They are called steady rods and came on some early ford flat heads. I did a search and found them mentioned a couple of times but no pics of them installed. As their name implies they are for steading the engine but for what reason, and where do they attach?
They attach to the frame on each side of the transmission. Henry believed that they were needed as he developed solutions to vibration
Do they bolt to the back of the block or to the trans? I have just one that came with a 38 60 hp, the engine is not here to look at. It seems that very few if any hotroders run them as i have never seen a pair on a flathead.
They bolt to the rear of the earlier (non 8BA-type) blocks at the cast half-bellhousing area. The rear end attaches to the X in the frame in the area near each side of the transmission. They were to keep the engine / trans assembly from moving back and forth (front to rear) as forces were placed on the trans via the torque tube. This could make clutch engagement jerky. It was NOT for vibration solutions. DD
The modern open drive shafts have male/ female spline to keep the rear end from pushing the engine forwards and backwards. A slip joint. The torque is solid and has no slip joint to keep the movement of the rearend from pushing and pulling on the engine and transmission. I would use them or something similar. The model "A" did not use them because the back motor mounts on the engine were bolted to the frame and the engine could not move forward or backwards caused the movement of the rearend.
I believe they were to control clutch chatter on torque tube Fords. People who left them off in the old days usually put them on after a short time.
I answered a similar question on Fordbarn. I'll cut'n'paste my reply here.. This is why you need anti-chatter bars on a torque tube equipped car. Especially a pre-40. The axle is located in the fore and aft direction by the engine and transmission. Pre 40 the clutch is released and engasged by a push rod pushing on a lever attached to the transmission. The pedal is attached to the frame, and pushes the lever. So lets say you have no bars and want to pull away. You push the pedal, release the clutch and engage the gear. You start to raise the pedal, feeling for the bite point. As you reach the bite point, just at that point where you are still holding the clutch 90% released and just start taking up the drive, the axle pushes the engine and box forward. bear in mind you are already pushing it forward with the clutch pedal via the lever. The trans moves forward, but the end of the lever stays still, as you are holding that with the clutch. (This is the same action as releasing the clutch). The effect is that you suddenly engage it much firmer than you intended. if severe this can result in a much firmer engagement that you were not expecting, and havn't got enough revs on to cope with, so the engine dies, causing a momentary overrun condition which pulls the engine and box back, momentarily releasing the clutch.at which point the engine recovers, lurches forward again and restarts the original cycle. In reverse you can get the same happening or even worse. The above is sort of overstating it, but I have experienced chronic clutch judder only overcame by dipping the clutch, giving it more revs and starting again. The anti-chatter bars hold the engine and gearbox solidly to the frame and help to make the pullaway as smooth as possible. Now with a 39-up car the action of the pedal is translated into a rotary motion instead of a straight push action. This makes the 39-up cars much less reliant on the anti-chatter bars from a clutch action, but you must remember that the axle is still pushing and pulling against the engine and box, so the bars, if fitted by the factory are still a good idea. All this goes out of the window if your clutch plate is contaminated with oil. It will tend to grab and judder with or without bars, but will be worse without. If you have an open driveline and a 40 up rotational clutch release, then In my opinion you do not need anti-chatter bars. If you have open drive and pre 40 push release clutch, then you may get away without, but they are still probably a good idea to have as they resist the forward thrust of the clutch release. ----------------------------------------- Probably a bit over-explaining, but in a nutshell they help the clutch control. Mart.
I do not have these on my A v8 and have to feather the clutch in reverse so that it doesn't sound/feel like the world is ending even at about 3 miles per hour. I'm going to fab/install some this winter. Factory holes are to either side of the bell housing
I made a set for my AV8, my chatter wasn't terrible, but bad enough to drive me nuts when driving slower than 5mph, such as though a car show lot, swap meet area, or something. Made a big difference though. And yes reverse is worse but I think that's because when engaging reverse, the rear axle pulls the driveline rearward disengaging the clutch slightly.
I had always been told that they were to keep the engine out of the radiator. Given that the whole drivetrain, sans rods, is kept from moving back and forth by a leafspring (flexible), and the rubber engine mounts, this seemed an adequate answer. Point is, you need them. Cosmo
The problem is the style of the motor mount that Ford used. This is a Hurst anti chatter clip that was sold when using a Hurst mount in an old Ford. When the bolt is snugged it cuts down on the fore and aft movement of the motor on the bolts. When the engine move fore and aft the clutch linkage adjustment changes. My clutch chatter really increased when I put the T-5 trans behind my Studebaker engine (it has the same style push forward clutch release arm) . The Stude trans was mounted like a 47 Ford with 2 sets of biscuit mounts. The single bolt S-10 mount made it much worse. I made my own anti-chatter rods out of 5/16" rod. I used front shock absorber upper rubber bushings and washers to isolate the rods from the frame where they mounted to the cross member. That has helped a bunch.
On the roadster I built, when I pushed the clutch pedal down, I could see the motor move forward. I had a pair of small heims laying in a drawer for years. I welded two nuts in each end of a 1/2 inch square tube and put it from the frame to the bell area near the clutch arm. Problem solved. I never tried to drive it before putting on my anti chatter rod. The KISS principle works.
They were there to cure all of the above mentioned ills. If you run a torque tube,...it's best to install 'em. 4TTRUK
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2027905&d=1379000989 You should have probably mentioned that your rods are bent up 45 degrees. Charlie Stephens
Here are a couple of not very good pics but it gives you the idea . The back of the rod goes to the K member . The front to the engine above the starter in these pics . These are stock 32 Chatter rods . I modified the 8BA to accept them .
Quote["My clutch chatter really increased when I put the T-5 trans behind my Studebaker engine (it has the same style push forward clutch release arm) . The Stude trans was mounted like a 47 Ford with 2 sets of biscuit mounts. The single bolt S-10 mount made it much worse."]Quote A T5 has a big lug on the underside of the case. A connecting link can be made to go from here to the frame in place of anti chatter rods. Even in open driveline applications, as ridiculous as it sounds, the fan will pull the engine forward, sometimes enough to rub the radiator. You can see the forward attachment of the link in this pic.
Charlie: That is the way the engine came to me. This is the engine I bought to learn on and then cleaned up up and sold it for what I paid for it...$300. I was told it came out of a truck...maybe they were attached to the firewall. The guy I sold it to got a good deal.
I put "Float A Motor Mounts" in my model A, and experienced clutch chatter, mostly in reverse. I used a rubber biscuit (Volvo motor mount). I made a bracket and placed it between the gearbox and crossmember
I just finished putting in another new clutch assy., rebuilt the trans (again), resurfaced the flywheel (again), and I still have pretty bad clutch chatter. Yes, I have anti-chatter rods in place. Here's the specs: mild 283, Hurst front mount with stock '40 trans, torque tube, 3:78 rear. I built brackets off the bellhousing to attach the rods to. (they are stout!) Everything's as tight as I dare make it. If I keep tightening the rods to prevent chatter, the distributor pushes on the firewall. Been driving this setup (a lot!) for about 12 years now, and and it runs and drives great except I've always had chatter. Any ideas for a good fix?
Have you ever checked to see if the transmission pilot bore on the bell housing is concentric with the crank? The rear face of the bell housing should be 90 degrees to the crank centerline also.
No I haven't checked. Too bad it's SO much work to take apart again or I would do that. Maybe next time.
we use a device simular to this on some O/T race cars to keep the motors from slamming back against the firewall and bending engine mounts and smashing the slip spline on the tail shaft and destroying the trans .
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