Model A on 32 rails questions

Hi a while back I bought a really rough 1930 model a coupe at an auction.

here is a before pic



I have been making a lot of headway on the body over the past year or so but still have a LONG way to go to get it to my goal of shiney black paint





I ordered new subrails for it and plan on getting more done on the body this summer.

Yesterday at Carlise I picked up a pair of 32 rails that I plan on using unboxed with a stock model a front crossmember and a 48 f-1 tranny crossmember. I picked up a 1941 truck, open drive banjo rear for it and have a 53 mercury flathead with a 48 f-1 toploader 3 speed. I am using the stock model a axle with late 30's spindles, f-1 backing plates and drums, split wishbone and with an f-1 steering box that I modified to use a vw bus bracket to mount to the top of the frame. It is looking like I may be able to layout the frame a little narrower than a stock 32 setup so that I will have to do minimal subrail modifications in the back to make it all work.

MY question is....... has anyone used parallel leafs in the back for a model A using 32 rails?

I was laying out the frame last night on the garage floor and taking measurements and whatnot, then I got to thinking about using f-1 front leaf springs in the rear since they are nice and short. If I do this it will save some room in the rumble seat area since I won't have to use the model A rear cross member. I think I can fab it so it looks decent. Am I nuts for thinking of doing this? Or should I just link the rear?

Thanks,

john

 

I can't comment on the model A on 32 rails part of parallel leaves but my uncle put a parallel leaf kit on a 33 plymouth coupe that ran 32 ford rails and a mopar 8 3/4 rear. the car drove great!

 

I have parallel rear leaves on the back of my 33 pickup on a 32 frame works fine..........

 

Cool...... have any pics of your rear suspension?

thanks,

john

 

John,As far as the frame is concerned parallel leafs on the rear is nothing new and I believe they are still offered in kit form,,I have them on my '32 sedan.

If you are intent on using the rails un-boxed you will need to use some sort of X member and a short plate above the spring hangers. HRP

 

My only concern would be your front and rear mounting points on the frame for the hangers. If you bob the rear horns off, like many model a's on 32 do, I'm not sure you will have the rear mount area. Just a thought.

 

Somebody got picture I would like to see this. Also

 

Found these photos on another site which shows you will need to have the rear horns on to have the parallel leafs. Might be more trouble for the model a than using the buggy spring system.

 

Why not use a rear spring to fit your rear axle??? and a flat (or nearly flat)rear crossmember to fit the rear spring??? and use a torque arm with your stock ford rear radius rods??? It's hard to beat a chopt A coupe on deuce rails unless you f**k it up!!!

P.S. Good job on the body, it's lookin' good...

 

I think since you are using a banjo and 32 rails, transverse would be the only way to go. Maybe parallel if you were going 9" rear, but i'm guessing you chose the parts you did for looks? transverse would look MUCH better..02 cents.

It looks like you are doing a great job on bringing the body back to its former glory, gloss black....you are the man

 

Ill tell you plain and simple parallel is ugly. I would go with a stock style spring or even ( god forbid) the dreaded coil overs before I did parallel leafs. It would look just plain ugly

 

I agree that parallel leaves in this situation are ugly. You WILL see them from the back of the car. Just don't do it!

 

I am now really torn on this... the f-1 leafs are just 35" long so I can bob the 32 rails just before the rear of the body. you really won't see much of the suspension unless you are down low. Even then you will just see the shackles.

I originally was going to run the transverse spring like everyone else but I really hate to see split wishbones on the rear of my car (my driveway is steep and I live on a hill so I can imagine that would be over stressing the rear housing every time I take it out) unless I link the rear to have the suspension "work" properly which won't look too traditional in my eyes.

That was my main reasoning behind using leafs...again I am not opposed to the transverse rear but a lot of the transverse suspensions I see look they would put the rear housing in a bind. I am open to other ideas.

My car isn't going to to be the typical slammed to the ground uncomfortable car. I plan on using all mid 50's and earlier parts. I won't be chopping it much or at all and it won't be channeled (I am 6-8" and 245 pounds and need all the room I can get! my wife is also tall the thin and my daughter is growing like a weed so leg room is something I would like to have in the rumble area...I have even pondered having a deeper footwell area for the rumble area if I can make the room)

Thanks for the pics tips and input guys I really appreciate it!!

 

If your rear bones are triangulated then you won't have any housing twist. Look at Henry Ford's original design and the Pete and Jake's long ladder setup. Both pointed into the center of the car and work excellently.

If you run them parallel with the frame (like ladder bars) then you turn your rearend housing into a giant swaybar and eventually something will fail.

For simplicity you might look into "truck arm" style setup. Crusty Nut did a great thread on this years ago. He built a super-mondo-heavy duty setup that worked out great under his Tudor.

 

Go with the traverse buggy spring. Use Pete & Jake's style ladder bars that mount up by the transmission output. If you want to use your stock Ford wishbones then take a look at the Rolling Bones approach. They fabricate their ladder bars using stock bones for the lower ladder rail.

No matter how many times you have seen it done, don't mount your rear bones to the outside frame rails.

 

The Hot Rod Works has some neat solutions to your problems... Check 'em out...

 

I still haven't decided on how I want to go but I have some of it mocked up and will need to make a decision soon.

I also need to decide if I want to make a front wishbone mount just in fornt of the tranny crossmember (I lengthened a model a wishbone with 37 wishbone arms) OR use split bones in the front.

Anywho here are some mock up pics with the new subrails on top of the frame. I am going to run my rails a little narrower in the back it looks like it will all work together well.





I got a bit more metalwork done on the passenger side of the body....it is starting to look like body instead of a crumpled up rust pile. I need to get more done on the drivers side and get the new subrails installed..... maybe next week some time.

 

I have parallel leafs on the back of a 40 Ford Coupe ... on a car with fenders you dont see them and they work well ... when I got the car it had hacked up mid fifties Olds leafs with diamond plate hangers. I changed them for a set of CE -s which were made for a Ford chassis... almost bolt on.

 

Good job on the body!
I see where you're coming from with your concern about binding.
You're obviously considering the forces acting on that rear suspension as it enters the drive way at an angle. With the rear mounted so that the car basically pivots at the center (transverse leaf, and stock or P&J/Rolling Bones style ladder bars) there's not much stress on the outer rails. But you're considering parallel leaves & and an unboxed chassis? I think anytime you spread the suspension forces to the outer rails boxing them is a good idea.
What about a flatter spring behind the rear - like a stock 32? You're not running a QC so no need for a big A spring & crossmember

 

There was a '32 Five window that used to make the rod runs in San Jose from '75 to around '85. We used to laugjh at it, as it had semi-elliptics ("parallel leaves") out back.

The joke was that it looked like it was 'tryin' ta be a Chevy'. The car disappeared for awhile, then re-emerged with a Model T rear spring & crossmember, with Halibrand V8 Quickie. We congratulated the guy for his insight to the 'right thing'. He said he bought it, puked a few times, and changed it.

 

I like the idea of a flatter spring I didn't know that the 32 spring and crossmemebr was flatter....I will have to look into it........I think that may be the ticket for me.

 

If you want a little lower, look at the fabricated crossmember SoCal uses for their '32 frames. It is a thick wall tube with a flat 5/16" plate in the center to locate the flat rear spring. (spring is '40 Ford type)
Simple and effective.

 

I decided to go with a stock model a rear crossmember..... it is modified and installed.. I also got the front cross member in and most of the front suspension mocked up.

I also hammered away at a LOT more bodywork and have a few more days of metalwork left to do before I start mudding it up.

I just gotta decide if i want to weld up the bullet holes that are in the passenger side...it looks like someone once tried to or actually killed the driver. I want to put a nice gloss black paint job on the car BUT I am torn on leaving the bullet holes??

 

UM, NO.


James

 

I need to update this with some pics (maybe tomorrow). But the car is now on axles again....man that new rear spring was tough to install!!!! I still need to mount the split front bones to the frame and need to make the rear axle rods, which I will do once I get the engine mocked in place and the f-1 tranny crossmember bolted in it final position.

I am glad I got talked into a model A rear cross member and buggy spring...I am happy with how it looks.

I can roll it around again and I got even more metalwork done on it. I still need to repair a few more spots and grind down some more welds but it is starting to look like a car!!!

I was originally going to go fenderless but I may eventually go full fendered.

 

some pics









I may end up needing to heat and bend my shackle brackets a bit to get a better shackle angle once the car is a little further along (aka once it weighs close the the finished weight).. I only did one pass when I welded them to the tube to avoid warping the tubes....next time I am messing with the axle I will do another pass. I will also grind off the leaf pads... I left them on temporarily as a reference for my protractor.



It all still may not look like much but if you compare it to what I started with I am pretty happy with my progress so far.

 

Cool build!
You have a lot of very good Ideas in your build!!!!

 

You are doing a fantastic job on this coupe! To mount your split bones to the frame, check out the mounts that Elpolacko makes and sells. They look spot-on for a period build.

 

awesome build!!! i am very impressed with your work!! i had to replace the sub frame on mine but you make it look easy!!! and that left side on yours i would have still been staring at it! keep it up!!!

 

Your efforts sir are truly inspirational! Love your approach. Gives me hope for my A pickup I've been working on for 20 plus yrs. Now I'm just plain disgusted with myself. Gotta get back to the shop! Keep it coming sir.