I'm new to the HAMB, but have been on the Model A board for a while. I just bought parts and pieces of a 31 roadster with an idea of making a Speedster. It appears on of the basic ways to lower the car is to make it "underslung". I understand the concept, but wonder if anyone has done this, knows where I could find instructions, parts, etc? I did a search and found one reference to a Hot Rod built in 1993, but the picture looks like he just removed the front spring entirely and mounted the front axle to the frame. That's gotta make for a real bumpy ride. I'm posting this under Hot Rods, as that seems to fit the Speedster concept best.
Johnny Sparkles T sedan was a good low underslung build... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/underslung-tips-and-ideas.492363/#post-5428462 Post #22
I wouldnt, the underslung thing is really an "off road" only thing, do a search on lowering. The underslung ch***is will also come up in a search.
It IS traditional. But (I think) works better with big wheels and fenders. Cosmo P.S. IIRC, the original tyres on these were 40" (old style measurement, being diameter)
google American Underslung http://www.american-automobiles.com/American-Underslung.html And unless there's some totally different context for the term "underslung", I'd think that would be the exact opposite of anything for offroad use.
Yikes, don't get a flat tire in that one pictured above! Reversed spring eyes, a flattened front crossmember, perhaps a dropped axle, a step in the back of the frame and a T rear spring will lower your Model A nicely without having to engineer it upside down. Depending on what era you're trying to stick to, '35 Ford 16" wire wheels will help as well. That's kinda the cl***ic formula.
whilst that pictured car is cool looking , Id be trailering it to shows, itll ground out way too easy , then you loose control and someone gets hurt, hence "off road only" (not meaning dirt), my opinion only Squadblow has the right idea.
Underslung usually means the frame below the axle. This only works if you have large diameter wheels, at least 15" Auburn made a low slung show car in the 1920s called the "Cabin Speedster". Here is how they made the underslung frame. They cut the frame in half and turned the back half upside down. So the kickup went below the axle. The front of the frame was stock but the axle and springs lowered. Triumph sports cars of the fifties had an IFS front end with underslung leaf spring rear end.
Rusty- Edsel's Model 40 Speedster was done the same way- Bob Gregorie had the Ford Airlines workers cut the ch***is in half and flip the rear portion. And then he had them build the custom aluminum body, since they hadn't been very busy... not many people buying Ford Trimotors in '34
Yes, 'underslung' means that the frame is under the axle(s). This has been done at various times for most of the last hundred years, from the teens on up to tube-frame SCCA Trans-Am cars from the '80s onward. What you'll be told - quite correctly, IMO - is that you've got to watch for 'scrub line' considerations - if you draw a line from the tread of one (inflated) tire to the rim on the opposite side (as in a flat tire) the frame (nor anything else structural) should not hang below that line. The Napier-Railton is probably the most famous 'underslung' racer, but there's nothing non-streetable about the concept if you mind the scrub-line considerations noted above. I won't comment on the flipped-frame Dodge shown above.
^^ That thing is incredible, check out the double sets of leaf springs in the rear! How does that even work, like a 4 link and a quarter elliptical setup both in one? Wild.
If I am correct, those are half-elliptics, anchored in the center, and also in the front. The front anchor supplies location, the center supplies springing. Both, together, resist axle rotation. There is an old saying, which I think applies here: "Give an Englishman a bit of metal, and he'll do something silly with it" Cosmo
Underslung is not for the Beginner. If you are new to the hot rod game, start out with something much more common, like dropped axles, reversed eye springs, and maybe a Z in the frame.
LOL ....! Thanks Cosmo, I needed that. After owning a bunch of '50s and '60s Britbikes, two MGAs and a TR4A, I can relate!
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