Nice. Those ball adapters are a great idea. I might also suggest higher grade hardware, lock washers, and having a few threads showing on your nylock nuts. You might want to read up on the radius rod ball cap setup on one of the Model A forums. Not complex but it requires a little different setup. The parts are inexpensive. Not that I need to be right or that I'm criticizing but its the way the system needs to be set up. I would wonder about hard mounting my wishbone to my cast trans case without and springs on the caps. The necessary clearance to allow the ball to rotate without wearing out quickly yet still allowing proper caster and suspension geometry(and shock absorption) is shown in this thread: https://www.vintagefordforum.com/fo...is/80198-wish-bone-radius-ball-info#post80205 D
Yeah, I think Ford Barn might require a signup. Worth it to me for the info provided though. Best of luck, D
Well I finally got a 2 day stretch when the the wife and kid went to stay at the Grandparent's...the car is now a couple towns down the valley so it's been tough getting out there to work on it... At first it was tough to wrap my head around where I'd left off and where to start so I thought well this build hasn't really had any major milestones...so why not bolt the the trans on and sling the motor in? tie it up to the rear and then I'll know where to put my motor mounts.... But then I got to thinking... How do I know the rear axle isn't forward or back of it's original position??? On a stock model A the engine/trans is locked in by the midmounts but now it's just held loosely by the spring (which has worn bushings etc.) ...So now I guess I have to find some measuring points and figure out if it's forward, back or twisted etc.... sigh ok Uncovering the engine revealed the mice had been loving on (hopefully not in) the engine and the carb linkage frozen from mouse piss, the intake has fuzzy corrosion etc. Yay! So I went back to the mounting the body to the subframe...typical with these cars the botton 4-8" of the car was was completely gone or swiss cheese, over the years I managed to find a p***. side door post mount bracket and another that was a cut off from a car hit in an accident but no driver's side bracket...after musing on fabbing one etc. I thought maybe I could reverse engineer the squashed RH one. I unfolded it separated it from the outer skin and pounded it completely flat....on an old tire I beat the formed bulges back into the bracket on the opposite side then bent back the flanges in the opposite direction...the hard part was were the hinge bolts go through as that part wasn't reverse-able but the hammer did it's magic again and now it fits great and looks just like the other side... I know there aren't a lot (if any) following this build but if anyone has any thoughts on centering that axle as always it's much appreciated
Could you not measure from the spindle back to the axle center as in the original wheelbase...One other thing is you could convert to an open drive line with u joints then you can position it anywhere that suits...I'm not sure of the front axle and cross member you have whether it is stock position or not?
Hey @Stogy Thanks for chiming in! I thought of that, it is stock model A... unfortunately the front wishbone is now on the loose too as the original locator for that was the transmission flywheel cover lol right now both the front and rear are leaning outward for sure...the bushings are shot (while in the mock up stage) and the torque tube is sitting on the brake swingarm right now and the front is waving around in space I'm going with the stock Model A rear and torque tube length...it's bolted to a '37 3 spd....it seems like this should be elementary but yet getting it wrong means all kinds of trouble for alignment, tracking and stress on the 94 year old parts
It's interesting in a way...these old forgotten hulks were driven many times body and frame cracked in numerous areas running balding tires mainly due to the roads and lack of funds for anything but food on the table...and here we are adding a few more beads and repairing them to be revived again for a new day in the near future... Hows this for an option...plan b if you like... I know you want to have some things in place to feel the vibe of the potential ahead...so why not fab some brackets that can be clamped in place and moved forward/aft and side to side that can be used when all points are in place for the final reposition...that way you have usable mounts and you achieve a further vision to help direct the project...thats a win win in my eyes... Basically you need to shop around in A Threads here and look at aftermarket mounts to fab a set to clamp up...and support the Engine/Trans... I have seen some clamp a bar across the top of the rails and sit the block on to fab mounts as well...
That is a Ford Forum but not The Fordbarn aka Jalopy Journal Fordbarn... For those that don't already know you can log onto The Fordbarn with your Hamb Screename and p***word... I have changed my p***word to the Hamb and the Fordbarn still uses my old p***word...other than that it's a great place to glean details...
So if we are talking the rear mounts at the trans, there are several options primarily hanging off the front of the middle crossmember. They have to hang well below the crossmember and come forward several inches. I’ve not done it yet but have considered making trans mounts out of the original A rear motor mounts. I’ve not mocked any up but I wonder if, even with their weird shape, they could be modified and used with some biscuit mounts. D
Thanks again @Stogy i'll check that out...yeah that is my plan in a nutshell...forge ahead and dial it in later I have a sort of K (or even X) member I could build out of a model AA truck trans mount and a pair of cut off A frame rails...but right now I'm leaning toward just leaving the frame stock and going with an idea I had where I sliced a piece off of the stock A trans. mount brackets and flipped them around (post #171) ....I was thinking of just attaching a pair of them to the middle crossmember as the trans. mount...
As you wrote that I was just explaining my idea along those lines lol ...see post #171 of this thread...great minds think alike
Things have been pretty much covered in the 6 hours, dinner and movie got in the middle, since I started this post; but here goes anyway. I'd first double check your frame for twist, squareness, and X measure for sure. Next bolt the engine, trans, torque tube, rear axle, and rear wishbones into one piece. Solidly block and support everything where you think it should go. Pick out a spot and make a center punch mark in the same place on both rails. This can be reference point all during your build. Then locate the rear axle directly under the hole in the end of the crossmember. I'd then take a piece of flat bar for each side and bolt one end in a convenient hole in the frame and after double checking the axle is still in place and the same distance between it and the frame; weld it to axle enough to secure it place. I usually use muffler clamps around the axle with flat bar going to the frame; but that won't work with your spring over A rear axle. You can also check the front axle when you get that far using the same center punch marks.
After I pulled the mangled bracket out of the even more twisted and wadded up outer skin. I had straightened it to a point where I thought maybe I could use it as a patch for the missing bottom of my RH post....straightened up the bent and broken hinges while I was at it
Cheers mate! much appreciated...been through a lot with this car... 2 floods, a surprise baby, 4 moves, theft of the rear 1/4's, etc. started off as a really rough coupester, became a swiss cheese roadster, back to a more solid coupester, and finally a roadster again (minus the bottom 3"s lol) but one thing that has stayed consistant is that it's made 100% from cast offs ....every single part on this car (except engine) was cut off another restoration or hotrod and deemed junk...fairly soon the body and running gear will be going together for the first time!
Any chance you could get a part time job, to make it possible to purchase some better parts, rather than spending lots of hours saving almost rust/dust? I appreciate you tenacity, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
I'm not the only guy on here facing adversity (or maybe I am lol) 2 of the biggest have been a lack of shop space since the flood and raising a 2nd family in my old age...I get sundays and mondays off and my wife (yep believe it or not) has just suggested that I use them to work on the projects!! I've recently got the shop issue worked out too so stay tuned I should be updating sun/mon for the next little while...
Haven't been here for awhile so to catch you up a stock frame and driveline came up, but it was several villages down the valley from me...I didn't want to add to the expense with a huge tow bill so time to get creative... a little trailer came up for $100, a tent trailer frame with a plywood deck 8' long...as we all know The model A frame is over 11' long so using some pieces of an old bedframe and some s****s I made a hoky extension (disaster in the making right?) I don't have my little o/t truck wired for lights so I plugged a homemade adaptor into my cigarette lighter with a push ****on so at least I'd have "brake lights" couple of 2x10s for ramps and I was off...luckily the tires were holding air and it rolled so with the help of a buddy and the seller we rolled it up onto my extension...the 2x10s were saggin' and flexin' when all of a sudden there was a tremendous CREAK & CRUNCH!!!! at first I thought my cheesy extension had ripped off or the ramps broke...but then I realised the entire front of the trailer was 6' up in the air!! turns out the entire deck was only screwed onto the rusty light duty frame! I don't give up easy so I used a come-along and slowly pulled it down onto the tongue...I had turned my trailer into a tilt deck! with everybody laughing and a whole lot of skepticism I would even make it out of the driveway I lashed her down and made the 100 mile trip back home...I had to keep it under 50 otherwise it would start whipping side to side! my extension held up and the tires were centered right on the edge on both ends! No cops h***led me and there it is in my driveway I immediately fixed then flogged the trailer and got my money back it came with the '32 model B head...
And then there were doors...this is always a difficult part of building a '28-9 roadster those little doors are highly sought after! if you find em theyre not cheap...since it's the model A from s****s I found a rough bent and dented p***. inner that someone had replaced and someone else's cast off door skin that was pretty wadded up, and a driver's inner panel. i had purchased them originally thinking they were only good for patches etc. but I hammered them into shape and stuck them together...on the driver's I only had a rough inner panel so I took the skin off of a rough coupe door measure cut and presto changeo voila! the 45s were done with a body hammer between 2 pieces of angle so it took the curve out...I went along the edge with needle nose pliers giving little twists which brought the curvature back....i'm no body man but was pleasantly surprised...no oil canning!
Well I guess it's a new year and I should put a wrap on this thread...kind of...at least this particular car anyone who has been following this thread through the years will note that the parts I collected over the years became several "cars" or at least the bare bones for building one...I'd say at least 3 or 4...I finally ended up with the main shell of a roadster with registration...but I couldn't quite muster up the money to bring it to the next level...A good friend of mine made an offer on it I couldn't refuse he has made great progress on it since...
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