Projects 1932 Roadster Traditional Upgrades: Lincoln Brakes, Gauges & Steering

My goodness, @Dennis Lacey.
What a well written and well photographed tech tip exhibiting the impeccable work you carry out using the parts you manufacture. Thanks also for alerting us to where you purchase parts you do not make.

‘I have to agree with you on the issue of running an adjustable drag link on a lowered front end. I recently fitted one that was made using 49-54 Chev drag link ends (ooops - my own tech tip) to my ‘28 coupe (reversed eye spring on a ‘34 axle, 32 spindles and brakes) and what an amazing difference it made - no more constant correcting of the wheel to maintain a straight line, caused by the steering not sitting in the centre of its travel aka the sweet spot.

I was wondering what the final brake pedal ratio works out to. I’ve read that 6:1 is the standard.
I’ve not heard of anyone using a 7/8” m/c bore before. I thought one used a 1” bore. I only ask this because I’m collecting parts to put original ‘41 Lincoln front brakes and ‘48 Ford brakes on my A coupe using parts I purchased from you.

 

STEP 7

But wait, there’s more! The other goodie that Geoff sent for me to install was this new instrument panel containing a pair of Stewart Warner Duplex gauges and Auburn V8 speedometer, artfully restored by Abbott Instruments in Portland, Oregon.



The original instrument panel was removed and the legs separated from it. The original faces were plated and turned steel and were spot-welded onto the legs. Replacements have always been turned stainless steel so it is necessary to attach them to the legs with hardware as had been done with this one using little #6 screws.







Here the legs are fit to the new panel using sturdier #10 screws. Mounting the legs is simply a matter of clamping them in place on the panel and match drilling the holes.





Now the fun part. These gauges are designed to be back-mounted on studs with nuts but this panel has no mounting provisions.





Fast forward 4 hours and I was able to tediously build a set of brackets to hold the Duplex gauges and a pair of clamps to hold the speedometer down tight.













Satisfied with the mounting system, I painted all of the brackets and clamps, touched up the paint on the ends of the legs and then final assembled.











With the new panel assemble I installed it into the car. I must say, the new gauge set looks absolutely bitchin! And, what’s better, now all the vitals can be monitored without anny ancillary gauges and clutter hanging off the bottom of the dash.





To be continued…

 

That looks great!
Dennis you have a P.M.
TOM

 

STEP 8

The new steering gear doesn’t have a provision to mount the original foot operated starter switch. Neal does offer a solution but I’m not a fan of the foot switch so I took the opportunity to upgrade to a starter solenoid. I make a bracket that mounts the solenoid down in the K-member off of the 4-cylinder stabilizer rod bolts. The car already had an aluminum bracket on the backside of the dashboard rail to hold the Columbia overdrive switch and it conveniently had enough room to add a starter push button.









The new gauge panel required lengthening and adding some wiring with the ammeter now on the right side of the speedometer and the addition of the fuel gauge. This car has a new stock wire harness and I happened to have a spare new one on hand so I sacrificed it for the sake of being able to extend the wires as necessary while keeping the same colors and gauge. I also installed a new headlight fuse block because the existing one was looking pretty crusty.







Next, it was time to remove the gas tank for the first time since the car was restored in the 80’s. It was nasty dirty up in there!





Abbott Instruments had made this new fuel pick up (right) unit with sender for the gauge that is intended to fit in the stock tank hole. I had to trim the tube a bit and reposition the float as they had it pointed to the right but there is a baffle in the tank right there. I could not point it to the left because of the tube so it had to point to the rear. Ideally it should be side to side but this was the option.



I did end up having to make a notch in the tank to allow the assembly to fit.





All cleaned up and ready to install.



After getting the tank in is when I noticed the fitting Abbott soldered on the pickup was inverted flare, not SAE 45 degree like stock so out the tank came so that I could change the line nut and flare the fuel line.



All that was left was to run the power lead up to the gauge, attach the ground lead to the frame and turn on the ignition switch. Success! The level on the gauge explains why the tank was so heavy. Ammeter also correctly showing slight discharge with power on but engine off.

*Note*

Before I ever started pulling the tank I mocked up wiring to the float unit and cycled it by hand to confirm that both it and the gauge were working. The last thing I’d want is to assume and find out there’s an issue after going through all the trouble of removing and reinstalling the tank!



To be continued…

 

STEP 9

With the ammeter and fuel level gauge working good it was time to hook up the temp and oil gauge. It was then that I realized that there is nowhere on a 4-banger to install a temp sender! The owner showed me that Dan Price makes a new, cast aluminum pump with 4-blade impeller, stainless shaft, sealed bearings, 180 thermostat and a boss that can be drilled and tapped for a sender fitting so we ordered one. Changing the water pump, however, meant taking apart the front of the car.







I took the opportunity to clean the front of the engine and cross member and that’s when I realized the crank pulley was loose and would rotate about 70 degrees. I put a wrench on the nut and it was absolutely tight so I removed the pulley and found it broken at the keyway. I also found that the bolt was not fully tightening against the pulley all the way around as the surface was uneven and the end of the crank was poking past the pulley in one area ever so slightly.





We ordered a billet-steel stock diameter pulley from Charlie Yapp. This part is exceptionally nice!



With the pulley situation solved I finished the water pump install and was able to reassemble the front of the car. I also installed an Autometer oil pressure gauge line kit. Thankfully the oil filter adapter had a port with 1/8-27 pipe thread for doing just that.











With the car back together I was able to run the engine and confirm the temp and oil gauge was working properly.

 

Thanks for taking us along on this upgrade journey.
Very nice Deuce roadster made even better.

 

I followed Boling brother’s instructions and it said to not use the grease shields. I haven’t driven the car yet, so not too bad to take it apart and add them.

 

With their brakes you would need 1928-1934 front shields with 1928-1936 spindles or 1939-1948 shields for 1937-1948 spindles and then 1939-1948 shields across all the rears. The early shields are reproduced, the later are not and supplies of originals are getting thin.

Run the shields if you have them but it’s not a big deal if you don’t thanks to modern wheel bearing seals being rubber. Back in the day the seals were leather and therefor less effective so the shields were a secondary defense.

 

Wow! Excellent job all round, Dennis. Thanks for putting together the build thread and videos. All the best, Mart.

 

I was surprised when the local parts counter handed me a leather seal! Thank you