Slow but steady. I took one mecanical brake actuator (not sure of the name) from my model A and modified it. Perfect for a drop down transmission cross member. I also shortened an original Zedel cross member that is back in it's original location except it is upside down. I try to use as much as possible originals holes in the frame rails, for no particular reason other than I like the idea. I'm starting to think about engine mounts, the factory Jag are ugly a.f. and feel that just fabricated steel ones wouldn't suit this build. I tried many different things, either it wouldn't fit or I wasn't satisfied. Then I got an idea, since I have that stupid assymetric Ford E83 banjo that's useless, I decided to make jack stands out of the bells and with the left over : It needs quite a bit of work, but you get the idea. Now I need to find an extra pair of bells...
As for the UnderSlung road-clearance(s), back when new, a lot of clearance was required for roads. Now, not so much. Still, be careful to maintain a safety-margin for the scrub-line(s), taking into account a flat tire, & suspension travel(max). Due to the roads today, car can be lower than you might think. Like the old Euro-influence, & best ot stay w/that theme anyways. Predates a lot of American hotrodding & racing. Marcus...
I'm partial to an underslung setup. I have an Alfa 4 banger a '25 Chevy frame and another Mopar axle waiting for a roadster body one of these days... Clearance isn't as bad as everyone seems to make it out to be. I could flatten a tire and still be ok. You may need to notch the frame a bit so the axle doesn't hit when it rebounds.
In France unfortunately we can't have very low cars, even stock sports cars have problems sometimes because cities build speedbumps everywhere and some are outlaw, i.e. too tall and or too short. Plus I live in the country side where roads are so narrow that to cross path with an incoming car you have to drive on the shoulder. If I get everything right I should have at least 4" of ground clearence, nothing will hit the road surface even with 2 flats.
4" isn't that much. It'll be low... maybe too low. But you'll get a good hand on that later. Nice build so far. Clipping the heads off of grasshoppers low is stupid. Marcus...
So the engine is leveled and centered I decided to finalize the trans mount to stabilize a little the whole assembly before I tackle the motor mounts. I built the last crossmember too, the original Zedel one was too far gone to use. Now here's how I'm gonna use the banjo hockey sticks with a little cutting, welding and grinding that is pretty much the final product. I really like the way it looks. On the floor there's the modified model A battery tray I will use. I found the perfect spot for it and it will be as accessible as on a stock model A lol. And here's about what it will look like once done. It still needs to be shortened by about 1" and welded to the bracket I made that bolts on the trans and engine just as Jag did it, I'm also using original Jag bushings. The pain in the ass will be finding the correct bolts because everything non metric, especially oddball stuff is extremely difficult to find if at all in the EU.
The last 3 weeks didn't go as planned : like a complete idiot I fell into a hole I dug and hurt a knee so I couldn't work, it still hurt but I'm back at it. Anyway here's the first finished rear motor mount Once in place I realy like the end product I started on the rear leaf bracket to have an idea of where I'm heading but I will need the rear end That bracket consists of mid to late 20's field find brakets and shackels welded together from a pile of rear ends of unknown origin . I'm not completely sold on it but I can't find exactly what I'm looking for. The advantage here is I can really place it wherever I want to fine tune the height of the rear end. Speaking of rear end I found a Ford Vedette one, the advantage of that banjo is that it's an open diff with parallel leaf springs pads, just like a '47 Ford pickup but in a more European width. The ratio is 4.33 for the V8-60 of the Vedette, the 2.4L Jag engine makes twice the horsepower, fortunately I have a 3.78 ratio Ford ring & pinion laying around. I don't know yet if they interchange but from what I've seen between Euro and US banjos until now I'm confident about it. I have plenty of parts that came in for my '28 RPU so I'll take a brake on this one for a while I think. On a different note I just bought a '28 or '29 (not sure yet) delivery Ford model AF from an 86 y.o. gentleman who bought it almost 5O years ago to restore it someday but never did. It's 99% complete, unmolested dry stored. It's not a sedan based body, it has 2 side windows behind the front doors and a clamshell lift gate, pictures coming up next week. From what I gathered it's a 40 or 50 car production run, so that's a pretty rare one. I've seen only another one but it had a swinging back door unlike the one I got.
Neat project. Glad to see it coming along. Good luck. I've got similar ideas. But not underslung. Looking at this one recently. Impressed with how low it is. I don't know if it's under slung.
Those are some good looking motor mounts! Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see pics of the Model AF!
Riley's are underslung in the rear only, like Triumph. I restored a Riley special some years ago after an idiot ran a stop and wiped out the whole front : bent frame, bent axle, broken motor mounts and bent grille.
Thank you. I bought the AF sight unseen and it's delivered on tuesday, first time in my life I risk something as stupid as this but I couldn't pass it especially at that price. I love utes and wagons more than roadsters or coupes.
Cool project, good luck with it. Will this be easy to license in France? How about those weird vicegrips you have, French?
I have an original title that I will use, there's no way to register a modified car so let's just say that I'm restoring an old racer Those vice grips are Facom, it used to be a french brand bought by Stanley, hi quality. The one that's holding the bracket has a max capacity of 135mm about 5.314", and can hold tubes.
I have a rear end for it! A Ford Vedette banjo, already set up from the factory for open drive and parallel leaf springs. I need to replace the gear and pinion to a more friendly one and get rid of those ineffective juice brakes, hopefully US Ford parts interchange. I chose this rear end because it's narrower than any US Ford or Matford ones and already set up for my needs.
The pumkin appears at first sight to be v8 size, the bell tubes diameter is closer to early v8 but I haven't measured yet.
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