Got a little more done. Frames out of the fixture. Getting the front rails welded up then going to get the front suspension bolted in. We were concerned about warping during welding, but so far the frames turning out good. Rear is just some temporary crossbars to hold it together for now.
I always thought it would be slick to build a woodie out of metal.....something like 1"x3" rectangular mild steel tube. This frame work, would sort of be like a roll cage, but look like the wood framing on a real woodie. The frame work could then be wood grained. The skin would be mounted to the inside of the frame work, and could be made of wood or metal. Of course the cowl would come from a Model A. The hardest part would be the compound shape of the roof, which might be easier to make out of wood.
Looks great so far! Love the rendering. Too bad you can't use a vintage Olds or Caddy engine to keep the three pipe theme. It'll be good no matter what engine you use.
Great project=and to be doing it with your Dad is even better.Building a hot rod together; now that's some " quality time" for sure.
Thanks! Yeah I'm thinking we're going to have the metal cage, but I'm not sure what the connections between the wood and metal will be. I'm thinking we'll try to have everything from the cowl back being wood on the outside. Thanks! Agreed a vintage engine would be awesome. We'll try to dress the SBC up so it looks good. Thanks! Yeah it's been fun building this with dad. You and me both. I'm really anxious to start getting this body figured out also. Here's some pics from tonight. Got the front finish welded up. bolted the front axle into the spring. We also got the spindles installed on the axle. It was the first time that either of us had reamed king pins on a early ford. It all went pretty good. We had a couple bushings that wouldn't install in our front spring so dad turned them down on the lathe. The king pins we installed came from my buddy. Who knows how old they are, but the other king pins he brought over and the reamer were in cool vintage boxes. Dad also got the rear axle cleaned up and it's about ready to put the rear spring mounts on. We're going to put them at 49.5" apart. That sound right for a factory style model a spring? - Jeremy
Well house stuff has gotten in the way, but dad's been making some progress. And we've also had some setbacks. We got the front disc brakes mounted up on the 35/36 spindles. They seem to work just fine. Our brackets I think are mounted on the opposite side of the spindle than the post we got the info from. But they fit good and spin nice. We've been working on getting the rear axle spring on. When I tried to get the spring on I bent the one mount before getting the other side hooked. I'm thinking we have the spring perches too wide. We have the mounts at 49.5" currently. When I measured our spring it measures 36.5" hole to hole with 17" of total arch. I'm thinking our mounts should have been 46 or 44" as I'm thinking our spring is a narrow aftermarket spring. IDK, though what do you guys think? -Jeremy
My son and I built this out of a 27 4 door touring car that was missing the touring. We weren't sure what it was going to be when we started so we set up a sheet of plywood behind the cowl and came up with a shape we both liked. Have fun with your project, the frame looks great!
Hey junk, neat build. I just measured the spring perches on my 36-38 rear axle. It is 48 inches. That spring will be under a tremendous amount of pressure when you stretch it- be careful- use a spring spreader for sure. Good luck
Hey thanks for the measurement! I'm positive the perches are too far apart now. I'm just not sure how much to narrow them. I'm leaning towards 46.5" which is for a narrowed model a spring. I'm fairly confident our spring is narrowed. Thanks Jeremy Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Well I did some reading. Sounds like a factory spring is around 39" eye to eye before installed. Our spring is around 36" eye to eye. So I'm thinking we'll move the brackets from 49.5 to around 46". Only the second time we've moved the brackets as the first time we tacked them on upside down!! -Jeremy
Hahahahaha, at least you have a chance of getting it right the third time around. I usually need a couple of tries myself, but hey, you are still having fun right? My spring at rest was roughly 5 inches narrower than the 48 it needed to be to fit if that helps
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