"Gowjobs": Depresion Era Performance and Early day hop-up tech

I hate to say this, but that mount looks too weak to me...

 

totally should have used 1" plate.

 

Dude it's a T. It weighs like 1300 pounds soaking wet. It'll do okay.

 

It APPEARS to be bent already, tho....
.

 

I noticed that too.....

But......


Looks CAN be deceiving.

 

any body got A pic of the front of Alrich Multi T. I've seen it in person A few years ago and this looks just like this. I don't rember the front cross member being arch but maybe it was. we all know he put more than 50,000 mile on his car.

 

Fellas,
I don't think you realise just how strong steel is. Look at the surrounding parts. For instance, look at the perch bolts. and I am sure the bar was formed to conform to the shape of the spring. Had that been made of 1" plate it would have supported an 18 cylinder Pratt& Whitney Radial. And just so you know, I spent the last half of a long working like as a fabricator in heavy industrial steel fabrication.
After all, the car lasted for decades.
Now back to the cars.
ted

 

That spring mount looks just like the trailer hitch on my grandpa's '29 Model A that came with the car when it was new.



My brother is custodian of the car now, including that original trailer hitch.

 

Saving thread.

 

My dad built a ram air system for his old Dodge sedan back in the 1930's. He took the car out to Sauvie Island and hit 85 mph. He said the whole car was shaking at that speed. RIP Dad

 

A brilliant blacksmith approach. There was a time when no one had MIG welders and CNC plasma cutters. You worked with regular stock, a fire, an anvil and a vise.

Traditional rods sometimes can benefit from traditional tools, materials and techniques.

This one is perfect.

 

LOL! my engineering degree and blacksmithing and welding experience failed me...better get my money back...

 

This is a cool thread lets not turn it in to a pissing match

 

DITTO Rush!

 

Better hurry if you want them!!

On Ebay 5 minutes left!!! $600.00 bill so far.

MODEL T FORD RAJO RACER OFFSET SPINDLES NOS SCTA

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150478656273&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#ht_500wt_1182

 

Those were cool, but pardon my lack of knowledge, but what was the purpose? It could seem that they would add a small amount of artificial caster maybe? Makes me think more of trail on a bike... Teach me on this, please!

 

So you think it's bent on purpose to conform to the arch of the spring?

LOL! engineers....

Just kidding.

seriously though

How it mounts at the frame is what concerns me. Do we even know if it's bent or not? And from an engineering point, if it was bent would that make it more likely to fatigue in that direction?

 

After I built that front mount I heated the center of it and shaped it (tried to) to the contour of the top of the spring pack after it was mounted on the axle. I didn't want to stress the springs by tightening it to a flat surface, possibly breaking the spring.

The car's been on the road for over 10 years like that and runs straight and true. I built in 7 or 8 degrees of camber too.

Though it's no longer mine, the guy I sold it to drove it in the Pasadena Roadster Reliably Run a few years back and finished. Won an award for oldest engine!

 

That's how I would have done it...conform it to the curve of the front spring, would give a larger "pad" area to mount to and would allow you to move the spring clamp U-bolts farther apart..both of which would make the front spring more stable. The steel stock he used looks rather substantial and if it was heated, bent and cooled properly, the steel should retain all of it strength and flex rather than becoming hard and brittle if it were dowsed in cold water immediately.

I have seen my fair share of "rickety" modifications done with T's and a few period mods that would make even me a little nervous..but Flyin-T's setup is a real nice one, perfectly period and plenty strong.

 

I tried to build the car as if my grandpa would have back in the day. He was a mechanic at the White garage in Hollywood and was, among other things, Ken Maynard's mechanic, maintaining his fleet of cars. (Maynard was a silent film cowboy for all you young 'uns).

Grand pa also bought a new Ford roadster in '24 and went right down to Western Auto and bought a 4 valve Rajo for it.

 

Thanks, I was shooting for a period look.

I cooled the mount in oil after each heating.

 

Posted these before. You need to drill out the rivets on the Model T axle tubes and rotate them, moving the spring to the front of the axle rather than on top.

 

You certainly nailed that one dead on!

Cooling it in oil is an old trick that allows you to harden and cool the steel at a slower rate than with water since oil has a higher boiling point. I was always tought that with flexing or load bearing parts, such as suspension parts...it was better not to harden then like that, but rather to cool them slowly by placing them in an oven and slowly reducing temperature until they are cool
so they retain their strength and flexibility rather than hardening them which could cause them to crack or shatter. Used that process a few times and seemed to work great....haven't had anything on the roadster break yet....knock on wood


...now watch, next time I take the roadster out...somethings gonna break.

 

Found some pictures of the front end.

 

I have seen this car or the same set up on another very similar car before. great design...was most likely an old dirt track car. The frame has been stretch 10 -12 inches using a T rear cross member and frame sections for the lengthening portions and the axle is actually Model A.

Love the knee action shock set up though!

 

Sure looks like after all that book learning, you forgot how to combine the basic powers of observation and deduction. ex: "gee, wonder if that guy put the bend in there on purpose?"

nah, he couldn't have.

 

Can you see the gates of Hell from your back door, I could when I lived there.Now it`s been too hot in Illinois to work in the shop during the day. I did have a swamp cooler in my garage in PHX so it wasn`t too bad.

 

The spring is suposed to mount to a flat. Because the spring has to flex upward and flatten. As it is now the spring doesnt have much free area to arc upwars into.

 

You must be talking to me! Yes I can, but the devil is reluctant to get any closer than he has to, Either I scare him, or it's a bit cooler in hell! Could be either really! And that temp, that's with the cooler doing it's best all day out there.

 

Yes, I think that shock arrangement might be duly stolen! very nicely done!