cut out the old engine mount plate and welded in a plate to box the frame where the motor mount is going to be welded to. does this seem like a decent start? I know it's not pretty but will it work or am I doing it wrong ?
You ask if it's good after you did it? Might want to weld nuts in those holes for your hood hooks before the plates go on. Another thing that might be good to do is to extend the plates all the way forward to the crossmember, carving it to fit over the flange. If you weld it to the crossmember too, it will provide a lot more support and rigidity to the frame. It's common to also extend the plates farther back. Not required, obviously.
I just took the wheels down to the tire shop to get the old rubber taken off and I noticed the fronts are 16x4.5 ford wheels and the rears 1949 merc wheels. 15x5.5 . was that a common "hot rod" thing to do back in the 50s ? That is a smaller back wheel.
Truly, as soon as 15" wheels came out it was common for them to be used on all corners. Those Merc wheels would have probably been used all around if the owner had the $$. Find a year that you want to emulate, and buy a whole year's worth of Hot Rod Magazine from then. Research what they really did back then. I'd guess the mods to your car were done in the mid 1950's.
hey , nice find....take your time ..lots of experienced builders here....dont reinvent the wheel when it comes to mechanicals...plenty of creativity left on your part...
Sweet find Zolotone paint is period correct, they even put it on guitars, here is a circa 1959 Kay in brown Zolotone.
I cut a pair of model a wishbones 1 inch from the weld at the ball end. beveled the ends with a tiny land. got my speedway bung and tie rod ends in the mail. so do I thread the tie rod in about half way in the bung and that's just where the mounting plate gets welded to the frame ? I've looked at a million pictures. seems like most get mounted under the cowl. is there any rule to where the mounting plate has to go?
I'd probably screw the jamb nut on the rod end, screw the end into the bung (after the bung is welded to the bones), and set the end with about the same amount of threads showing as the jamb nut is thick. Maybe 1/2 of threads showing.
It looks like a 28- or early 29 Model A frame.. with 30-31 body.. I have seen several steering boxes relocated like that with Flathead engines. In Longview Washington, we had a pink or faded red SPORT COUPE, top did NOT fold down, running around with a flathead in it. late 50's or early 60's. Had a landau bar on it, like yers. Terrible white cloth top. I am betting this is same car... Belonged to a guy named Larry Ashland, still around, give him a call. he has a nice '56 Ford PU now. Older than me....
man that would be awesome if I could get in touch with him . is he on the hamb ? any idea how to get in touch with him ?
not on HAMB that I know of.. Maybe this number can direct you to Larry >360-425-7832 this is his friend John... buddy's forever... I remember the ZOLOTONE paint being water base..
Well I'm late to the party as usual. Sorry, I could have saved you rebuilding the motor mounts I think. I can't believe none of these Guys didn't steer you into the 32 Front mount bracket that bolts to the front of the block. It would have been just 4 bolts and a pair of Biscuts. I guess you have to be over 60 to know these things and not so old your forgetting the important stuff. Carry on.
Pist, there was nothing on the crossmember for those stock 32 mounts to sit on, so they would have required new pads as well. Plus, they are a narrow footprint and don't distribute the load as well as the wider water pump mounts.
You don't think these that he removed were what they were for? I think if you mounted the brackets right on left and left on right it probably would have worked just fine. Here is where the Biscuits mount on a Stock 32 crossmember and the brackets point inward out to the biscuits.
tonight I had to heat my front axle to get the spring perch bolt free. after i got the bolt out with a rose bud and a BFH, I noticed the front axle looked SLIGHTLY bent. maybe when it cooled it tweaked a little or maybe it was that way before and I just never noticed it. anywho, now that I have to get another axle, I might go for a drop axle. What else would I have to buy to go along with what I have and a 4 inch drop axle
dropped steering arms, & probably dropped tie rod ends, might want to go to vega style steering box. cross steering (basically same as forty Ford )
Great start on this project! You ask a lot of good questions, too. I’ll follow along. Probably even learn something that might help me when I finally start my A project.
I'm building a 30 Sport Coupe along the same lines as you and my motor mounts are at the top of the frame and the crank centerline is in the stock position. I used 2 inch square tubing to make the mounts and the rear crossmember. I'm also running a 4 inch dropped axle and a 2 inch step in the rear of the frame.
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