Hi guys, Im new here and have seen a ton of awesome cars and skills. I have started to build my dream car as a kid. Its been a couple years in the making, changing my mind here and there. Learning a lot as I go and hope to learn a lot from all of you.
I think the biggest difference maker in the way an A Tudor sits is Z..ing the chassis...I bought my car (built in the 60's) already Zed. Guy
Thanks ! Those rides are sweet. I have been digging through a back log of photos. Here is my make shift lifting device Makeing up some motor mounts and having a little fun with Plasma Machining out the crossmember for easy removal and installation Wish I could have found a straight T5 bellhousing, still on the look out! Very easy fitting in. On to set up the drive shaft
Had some more time to work on it finally. This is the lower radiator mount I made up on the tube roller Starting to look like a car. This is addicting!!!
I can't tell from the pics so I will ask, is there springs in-between the radiator mount and radiator? If there isn't room for supported movement of your radiator, it will most likely end up cracking from being hard mounted. Just a heads up. Like your ride.
I do not. But thanks for the heads up. Is there a good spring for this? I was thinking about some kind of isolation mount such as rubber ones that you see on modern day vehicles.
That would probablly work. I use "exhaust springs" for 80's S-10's. They are small and you can find them in the do it yourself section of Autozones. These are the springs on the bolts for the exhaust donut gaskets on the exhaust pipes. Go look at them and it will make sense. I have one on the bottom and top of the mounting flange off my radiator, for up and down movement. The support rods from the firewall keep the radiator in place as well.
Factory Ford 28-34 radiator mounting kits are available from any early Ford parts supplier, pads, bolts, springs, nuts, keys.
Awesome!. Thank you for the complements and the info on the radiator mounting kit. I will be picking one of those up for sure.
Moving on to the steering. Making up a template A little trick my dad tought me, thought id pass it along, though it was clever. after a little plasma cutting Got some work ahead of me now, have to go think this one out
Had a little more time to work on it. Constructing the panhard bar. Tapping this 11/16s thread in the DOM tube was a pain in the @$$ Finally Got my hilborn wanted this from the time I was a kid Now I want to get rid of these valve covers and find some old finned aluminum covers, any suggestions on a good buy?
I`ve got ask, Whats up with the drive shaft? Did you splice it in the center of the tubing? Did no body else see this!!
Yes I did splice it in the center. I measured the run out and its darn straight. we'll see how it works
Darn straight? That driveshaft ain't nothing more than exhaust tubing so comeon, whack your ends off, clean them up and weld them to a new piece of tubing. 'Darn straight' will at the least take out your seals by the time you get to the end of your block. 'Very darn straight' has a vibration at 30mph & 'pretty much gosh-darn straight' has a vibration at 50mph.
I do take your advice and this is mainly to get the dimension for mock up with what I have laying around and test a theory but I am just curious so I have to ask a couple questions. . New here and welcome all advice openly. 1. I find it more accurate to run a jig the whole length of the drive shaft rather than make complicated fixtures to hold the 2 ends on = less probability for error. Is this not potentially more accurate? 2. How is cutting off grinding and welding the ends on going to equal less run out? How are those not subject to any less error in run out with respect to doing it in the middle. I just like to think about things. Bottom line I will run a brand new built an ballanced drive shaft come drive time Thank you , this is all a fun learning experience!
Driveshaft questions. We don't shorten driveshafts by cutting them in middle and then butt welding them. We cut out the weld at the end of the tubing and remove the yoke or stub in a shortening job, shorten the tubing, drive the press fit part back into the tubing, and then eventually straighten the tubing to the yoke and u-joint center based on guidance of a dial indicator running against the tube and accepted tolerances or to personal closer nitpicking. With having said that, you can take that sample shaft to a shop and have them make a good, straight, balanced driveshaft based on a fitting sample that has done it's job. Sure, you might be able to drive it down the street with that spliced shaft, but I won't. Q1? We work with complicated and expensive fixtures to build a driveshaft that should be damn close to perfectly balanced and straight. Obviously perfection for a part that has the need to spin at 12,000 RPM will have the need to be more precise than a passenger car driveshaft. Q2? The yokes that weld into driveshaft tubing, NOT exhaust PIPE, are machined to fit into a particular tubing at a tolerance of .007" to .010" press fit because of torque to be applied to the shaft. The interference fit, press fit, does more work than the weld. This also holds our straightening work before we weld. Many more factors come in besides this. I'm just trying to give a handful of knowledge and why make things so damn complicated. And with the right pieces in hand, a dial indicator, and my Moneymaker hammer, I could shorten a driveshaft in my 1950 built garage and do it pretty much as accurately as when I started building shafts with lesser complicated equipment and tooling. I know many folks have done it with less than that. I've fixed junk that was put into a brand new vehicle and sent out with a manufacturer's warranty because the modification work was done by a HACK shop for motorhome builders. More, angles, etc, much more. Have fun with your Tudor, I'm damn sure having fun with mine! I can answer some questions as some build challenges come around if need be. What part of Illinois?
Thank you for your help, I will take my sample in and have a good one made. It all makes great sense. Hanging out in central Illinois, Peoria area
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