Projects 1934 Ford Pickup in England

With my Volvo <-> Flathead bellhousing winging its way to me from Sweden.
Time to pick up some of the pieces ahead of its arrive.
1) Can I actually make the torque tube adapter, as I had planned ?
I printed out just the flanges, I will have to get these laser cut at some point.

Flats on both pieces and a small aligment hole in one, allowa me to keep things aligned when assembling.
I was planning to use a piece of tube as the main body.
127mm with a 3mm wall is a regular size here in the UK.
But that wouldn't clear the bolt circles, so my design calls for 120mm.
My cunning plan was to cut out the section that would be flat, then use a hose clamp to cinch it up gently and evenly.

Worked unbeliveable well.
That was the only piece I had and isn't quite long enough.
But with my sucess, I've ordered up a bigger piece.
One off a long list......

 

2) The adapter from Volvo spline to Ford UJ.
Seems machining splines is tricky - I thought that might have been the case.
Finding a spare output shaft from a 3-speed was also tricky.
So I took Mart's idea of welding to heart.....
As a reminder, this is what the end of the gearbox looks like, with a M20x1.5 thread.

My prototype 3D print has that M20x1.5 thread internally, and a regular m10 to hold the allen screw.
Imagine these two pieces in steel and welded together.
That gives me a custom nut, that will pass through the UJ so I can do it up to 55lb/ft.

Here it is holding on the Volvo output flange (with the ears cut off)
Imagine the Ford UJ welded to that at some point in the future.

Here is is mocked up with my torque tube adapter.

From another angle, I can see the UJ sticks out too far.
Center of the UJ pivot, to the torque tube mounting flange, was 13mm (1/2 inch) on my 3-speed gearbox.
Here it is 25mm (1inch)

But that is fine for now. I can adjust that down the line.
When the modified shifter turns up with the bellhousing, I can see how much space that needs to move.
Also when the Ford UJ is welded on, that might change that dimension.
But I can easily change the length of the housing to suit, when those two unknows are locked in.
Thanks for looking.

 

Progress on this has been slow for many reasons, but now I've got a bunch of parts - so full steam ahead.
Laser cut parts, a tube to cut up, and some misc steel to form the rest of the torque tube adapter.

It was too long before the plastic adapater has a brother from steel.....

The circular flange isn't fixed yet, I need to determine the exact length of the adapter, and trim it down to suit.
That is next......

 

Great work, modern technology opens up completely new possibilities.
Best regards, Harald

 

Now to make the custom nut to hold on the propshaft flange. There wasn't enough space to get a socket onto a hex head.
So I fired up my el-cheapo mini-lathe, and turned up a piece of steel. Drilled and tapped one end, so I could screw in an allen head fitting, and welded it all together.

Bored out the other end to accept a M20 x 1.5 tap - to match the gearbox thread.

That bolted on an torqued up nicely. Despite me mangling the head a little.

With Lincoln spec UJ, things are coming together.

But how to mate them together - accurately........

 

Alas the uj was slightly smaller that the internal Volvo piece.
My cunning plan was to make a shim out of thin (0.7mm) aluminium, that would give me a light press fit.
I also protected the UJ journals or whatever they are called.

I didn't have the skills or equipment to hold the two pieces in a lathe....but the gearbox makes for a decent setup jig.
Bolted down to the bench, I was left with just a little play in the gearbox bearings - but nothing of consequence.
This setup gave me two surfaces to indicate off, to get my alignment decent.
Much tapping around later, I was able to put on 4 spot welds.
Once cooled I was able to check the run out.
+- 2thou on the vertical face

Same on the horizontal surface (but it is a metric gauge)

I've no real experience doing this kind of work, but I'm hoping +- 2thou is on the money ???

 

It's all coming together well.

 

i THINK .005 is max tro--squirrel will know!

 

Metric or imperial? He measured in metric.
It's not rocket science but NASA lost a prob because of such mix up.

 

Nice work, but I think your biggest problem might be controlling the distortion when welding the two parts together. When I did a similar thing to a coupling the surface ended up convex, in my case I turned it flat again in the lathe, but the tapped holes in it were still splayed out. Your journal housings (or whatever they're called) may end up out of line, if that happens I'm not sure it could be fixed.

 

Sorry for the slow updates, life and work always gets it the way. and actually doing this stuff takes ages too. But I seem to have got to a point worth an update or two, so here it is.
To 282DOORUK, I'm always worried about welding distortion, but after fully welding the UJ, I seem to have been lucky, as the UJ rotates smoothly as one would hope - pheww.

Talking of welding, I fully welded up the torque-tube <-> Volvo adapter.


That was cleaned up and painted, slopped on primer, and enamel, as I was aiming for a finish similar to the torque tube.
Along with the beginning of some gearbox mounts, I had a kit of parts to assemble.

A small but important job was to shorten the mainshaft slightly. Yes the grinder in the background was the tool for job.

That allowed me to assemble everything with gaskets, and torqued bolts.
Yellow gearstick extension is a work in progress.

I cleaned up the shifter brackets and modified one with to clear the reversing light switch.
The Lincoln UJ I've got now is slightly bigger/squarer than the original. It was just catching on the bell.
So I ground some of the corners off, but it was still catching occasionally.
I was experimenting with the yellow spacer at this stage. I think a 3mm /1/8" spacer with a couple of thin gaskets will sort that.

Some really basic gearbox mounts too. These pickup on the original holes in the crossmember.
I've not made these too strong yet, I'll see exactly where the gearbox wants to sit, when I have the engine back.

All of that was easier the pulling out the clutch pedal rod.
Only thing that would touch it was my large bearing puller, even then it was a huge fight.
But that will allow me to turn the rod 180 to link up to the heim on the Volvo clutch release arm.

Torque tube in a mo....

 

Shortening the torque was a scary thing for me, so I tried to be scientific.
The original 3-speed gearbox was 327mm long flange <-> flange
The Volvo gearbox with my adapter and custom bellhousing, along with the spacer shim was 488mm long.
That told me the torque tube needed be shortened by 161mm.
I err'd on the side of caution, and decided to go for 165mm, figuring I could always add a shim if needed.
I don't have a chop saw, and the torque-tube is a very gentle taper, so I 3D printed up some guides for a hacksaw.
These worked really well, and took into account the kerf of the blade.
Don't think I've ever used the work Kerf in 58 years
I cable tied the bell into place, as it is just like me to leave it off, and only notice after welding !!

Welded the torque tube back up, and wrestled it into place.
Using the holes on the gearbox crossmember as a datum. I could see the torque tube was still 5mm - 13/64" too long.
I've no idea how I could be 9mm - 23/64's in total out, but I was.
Nothing for it but to pull it out and cut out 6mm.

I cut out 6mm rather than the required 5mm, so I could leave a small gap for the weld.

It wasn't what I planned, but I ended grinding the welds down smooth.
Here is everything assembled, and viewed from underneath.
It is pleasing how there is equal movement available for droop and compression.
From above.

Finally hacked a suitable hole in the plywood floor.
A presentable tunnel cover will keep me busy for a while, especially as I want to use the rubber seals from the Volvo shifter.

A least now I can commit to getting the propshaft profesionally shortened by 170mm approx 6 3/4"
Next piece to do at home is the shifter.
Thanks for looking.

 

Slick!

 

Awesome.
Greetings Harald

 

Been out and about getting used to my model A with a fresh Burtz in it, the stock gear ratios now seem way out of sync with the power delivery, a Volvo box is working it's way to the top of my to-do list!

 

Excellent progress. It's a lot of very difficult work. The parts you have are making it more difficult, (tapered tube, Lincoln UJ) but you have to work with what you have. There is a definite relationship between torque tube length and driveshaft length. I showed it in a video. From memory the figure of 70mm comes to mind but I did measure it in a weird way. I'd have to re-watch.
Well done. Mart.

 

Great work. The Volvo gearbox is on my radar but we don't have many out here

 

My 31' coupe is getting a Volvo M40 transmission, which has already been adjusted.
This conversion here is very fine.
Regards Harald

 

This way you did it is similar to the way I did it
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-original-model-a-engine-w-torquetube.728951/

 

I know a guy who has one, and I have a BB bellhousing I don’t need ……

 

Can't believe I have missed this thread. I spent some time looking over your truck at Pendine last year, but having seen your thread I am looking forward to seeing it again this September. Great work and some familiar battles that I can sympathise with. Love the mockups and thought that have gone into it. Best of luck with the rest of the build.
Mark

 

I even saw myself in one of your pics!

 

Is that so.... Will give you a bell

 

Thanks for the feedback - it means a lot
@Mart I did watch you videos way before I started. I will have to rewatch, but surely if the torque tube and the prop came from the original car, and the torque-tube needed shortening by 170mm, then the prop will need shortening by the same 170mm ?? Or am I under thinking it ?

@manyolcars I've not seen your build before - great minds..... does yours drive well ?

@Little Terry would love to catch up in person, but alas I won't be at Pendine this year. My engine is still being rebuilt, and I can't be bothered to put the crossplys back on are my two best excuses.

Andy

 

I decided to crack on with shortening the driveshaft.
This is what I started with. Not sure if someone has been here before, but that weld doesn't look that factory to me - but I'm no expert.
I tried various ways to measure the alignment of the spline in the tube.
None were perfect, so I just carried on

I attcked that weld with various power tools, until I found the seam.
Strangely I could smell it before seeing it, 90 year old oil is really pungent.

Now I could continue grinding and separate the spline from the tube - it didn't take much to knock it out.

I cut the required 170mm off of the tube, just using a hose clip as a guide for the hacksaw this time around.
I put the spline in the mini-lathe to clean it up a bit for welding.

The first time I refitted the spline, into the tube I wasn't happy. It took too much force to insert.
Turns out I hadn't ground back enough of the tube inner weld seam, so I popped it out and tried again.
This time I put the spline in the freezer overnight, and heated the tube with my Mapp torch.
It dropped right in with no hammering.
This has the advantage - hopefully that the alignment will be decent - fingers crossed.

In fact it dropped in a little too far, and closed up some of the vee I made for welding.
Alas I didn't notice until it had cooled, and was now really tight.
I cleaning out a little material to get a vee for welding.
This means my overall length is 2mm - 1/16" shorter than intended. Ho Hum.
So tacked......

and then fully welded.

I've not had chance to put it in the car yet.
But fingers crossed it will be fine.