a little short, but it came with about a mile of the stuff, so I can just re-make them, if I decide to. Here's the proof:

 

So how does the old Ford like that silly little British carburetor? What size is it?

 

At first, old Henry may have been offended, or maybe the SU felt like it was slumming, but I worked them through all of that and they seem to have taken to each other well. All joking aside, I love SU carburetors. I've used them on Triumphs, MGs, and Volvos, all in the dual configuration that's supposed to be such a pain the *** to deal with, and now on this A Model as a single, and I have never had a problem. Just set the mixture by lifting the piston and listening to the revs, then sync them with an old thing called a Unisyn, and forget them. I don't know why they have such a bad reputation in some circles. A bunch of old Harley guys swore by them. It's an HS 6, 1 3/4" throat. The number on an SU carb refers to how many eighths of an inch it is bigger than 1". Sounds complicated, but 6 x 1/8 = 3/4. Add that to 1 and... As I have mentioned before, I had a time getting the needle size right for this application, all the other times I've fooled with these has been in their stock applications, and maybe I just got lucky here, but it pulls all the way through the range, no bogging or flat spots, just runs, no matter what I ask. I can be pulling a hill in 3rd and really needing to downshift, and it will just kind of grunt on through it. I think it's the variable venturi that does it. No sudden change as the secondaries open up or because of switching from idle to high speed circuits, just a smooth combination of more air and more fuel. They really are ingenious. Well worth a google search into the workings of them, if you're not familiar with it. First came along in the teens, and the basic design hasn't really changed that much since the twenties, so I feel OK using it here.

Oh yeah, since it's British, it's carburetter, old chap. Hahahaa

I'm going to hop down off of my soapbox now, before I fall off of it. Haha.