That was discussed on page 4...about 13 years ago...haha But here it is again for those just tuning in... Bearing - NTA-1423 - 2 each Thrust Washer - TRA-1423 - 4 each
A little recap of the last 13 years. Just out of the barn... At home and cleaned up a bit After the first bit of "hot rodding" and trying out a mid-50's vibe with 50 merc caps and whites. This version didn't last long and I went to black wall 16's and 46 Ford caps and rings Then back to Kelseys, but painted maroon and the current version Is it getting better as time goes on? Hopefully so...
RPM Nationals was just over a week ago. Ive been partnered up with Josh Carrillo with a flathead dragster for 3 years, then he built a Model A roadster to run Street class this year, so we took my engine from tje dragster and ran it in his roadster. It was running good until the throttle linkage came loose in the second round of eliminations...and we were eliminated. Anyway, my wife heard about the races and then I came home with this... She says...well atleast the race car won that! I said, no my sedan won Best Hot Rod. She says...but it's not a hot rod? She's probably right, but as a friend said, If a guy's gonna take a Fordor to hot rod event...he better win an award... I spent some time detailing the car this weekend, getting it ready for the Roc The 50 year old lacquer cleaned up alright
Of all the different paint choices nothing looks better than lacquer. I've sprayed nitrocellulose and acrylic lacquer for over 60 years. Compared to all the new materials lacquer has a definite look, it's not the plastic appearance of the base/clear and the depth is very distinct. Your 4-door is proof positive, even 50 year old lacquer with the proper care can't be beat. Get your trophy shelf ready for another award.
Been a busy 10 days. I left my shop in shambles, loaded the car in the trailer and headed to Oklahoma. We had a great time at the Roc, saw some cool cars and hung out with friends. It is good to be back in California after 3400+ miles though. Now gotta clean up the shop and get back to building steering boxes and 5w coupes... We made a side trip, and visited Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo TX. We had no idea this existed in the Texas Panhandle That lead us to Turkey, TX, the home of Bob Wills. There was some cool history to be seen there We made it to Tulsa on Wednesday for a pre-party and meet up with friends Then onto Bartlesville on Thursday. We have been staying at Hotel Phillips the last few years. It was built by Phillips 66 to house temporary workers. It is now apartments, but they rent out thr ground floor as hotel rooms. It's a pretty neat building i met some new friends while in Bartlesville My brother's 34 and my 32 made it the 4 days without blowing up a flathead, although Mark did experience a few battery/generator charging issues. Until next year!
My older brother has owned a 41 Ford pickup for years...and he's a old Ford parts enthusiast. He's one to read the Ford parts books (green bible) and discover the obscure. One of those parts he came across was a wishbone ball spacer used in 38-41 Ford pickups with the optional heavy duty 4 speed transmission. This spacer gave the needed clearance for the deeper transmission case. He found a few of these spacers over the years. He gave me one for my 5W project, as it needed more oil pan to wishbone clearance. I wanted some for other cars, so started the process of having some made. The original Ford spacer was about 5/8" thick, but I figured at 3/4" it gives 1 degree more caster with a 32 wishbone, a little more on a 33-34. I got a few sample pieces And figured I better try one out before having more made. I painted one and installed it on my Fordor. It took longer to jack up the car than it did to install. Before the spacer, there was only about 1/4" between the wishbone and the pan near the starter. Even with the early curved pan. A 59AB style pan would have been touching there. But with the spacer, I can get my fingers between the pan and wishbone And the added caster helps on drivability. I took thr car out for a test drive and it's one finger driving at 70 mph. I used to keep it under 65 because I didn't like the road feel above that. I think they could also be used for the upper socket to mount a wishbone to an F1 crossmember or fabricated K-member on an A-V8.
Neal, I've compared the handling of '32 Fords with unspilt wishbones to split mounted to the frame rails and hairpins plus parallel four bars. The original Ford design, to me, is superior. Your spacer may be the only modification to the wishbone that's needed. I had a friend who would chain down and bend early Ford axles to correct chamber and caster, but he retired. I like the spacer design to gain caster and clearance. You may consider marketing them. Fordor is looking great. Ron
For us mere mortals, these spacers are available online from New Zealand. Neal, your threads are extremely well detailed, and a real pleasure to read, and re-read. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
Thanks. I did purchase one of the spacers from New Zealand but it wasn't to my liking. See comparison below The aluminum NZ version is 1-5/8" thick, with no upper provision to index in the stock ball socket. This puts all the force from the wishbone on the two mounting bolts. I didn't like the design, that's why I am having these cast steel ones made. We all have different ideas. That's what makes this world go round...
Some ways of doing things are better than others. I’d like one of your spacers if you make some to sell.
Neal, I really liked your photo of the shop post-thrash after getting the car ready and leaving. It helps us mere mortals recognize that even organizational and detail Superheros get things messy sometimes!
Ok all. I started the process of having 100 of the spacers made. With the foundry and machine shop lead times, we are probably looking at 2-3 months. I'll keep you all posted.
It was good to see you guys in bartlesville again this year. the sedan looked good even though a little part of me was sad it wasn't the coupe. I didn't realize till now how many things had changed since last year! .
Good seeing you as well! And we were all a little sad it wasn't the coupe! And I figured I better change up the sedan, so I wasn't just bringing back the same car.
The Jalopy Journal
