Gerry has been amazing the folks over at TBucketeers.Com for a good while now. Nice guy too. Wait til he shows ya how he will make the fuel tank. And literally all done by hand. Or he might not. Always leave em begging for more. John
What kind of rack did you use? My unfinished car from the seventies had an MG mounted similar to yours. I don't have any pictures left of it. I got my keep and throw a way piles mixed a while back. One of those senior moments. Your car looks great! Danny
Its an old Formula Ford rack based on a 60s car Called a Triumph Herald. I did start with a rack from a VERY small Japanese Van called a rascal, which would fit the trunk of a Caddy. Rack from that measure about 9'' long. But it needed to be reversed and it was not worth the effort. Gerry
I have to say thats the first T I've ever seen that I actually liked. The rear wire wheels are bad ass in their own right. Looks great man!
I absolutely love the transverse mounted bell crank actuated coils, and the push rod bell crank shocks in the back. Excellent use of space, and a very sniggly design IMO. One question: Where are the front dampers? Are they inside the front coils, or hidden inboard of the frame rails similar to the rear? Or are they just not mounted yet? I'm also diggin' the rack & pinion in place of a worm and sector steering box, but performing the exact same function with very nearly the exact same motion. That is using a part in a manner other than prescribed by the manufacturer, to the betterment of the project. Such action is right in my wheelhouse, and I applaud it. I use just about everything I touch in a manner other than prescribed by the manufacturer (even when I was the manufacturer). Beautiful car man, very well executed.
Front dampers are built in to the front bell cranks. 2 friction disks, one in front and one behind the round section of the cranks where it pivots on the chassis. I am amazed at the number of guys who are not T fans but like the little Fad. I am flattered. As to the fuel tank.. ummmmmm Gerry
Ahhh, friction shocks, gotcha. That mounting scheme is perfect for a coil over damper assembly though. All you'd need is a double shear bracket inside the frame side spring seat, and another inside the bell crank spring seat to mount a short damper with heim ends.
Been down that road. Might even end up doing just that. One problem though. Finding a damper small enough to fit. It has to be a 1'' diam. The ONLY place I can find them is an industrial damper company and they want a fortune. Steering dampers are not designed for this type of use. Also looked at gas rams... they are designed for max 6 strokes a min so no good. I spent a lot of time researching that idea and put it on hold for a while. I will see how the t rides with the frictions and go from there. Gerry
A few pics of Gerrys T at Billing a few years ago. 18 years of pain and aggro will soon pay off. just love the attention to detail. Cant tell you how much I want aride in this Gerry!!
The srceen brackets are not as simple as they look. Its held in with a bolt thro the bracket and cowl, plus one up from inside the cowl thro the bracket and in to the frame, plus there is another section which is screwed to the top of the body, (pheww) plus the drop down to the one captivated inside the body. See pic Frame inside is yet to be glassed in. I m hoping this should keep it upright... we'll see Gerry
Yeah, 1" OD is damned small. AFCO makes a 1.625" OD damper with a 6" stroke, which aren't real high (like $80 a piece IIRC). They're oval racing dampers, so they've got heim joints on both ends.
The industrial ones I looked at were adjustable from 35 to 2000 NM and had built in stops at both ends. Retail is about $230 for a pair. Gulp gerry
Yuppers lots of Dan Woods influence there and there isn't anything wrong with that. The side shot should be the HAMB go to photo when someone asks what a Fad T should be. Right on the money FadT you nailed it.
OK here one of the proposed fuel tank. Someone was asking for a pic. This is just a board mock up but you get the idea Gerry
The thing I would worry about industrial dampers is the blow-off curve (or lack thereof). Most industrial dampers will have linear pistons and valves in them, meaning that as piston speed increases, so does the resistance they offer. This is good when decelerating a huge machine part from X inches per minute to a dead stop, but it's not so great for maintaining tire contact with the road surface. In most cases, linear dampers on a car will be far too stiff over large bumps, and cause the car to vault off them, losing contact with the road momentarily. Most road car dampers have highly digressive pistons and valves, which allows them to have very stiff low speed reactions to help control body roll, but very soft high speed reactions to allow the suspension to conform to the bumps in the road. The only saving grace you have in that front end is the very high motion ratio you've got built into the bell crank assemblies. With that kind of motion ratio (looks close to 2:1 wheel:spring), you'll need a very stiff damper to have any hope of controlling the wheel. That's the one tricky thing that you absolutely have to watch when using push rod operated remote suspension, is that you keep track of the motion ratio when deciding on how you damp that end of the car. A ratio closer to 1:1 would have been a lot better for wheel control. In fact, some formula cars actually go the other way with ratios approaching 1:1.5, because they have so little suspension movement to start with. The extra travel gives the damper a mechanical advantage on the wheel, which greatly helps them control the movement of said wheel. If it were mine, I'd try a set of whatever will fit first, but be aware that those industrial dampers may be quite harsh over rough spots if you tune them to control body roll properly. Conversely, if you tune them to ride good over the rough stuff, they will not be able to control body roll at all, and the car will feel like a land yacht (and not the cool "go fast across the salt" kind either).
that tanks small, how much will it hold ?you put your foot in that thing,it'll be time to stop and fill it up.just my $.02
First to Coolhand, huh? What was that? No just kidding. I got most of it and those are very wise words. I hope that concludes the lessons for today, I usually save those thoughts for morning lessons my mind absorbs better off a full night's sleep. It's 10 pm where I am. All kidding aside Gerry if you've been planning this car and building it for eighteen years, I think you are ahead of your time. There is nothing nostalgic about your machine it is all original, 100% you, that's what makes it great, a lot of passion for your work and the abilitiy to put function into form is a real talent. Your car is not just an expression of your appreciation for a well crafted automobile. It's a piece of ART. The thing about it is that you never created this car for anyone, but yourself and the kicker is that you never expected it to rock other's worlds yet it does. Good on ya. Keep rockin our worlds!
I love the stance of your T. I have heard of heated seats but never thought of heated running boards.
The Jalopy Journal
