I mocked up my front after cleaning and priming the axle, wishbone, and perches... I did have to turn two 1/4" spacers for the gap left between the Model A wishbone and the later axle. Once the spacer was installed and the perch tightened down with the original nut I noticed that the hole for the cotter pin was past the slots in the retainer nut. After some measuring I found that the problem is not with the perch or nut but with the top of the wishbone on that side. The tapered top is too deep and allows the perch to sit too far down compared to the otherside which is OK. I'll have to make up a shim to take up some of the clearance on that side and fine tune it during mock up.
I made up a shim out of some 20g steel... Once installed it brought the perch up 1/2 way to where I want it so i'll have to make another one and put it on the top or bottom depending on perch height... My hardware order got lost in the mail so I won't be able to finish the front axle this weekend like I had planned but I was able to test fit the main spring leaf... I'm good with the clearance under the ends of the main leaf, plenty of space so no worries there. Got the tie rod refurbed too... Last but not least I had to straighten out the drag link, sometime in the past it ended up like this: Some work with a torch and a new coat of paint has it looking ok again.
I'm stuck waiting on a rethreading die until Saturday for the NOS perch spring stud, I could force the nuts on but I'd rather not trash the studs some... While I wait I decided to fix the wishbone ball socket that had a bent stud... It must have taken a hit at some point. I had to cut that sucker out, I didn't want to stress the casting bending it back. I also pulled all the old felt out of there that had swelled up like a wet stogie. I put the old caps back in with the new correct hardware I picked up as the old hardware was all bent and springs squashed, looks better now and is a heck of a lot safer than what was there. I did some parts hunting this week and scored a brookville '32 A dash along with a decent 1927-28 Auburn six instrument cluster to go in it. I want to keep it clean and mostly just functional stuff, not a lot of bling and the instrument cluster is cool but has a "functional no frills" look to it.
Got the assembly together and painted... I put some slip plate on the bottom of the springs too, can't hurt! I'm wrapping up some little stuff but the front end goes back under the Banger in a few days...
Nice build and attention to detail. One thing I thought I should mention is the spacer between the wishbone and axle. A lot of folks will put the spacer on top, and this will give you more room between the axle and spring/shackles. If you have problems once you get weight on, you might want to keep that in mind.
I got my front end put together last night... I was a little disappointed at the driver's side axle kingpin bore, it has a teeny, tiny amount of slop. The hole is not oblong but rather was rusted and when cleaned the fit was oversize. I'll have to machine a guide down the road to ream an insert and bring it back to spec, for now it's ok. I should have checked this before assembly but live and learn! Today I put it under the car and was able to see how everything sat... The spring sits nicely with the shackles at 45 degrees as in the mock up, the clearance under the reversed eyes is good. The car has a slight rake which I like, when the rear tires go up to 7.50" it should increase it a tad but i'll reverse eye that spring too and keep the rake from getting obscene. I was a bit shocked at how low the font end went, I only pulled one leaf (3rd from bottom). I watched it go down, down, down when I let the jack drop and wondered if it was going to stop lol! I like it though and when I put the headlight back on it barely rises above the top of the tire, I like that! Next up is the dash, I'm still waiting for the dealer to ship my brookville '32 dash since before x-mas. I want to drop the steering column some but can't until the dash shows.
I picked up two gas gauges... The plan is to modify a sender to fit the stock A gas gauge hole and mount a gauge under the dash somewhere... Made by the same company but the one on the left is older, most likely prewar, the on on the right is NOS from 1954. The NOS one had a better face and bezel so I combined them to make one using the guts with the older housing and needle. I also got my Brookville '32 dash today. I'm really happy with the dash, its nicely formed. I didn't want to cut up an original so this is the next best thing. Nice heavy metal too, 18ga.
No issues with anything touching so far... I haven't hooked up the drag link yet but I have clearance on everything else. I'm waiting to hook up the drag link until after I get the dash and steering column done...
Been on a motorcycle project for the last month or so, not much time for the banger but i'm back on it this weekend... Last month I found a pretty good match for the Guide headlight I had so I scooped it up and was able to get the lights installed last night. I had to tweak the light mounts a bit with the torch but I got them pretty close, still some fine tuning to do on the passenger side. Tonight I shaved the repro dash to get it to fit. I don't like the tabs on each end that are there to fasten it to the cowl. I'm going to weld some metal in to cover the whole open ends, it will look better instead of just looking like a piece of sheet metal ends at the sides of the dash. Other than that it fit pretty well after trimming. Unfortunately now that it's in place I can see that the instrument cluster is too big to fit where I want it too. The only real solution is to cut the tank and create the space. This solves problems and creates others but it may be the only way to go.
I got some time to work on the exhaust today, I had some down time on another project and was happy to get back to the banger. I bought a exhaust cone, flange, and tubing bends awhile back. The goal is to get it tacked together this weekend so I can weld it up off the banger. I had to extend the cone a bit as the small end was still to large for the tubing so I added a chunk. Once I got the first tube in I was able to fiddle with positioning the cone and get it where I wanted. I didn't want to just run it level, I wanted the pipes to slope down a bit so I had to do a bunch of fitting. Lots of time trimming and fit testing but the the weather was sunny and in the 50's so it went by fast. It's been warmer here than normal and it's a nice change from snow... I roughed in the last tube and then roughed in the center two... I still have to cut holes in the cone yet but everything is close so tacking things up should go smoothly tomorrow. I snagged this '32 column drop last month to go with the dash. Where ever the steering wheel ends up i'll have to adjust the seat to fit but that's all part of the fun!
I spent the AM finishing up final fitting and tacking the manifold together... The cone had to have the holes cut before assembly so traced the pipes onto it and cut the opening out with a saw, finishing the edges with a file. Assembly went well, The rearmost tube is off a bit so I may reposition it a tad but for now it's ok. I test fit the new intake to make sure there's clearance but I'll need some longer manifold studs. I'll also have to make some half circle spacers to weld onto the flange that will support the manifold washers at the intake flanges.
I use some angle iron cut to width and shortened up with the leg length so it is at a right angle to the header plate. It would be interesting to see your idea in practice though....
Forgive my ignorance but I would like to know why you switched to a later front axle? I’m building a similar ride myself
Winduptoy nailed it, gives you some drop. I wanted to drop the front end using stock parts instead of dropping an axle at the ends.
I like that idea, if I hadn't already ordered my longer studs I could have gone that route... I'll post pics when I make my spacers. They'll end up being welded to the flange on the opposite side from the intake so the nut washer have a 360 degree seat.
I picked up one of those unmarked repro downdraft single carb intakes from a model a vendor for the repro Stromberg I've got. Duals would have been cool but for now single works, I can always get another carb down the road...
The angles use a longer stud too....stock length studs are just too short thru the header plate. It all works....unless it doesn't....
The Jalopy Journal
