I think the switch I had was only a 4 or 5 wire. There was something weird that the usual wire diagram wouldn't work
I think I have a diagram somewhere. I know there is a non-self- canceling diagram drawn on a paper plate. Some of these old things used shutoffs that break the ground rather than the power side. That kind of thinking opens a new world of options but is beyond my basic wiring comprehension.
Took the T spring off the A banjo and mocked up a steelie to squint at. I think this will look pretty good
It’s down there lol. I could easily drop it another inch but I don’t think it needs it. And given the pot holes in the city it would probably bang the wheels threw the fender tops lol
Truthfully after I notch the frame for leaf spring clearance I wouldn’t be shocked if they touch on a hard one. I’m switching from the stamped later fender braces to the earlier forged round ones partially for that reason. Should be a much smoother interaction should they touch. I think @flatout51 cut his irons after the headlight mounts on his roadster just to get a little more room. I don’t know that I’ll need to do that though.
Tim, It eats up some time, but whenever I type something I always proofread it before saving or sending. It amazes me how many times autocorrect has screwed up what I have typed.
@atch yeah, I do. But sometimes they sneak by anyways The 41 banjo landed under a T on A rails project by the way!
A well know thing among writers is that you can't reliably proof read your own work. You may catch most of it. Auto correct is tough on sites like this with so much specialized speech. I have another issue, the cursor on my laptop moves back up into what I have already typed. on its own??? It is always good to find new homes for old parts.
@05snopro440 cool I’m not entirely sure that any of the braces I have are the same curvature so I’m gonna have to play with it and find the one I like and then make a pair that match that curve. I’ll smooth them out with a flap disc and paint them shiny for minimum tire grab. But not before welding on an upper shock mount. I believe @Rand Man coupe that Ryan and Tardel built has them located there and it seems to work even with out a headlight bar so I’m thinking with one included it should do the job.
Alright life’s been busy but I did get some progress made today. Took a flap disc to the axle tubes and knocked most the***** off them. Then I brushed on my favorite can of rustoleum rusty metal primer and set it out in the sun all day. Chiseled away some of the gunk to expose the nuts and bolts so I can put the pan hard brackets on. Thinking this might be easier to do before it goes into the car. @atch did you end up finding a source for these weird star marked bolts? I’m going to need two longer ones for the forward bracket. Also started looking for a set of 16x4” wheels for the front in my my stash. Found one but it’s gonna need some love. Looks more drastic at some angles. I bet it just bumped a curb or something. Nothing a hammer or crescent wrench won’t fix. Found this on the hamb earlier this week. Ford 16” wheels 5 inch 4.5 and 4. The inside of the wheel is quickly identifying! Great for a swap meet or junk yard when you havnt got a tape handy. I also tipped my spring brackets down about an inch or so and put three tacks to make them stay. Figure 1-1.5” down from where I had it mocked up with the adjustment all the way out should let the body settle on the springs that same amount. I’m gonna bet it’s right where it needs to be. I’ll bolt the rear into the car and load it with some weight and see. Hopefully I’m on the low side or dead on. Either way not hard to cut a tack and tweak it. I’ll get this all 100% then weld the supplied triangle gussets to each bracket when it gets final welded.
Yup. Makes the fender a little more floppy but I didnt have any problems! My A sedan has them on it now. I need to raise the whole car a little bit tho. The front tires burned the paint on the fenders.
It's only been to the gas station once and picked the boys up from school once... haha! I need to get it out this fall.
Quick update. Got the rear attached to the ladder bars. Really glad I decided to do this with the axles out. MUCH easier to to move around and see what’s going on. stood up and you really can’t even see that center section surprisingly the plate covers almost all of it. Once it’s all black it should all but vanish. the ladder bars went back in with nearly no trouble aside from dropping the axle off my floor jack from a few inches up :S I haven't gotten the springs to link up quite yet but put the shackle in so you can see the tons of room I’ve got for clearance to the ladder bars went brackets. I put a jack under the spring eye to push it up to the ankle bracket but I’m just shy of it lining up. The spring needs to compress just a hair more. The jack is picking up the car before it compressed enough. My current plan is to sit on the rear cross member and have my wife run the jack from behind the car and I should be able to get it then. Worse case I’ll cut the tacks and rotate the mount if it’s to high. To low I can adjust to high I have to hope for it to settle a bunch etc. the back of this car doesn’t weight even as much as the rear axle does. I’m going to see what 14 gallons of fuel weights and put the wood and seats back in to see where it lands after I get it together as well. Wheels, tires and rake make a car so if I have to cut and weld it all over again that’s what I’ll do. upside my tacks are clearly step by enough to hold the car up so that makes me feel good as well moving forward. hopefully more tomorrow
@atch these are quarter eliptic springs there isn’t really anything to spread it against. I do however love a good home made tool thread so thanks all the same Typically on a traditional ford cross spring I just take the entire leaf pack apart and then use some muscle to slip one end off the shackle. Those*****ers are under so much tension. A lot of clamps, some all thread and some nuts and washers let it come apart nice, slow and controlled. This is with all the clamps removed and just the all thread. I took the photo to show a friend that these springs really are put together tight. Gotta be careful!
Sneaky sneaky put 250 pounds on the rear crossmember and nothing budged. I’m gonna need to cut my tacks and put the spring mounts back to how mocked them up. The car just isn’t heavy enough to need any pre load. If the cars to low I’ve got plenty of up adjustment. Cutting scheduled for the morning new tacks scheduled for the late morning.
Watching this. My roadster will have 1/4 eliptics. In high school I modified an old bumper jack for a spring spreader. It wouldn't work on reversed spring eyes but I didn't have any. Good work here Tim!
This is a great tread. One of the best Ive seen. Plenty of detail with pictures. Hope mt T coupe on a A frame goes as well.
Thanks man, a lot of the time I add information I wish I had found when I was looking. The rest of the time I just want to remember what I did later lol
Alright this morning once the six tack welds off. Cleaned off the boxing plate and rotated the spring and mount up. I then put the shackles in and tacked them back to the boxing plate. Every thing seems good, I do have a slight miss alignment in one shackle that is so slight I think if I cycle the suspension a few times with the nuts lose it might sort itself out. Well keep an eye on that. Also realized that I can’t get the shackles in with the nuts facing outside with the ladder bars on. So the next time I’m shuffling parts around I’ll put the springs on first and then the ladder bar. I’d rather be able to take them off the rear axle with out having to remove something else but when it’s this tight sometimes that’s just how it goes. Next step is to chase some threads in the adjustment bolts. The passenger side is clean but somehow in the mix something got funky and I can only get the drivers side in a few turns before it gets tight. And not just muscle a turn to clear some junk tight. After that I’m going to to lower the rear axle and thread the bolts in about an inch. I found when I tried to lift the car by the rear axle off the jack stands that it just compressed the spring until it bottomed out. No idea why would we couldn’t get that to happen yesterday with the mounts point down. But a quick bolt adjustment and I’ll be there regardless. That sorted I will put the axles back in the rear, dump some gear oil in and put the wheels back on. That all changed I’ll start fine tuning the jack bolts/springs to get it to sit exactly where I had it mocked up. Then….. I guess pan hard and shocks. As much as I’d rather work on the front or swap tires around I just need to keep muscling threw the back half. I’ve already mocked it all up and have a good idea of what’s needed so I’m hoping it’s quick.
@Tim Now with these pix the 1/4 ellipticals become REALLY obvious. Had I not given up on it and sold off the T modified project it was going to have 1/4 ellipticals on all four corners. I like your adjustability. You probably said many pages back but did you fabricate those mounts?
The Jalopy Journal
