Its gone mad in a lot of ways during the 9 year reign of the previous govt, and unfortunately some of the rodding scene went a PC as well. My last T had been on the road 15 years or more with BB chev, SB chev, Turbo SB chev etc in the front. The previous owner had gone thru the cert process with a 454 and glide in it. I got it as a roller, fitted the hot 350 & TH350 out of my holden and needed to have it re-certified for a bolt in swap that dropped 100 inches and 100kg, MADNESS! Cool old cars that have been on the road for decades are not welcome at events as they are not certified, but there are aspects to their construction that won't meet new rules, so they need updating and cease to be the same cool old cars. They are still legal on the road but not allowed at NZHRA events, go figure how that helps our hobby/lifestyle?? Makes it very hard to build something like this current T which doesnt follow the conventional rules!!
Must be the same people who used to look down on me and my mates when we went to runs around the country in some real crap. I had a 39 Standard coupe running a 296 flattie and all the fruit with widened 16" wide five rims.No interior and a mk3 seat. KiwiKev on here was a passenger a few times...Alfster used to annoy some of them too with his offbeat cars but none could match his building skills. I can remember the dirty looks and muttered comments from some the folks we refered to as 'straights' in those days. I even named one of them Grumpy...and it stuck. I was more interested in having fun in my car than their snotty attitude but it looks like they won. in the words of the bard.. " first,we kill all the lawyers..."
Finally found the right steeering box for the job, 1969/70 Holden and because of the bellcrank setup that i am going to run at the front it doesnt need reversing for cowl steer.
Looks great now, Are you making a bell crank or adapting one from a japanese van? (toyo's mitsubishi L300,nissan etc ) . Those holden parts are expensive over here now as every holden crank thinks they have $50,000 classic.
I notice the front axle is mounted with 2-angle iron sections with a bolt run thru the axle web. I feel that is going to create a stress point that could be prone to early failure? The axle at that point only has the upper and lower rib to support the weight of the car. The axle also extends out a long ways from that point which greatly increases the leverage of force put on the axle when hitting a bump. The steel in the bottom rib ( which in essence is about a 1-1/2 x 3/8 flat ) will stretch out and crack. Have you considered at least welding a steel plate on both sides of the axle in that area to add some strength to the axle? Also, are the bolts thru the axle a grade-8?
I understand the issue but we are not allowed to weld to the beam axles. the hole through the beam is only 9/16" same or less than a lot of drilled axles, There will also be the 1/2" u-bolts as a secondary/backup but it is something that will need to be monitered. In hindsight using a dodge or chev beam with leaf mounts would have been easier but i was using what i had at hand.
Prices have gone up, $100 for the steering box!! Making a bell crank, or having a more talented mate make it. The top arm is above the i-beam the lower arm almost on the chassis and a big pivot will be required. It will also be braced at the top to stop any fore/aft movement. I have mocked one up and it will function OK. Once its all drawn up and i know its accurate i will get it approved for cert purposes, then made.
Could have bought the whole car for that once ,not now though and to think of all the Old holdungs I have sent to scrap .
Keep in mind that the drilled axles have the holes in-between the spring perches and the weight is still supported on the factory spring mounts. There is very little stress in the center where the drilled holes are. You will also note that the factory spring perch area is beefed up all around the hole. I would hate to see you running along at 55 and hit a pot hole and have that end of the axle snap off at the mounting hole. Remember .. "You can't build it too strong, you can only build it too weak."
Had a freind of mine come and take a look tody, he's a qualified marine/steam welder and he strongly recoomended against any welding of the axle as he was of the opinion any welding would create stress risers that would make it weaker. The thought we had was that i could take better advantage of the u-bolts going up & over the axle. The angle iron was always going to be shaped back to follow the lines of the axle, so why not put a bit of 10mm (3/8th) plate on top of the axle that is clamped to it by the u-bolts. Done right it would not look too ugly and would spread the load 2" either side of the hole through the axle to help relieve the stress there.
I was thinking about this,where you have the bolts running through the axle ( and that is just the web of the beam ,it holds the flanges together,it's not a critical part of the axle ) you could shape a peice of metal to fit into the axle web space,alumimium would be fine, the u bolt backet could be a peice of plate with the two upright parts wleded to that ,it would then be one peice . the axle sits between those uprights,in the fashion of your angle iron. The axle will be tight into there aided by the filler peices acting as a sandwich clamp and the whole shebang located by the bolts passing through. You then have the two U bolts passing through that one plate to the plate below the spring. I defy it to move out place then. . A few little gussets to spread the load on the welds and it be more than strong enough. You will never snap a Ford axle,i have seen more than one of those new dropped axles snapped though,but henry used Chrome vanadium steel .The same stuff your cresent is made from .In an accident it may bend,but break? never. Also,the way you have those two extra bolts will not be necessary in fact you alter the spring rate by clamping in that fashion. The plate,as I suggested, could be 13 mm with a center hole to locate on the springs center bolt in the normal fashion. Just clamping any axle to spring doesn't work because the spring moves too much. The axle needs a positive locator.
Some good input there, thanks for the thoughts. Just out of curiosity where are you based, as you seem to be responding in similar times to NZ?? As for a positive locater there is a small dimple drilled under the axle that locates it on the top of the pin through the leaves and also the plate underneath has a hole that locates tightly on the nut of the pin. Axle should not move once locked down by the u-bolts etc. I did think about the clamping effect of the long plate underneath and the two pieces of angle affectingthe spring rate a little but the major concern of the certifiers was the leaf spring wrapping under braking, throwing the castor angle all over the place, i figured the extra stiffening in the middle would help prevent this. Really it's all going to be a bit of trial and error. I have put a lot of thought into what i'm trying to build here, BUT it is a bit different and there are no standard "recipes" to follow. Its not like a 1800speedway kitset. This is being built by a blue collar working bloke at home using what he has to hand, and just about everything is handmade using basic tools in my shed/workshop. Theres too many rods being built for $200K+ down here, i'm all for fun on a budget, i'm in about $6k so far and hope to be on the road for$10K, with something i can drive the wheels off, run 12's on the 1/4 and look cool and different doing it.
I'm in Brisbane,but was born In TeKuiti ,in the King Country, The "king" being my grandfathers Grandfather. You may now rise..... The axle shouldn't twist the way you have it, and castor change under hard braking happens on most cars because of the rubber involved. Not too sure about the degree ,but i have felt it on the track when braking into a turn. If the axle twists it's going to roll backwards but that should be OK,it gives you more castor effect straightening the wheels,or massive understeer which is what the normal car has in spades anyway. I often wonder where some of these guys come up with this stuff though. Have you seen our OZ street rod pages ,courtesy of the government?. Theres pages of info regarding how suspension should be designed. Robbie Campbell showed everyone back in the 70's a rod could be put on the road very cheaply,and boy did he cop some ill informed flack . But dozens of rods were built because his articles in NZHRM. I even raced against him on meremere Dirt track,that bugger could Drive!. Rods,boats,aeroplanes have all been built at home in sheds by guys with a Drill and a hacksaw. i even met this old boy in 1972 at bike do in Auckland,.heres a guy who did everything like that in a shed he built himself.. And who on earth has $200,000 to spend on anything in NZ....
<style></style>These are some good ideas for strengthening the axle mount and spreading the load force on the axle. I realize that I sometimes get a little paranoid when it comes to strength and safety. If I can get someone to take a second look at what their building and see that maybe they can do something to improve it, then I certainly feel better about it. As far as snapping a Ford axle and that the web is not a high stress area .. Dirtynails is right. I have seen bent axles but never a broken one. However, when you drill thru the web and make that the mounting point for the car, that changes the stress relation on the axle. You also said that you drilled into the bottom of the axle for the axle locator hole. Any way you look at it, the axle is weaker at that point and the stress load is entirely different from what the axle was designed for. I'm not sure anyone can really say for positive what will or will not happen with the axle. So the stronger you can make that area the better it will be in the long run.
The more I read this thread, the more I'm reminded of the movie from a few years ago "The Worlds Fastest Indian" I can really appreciate the dare to be different attitude and the determination & effort required to pull it off! I look forward to seeing future updates on this project!
Burt was the master, i enjoyed Roger Donaldsons first movie/doco with him as much as the big box office one. One of lifes real characters. There seems to be a few folk with too much cash, and theres plenty of shops building rods for them. Not much leaves JR's shop in Tauranga for less than $200K http://www.rodsbyreid.co.nz/gallery.html, or Magoos's in Masterton http://www.magoos.co.nz/index.php, or Custom Rods' in Onehunga http://www.custom-rods.com/c_gallery.asp?cid=-1623469874. Not really my cup of tea but who says cash gives you good taste! Ed Jr's build some cool cars too, although they would say "Kool" http://www.edjuniorkustomrides.com/ but also quite big bucks. For me i'm quite happy doing what i'm doing.....
If i can get some normal (HT Holden fronts) shocks looking ok i will use some i have, if not some friction shocks, which are not alway as effective.
Actually Friction shocks are very effective on your sort of ride. They are infinitley adjustable ,which is more than can be said for hydraulic shocks. They can bought new (just rattle those gold chains..) or as I found on a car I was restoring once,they can be home made. The Old V8 houdaile shocks were very good and adjustable which is why you see them if pictures of old dirt trackers right into the 70's. Stripers Mod that he is building in Victoria is being built along the same thinking as yours. Basic with interesting touches and it all goes to counter the chainer look that those Kiwi Rod shops seem to be pushing. John Reid must be getting on now,he was around when my cousins in Hamilton were bombing around in a red 32 roadster ,at least 40 years ago.
Thanks for the thoughts, valuable as always. JR may be getting on but i believe he has a two year waiting list on turnkey cars, like i said some folk have too much $$$. Thats on top of his own top show winning cars he turns out regularly. Personally i liked Elderberry Wine and in my opinion things went down hill with "BILLET", but thats just my opinion, many others love the shiney & sparkley stuff.
IT LIVES!! Well it runs anyway... http://s372.photobucket.com/albums/...ogress pics/?action=view¤t=MOV04341.flv
The Jalopy Journal
