Body mnting blocks 30Acoupe on 32 rails?

Need advice.
What works well for mounting a 30A coupe on 32 rails?
Modified A wood blocks, plastic, hockey pucks or nothing?
Also, what works well for body shims?
Thanks all,
DK

 

I'd like to know as well. I'm putting a '29 Tudor on a wanna be '32 ch***is. Does it just sit on top of the frame steel to steel or should I put something in there?

 

I bought a rod of polyurethane to slice up for my 29 sedan.
Didn't want to use wood but the stuff was kind of pricey.

 

djust-how did the polyurethane work?

 

just use body mounts

 

I haven't used it yet.
Just got it a couple of days ago. It has a durameter hardness of 90A which is about like skateboard wheels.
I ordered a 2" by 12" rod of it from McMaster and Carr and it cost me with shipping 75.00 so I hope it works out okay.
Didn't really know how thick I needed the mounts so I just bought some to slice up however thick I needed and could also cut it thinner to use as shims.
I plan on cutting with my miter saw.
Good plan, Bad plan I don't know yet.

 

There has to be a least 50 A's on 32 railson the hamb,lets see some body mounts

 

I just used pieces of oak to fit up in the sub-rails. Welting in a few spots, & cut-up paint sticks for shims. Nothing fancy, just something to get the job done.

 

A set of body mounting blocks cut correctly, drilled and ready to install are sold by every Model A parts supplier on earth for a resonable price and yes you do need something under there.

 

If you notice A subrails, they are not flat. Just take some cardboard, make a pattern, and cut you out some blocks. DRuss32 has flat rails, so he can get away with a adhesive welting. The original A subrails liked to split and crack, as most originals are where the rear crossmember bolts to the body. You definately want all the support you can get. This helps dissapate the abuse this area receives.

 

Toqwik,
Yea, I mostly have the original A subrails, except for the rear at the wheel wells back.
So it would make sense to use the repro wooden blocks and rubber shims.
But don't they have to be cut down in height and not all can be used, such as the outrigger ones etc.?
I also think support would be really important.

D.W., I like your approach too.

I would think a dense plastic block like djust is using would work too.

I would like to see pics of mounts guys have used.

 

My subrails are also made out of 2 x 3 tubing, and would think there needs to be some kind of cushion between the body and frame to keep some fo the vibration out of the p***enger area.
I know alot of Model a suppliers have repop wood blocks but couldn't find any that were specific for my car made out of anything else but wood.
Maybe I didn't look hard enough.
My 29 sedan is going back onto a pete and jakes model a frame not a 32.

 

UHMW plastic worked so good for motor mount biscuits in my 32 that I'm going to try it for the 31 on 32rails car.






A total of ten mounts, the only Model A hardrock maple block that can be used is the one just inside the cowl area over the frame rail proper.

Frame mounts out of 1" x 2" x .120 rectangular tubing

Drill


Saw


Thin cut on one side


Mark off for curved cut on one end


Done


Makes for a quick, good looking mount with a nice curve on the top edges.

 

I'm using solid mahogany mounts I made myself, they are roughly 1/2" thick, 8 of them total. I treated them with polyurethane.
They will last many decades, since mahogany is naturally rot resistant.

 

You don't want to mount metal to metal. I have been using polyurethane for awhile now. You can cut it to shape with a band saw. If you need to shim the body, it can be belt sanded to trim or machined in a lathe. Our local plastics supplier has a trim barrel full of small pieces that are very reasonable. Heading there today to pick up some pieces to mount my 40 Ford pickup cab to the frame. I used wood pieces to temporarily mount the cab and then made a cardboard template to use for patterns to transfer to the polyurethane. That way I could get the body level on the frame and check the body to running board clearances.

 

That's all and well for individual body mounts but what did you use where the body sits over the rails?

 

My subrails are just about perfect and I see no reason to cut them out just to weld something else in there. Couldn't I weld a plate to the bottom of the subrail/channel and essentially have the same result? It would be like a boxing plate for an open channel frame rail but for the subrail on my body instead.

Thoughts?

 

Probably the resto type oiled webbing.
It worked well on the 32 roadster.

That won't go on until the frame is painted.
This summer if things go well.

 

Beefstew....that subframe looks awesome....I wouldn't cut out a thing......use the approach like you mentioned or use tab's like pictured above your post, but no reason to cut out any of that subfloor. Carl Hagan

 

Beef Stew my subrails are brand new, I just replaced them with repop originals.
The 1 x 2 I used tucked right into the bottom of the subrails from the cowl back and the only place I cut them was for the cross rails.
I had new cross rails welded in already so I just cut them back out and used the much stronger tubing for the support of the floors.
If you search my sign on you can probably find the pictures of how I put them in.
If you can't find the pictures on here let me know and I will re post them on this thread when I get home.
From the top of the subrails the tubing can't be seen unless someone crawls under the car and looks for them.
The orginal subrails just didn't seem strong enough to me.

 

Here is a couple pics.. Made mine out some s**** poly. Cut it to fit inside the cross rails 6 ea, and two ea. under the cowl near the front of the doors. They are 1 3/16 thick. I still have a .100 gap before the body hits the frame.Plan to use welting to fill the gap.

 

Awesome. I think I'm going to do the same thing. Thanks.

 

Homemadehardtop57 is putting a roadster on a '32 frame, he has some excellent pics, look for his build thread.

 

good ideas,
It sounds like there is(as it usually is) no one way only to mount the body.
I believe most think, that with original subrails, there needs to be mounting blocks of some sort the support the rails on the frame rails.
I guess what ever will work will do.
Thanks for all the info.
C9 thanks for the great pics.

 

Check out my thread for some good pics of how I did the mounting..good luck

 

This is what I did as well. Cut out the stock subrails in the rear, and make new ones. The thick welting is great, no body/frame squeeking at all.

 

Chris,
I think your build and pics are awesome.
Do you have any pictures of your body mounts using the wooden blocks you could post?
Also, where did you get the original headlight mounts, before you went to the headlight bar setup? Are they from a vendor? Fabbed? aluminum?
Thanks,
Dar

 

I'm using thick reinforced rubber matting [about 3/4 in thick] cut into squares to mount my Stude bus to a Chevy frame. It was in the back of another vehicle I bought. I think it is sold at farm supply stores as matting for stalls, comes in about 3x4 foot pieces.

 

Well this begs the question of whether or not the body has to be supported all the way to the very back of the car. Please read my other thread regarding this question:

A/32 Ch***is & Rear Suspension

I asked whether or not the body needs to be support all the way to the back and I never got an affirmative answer. As I said in my other post, I've seen a lot of older builds that had the back of the car cut out so the frame rails could tuck up into the body and then there was no new subrails built in. It kind of seems like the new standard today is to build the rails back in after the body has been cut but take for example the Pinkee's Model A coupe. the frame totally stops ahead of the rear axle.

 

Beef Stew,
That is an interesting question. I wondered about that too, but built new subrails to match the frame contour after cutting out the original subrails in the rear.