Projects My '26 Roadster / Vintage photo search

I try to be ..Me too, just want to get it all back together and done!

..Hey, wait a minute....who's thread is this?

 

*UPDATE*
The Front End is......COMPLETE!!!!!

Last night I met my goal to finish the front end....save for some hardware I need to get Saturday morn to mount everything permanent...but all the fab work is done!!

The shock mounts: Done.
Panhard Bar: Done.
Split Wishbones and frame mount plates: Done.
Front spring shackles: Done.
Headlight forks: Done.
Steering knuckle Arms/ Tie-Rod: Done.

Like I said, just gotta get some new hardware on the way out Saturday morn so I can bolt it all together.....didn't have what I needed at the shop.

Here are last night's victories:

The upper shock mounts in all three stages of construction:


...Welding them on:


...all done


..The Panhard Bar:




..The finished front suspension:




...Next Update, we start the Rear Suspension...


Stay tuned!
​

 

Killer!! It looks great!


iPhone - TJJ app

 

I'm stoked too! I'm very pleased with how the front end turned out. It flexes perfectly and the panhard bar eliminates the side-to-side movement. The shocks also stiffen the ride quite a bit!

Exactly what I wanted!

 

Oh man, and I had just gotten over the Flivver Fever.

Oh well, bring it on! I can't wait.

-Dave

 

....just when you thought you were free of it! Mwahahahahahahahah!

 

My Falcons hate you.

-Dave

 

...Mine does too, join the club

 

At least your Falcon looks better than my T!

-Dave

 

...True, but still

 

*UPDATE*
Gettin' my "rearend" into gear...

Now that I have completed the front end of the ch***is, it was finally time to move on the aft portion of the ch***is...and the rear suspension (something that a few of you are chomping at the bit for ).

But first things first! ...there are a few thing we need to tackle before we get to the new suspension...like rebuilding the and setting up the rear axle.

I got started by braking down the rear axle for a thorough cleaning and inspection:


I'm really glad that I did because I did find some damage to the pinion gear end of the drive shaft. I had noticed several times during the first two years on the road that the 6 spool bolts ( that is the race for the drive shaft Hyatt bearing) commonly worked them selves loose. After 3 or 4 times of this happening, I pulled them out and added lock washers and the problem stopped. Now, 5 years later I found that the bolts coming loose caused a considerable amount of damage to the pinion gear, rear Hyatt bearing. It chipped the teeth on the gear badly, ground up the rollers on the Hyatt and caused the pressed on race to spin, hit the pinion woodriff key....which then split the race down the middle



It also caused some damage to the ring gear in the form of some abnormal wear, but was usable. Just the same, I opted to switch it out too....and correctly safety wire the ring gear bolts of which all were finger tight and had been secured with a untwisted piece of bailing wire ...undoubtedly an old time repair:



I also to the opportunity to thoroughly degrease all components. Hey, look...there is black paint under all that dirt and grease!



This was also my chance to flip the rear end halves back to there original locations...Right on the Right, Left on the Left. This put the spring perch locations back to there original place on top of the axle. This will come into play and be explained in one of my next updates:



...ready for silicone sealant!



Also made my hardware store run and got all the front end stuff bolted together:



Stay tuned for more!


​

 

Well, now that’s interesting, as the housing flip was exactly the trick I was hoping to learn. But, it sounds as if you’ve got something even more trick in store.

When we were young and wanted to say we were listening intently, we used to say "I'm all ears like a field of corn", but since this is the Internet and there’s no listening, perhaps I should say “I’m all eyes like an old potato”?

In any event, I can’t wait.

-Dave

PS I heard on the Six Month Speedster thread that SaucyNordicTart was under the weather. Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery.

 

I have way better tricks up my sleeve for this

While the axle flip did work....it did have some inherent clearance issues with the rear cross member that always bothered me, So I took the whole rear suspension back to the drawing board. What I came up with is based on two different old style methods that I combined together (and added my own "improvement" too) to make the perfect rear end lowering method. The best part is it accomplishes exactly the same look and feel as the old way and changes NOTHING about the setup except how the spring is hung. It does not alter the drive shaft, spring perches, ride height, spring placement or frame.

...as a matter of fact, it should look almost Identical to the way it did before except the shackle arrangement will be different.....and it will be adjust able That way I can change my ride height whenever I want.

Thank you kindly for the wishes, I will p*** them along if she hasn't yet gotten them. She is okay, the temporary medication really hit her hard is all. She should be right as rain in a day or two

 

AH! This is a perfect moment for a Charlie Chan Aphorism:
Ancient ancestor once say, "Words cannot cook rice."


My boss would often say:

If theres time to lean - theres time to clean.


So you guys better get back on task and get that machine fixed up. This weekend I'm booked, I'll see how next weekend works. I'll keep in touch dude.


(I'm a big C.C. fan...own 24 of his movies)

 

Yeah, didnt you know that Grease Cake is a form of rust prevention and preservation! I've refused to buy cars simply because they were void of the nurturing cradle of grease cake. If it isnt covered with grease, cat hair, grime and pine needles I wont touch it. Its the sign of a healthy well preserved machine.
Hehehehe

 

The Model A axles are hung in very much the same fashion as the Model T....so you should be able to apply all of these mods with a few slight adjustments for the difference in axles.

I will certainly p*** on the "Hello" to Julia....I know she appreciates you thinking of her and the best wishes

*UPDATE*
Sorry, no mid-week update
​

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]Sadly I don't really have an update to post mid-week. Wednesday night was just a slow night that I spent going back over the rear axle and re-safety wiring the ring gear bolts in the proper fashion.

Unfortunately no pictures this time....camera batteries were dead [/FONT]

 

Clayton, I hope you replaced the carrier thrust washes with bronze or rollers.
Mike

 

That was one of the first things I did. My axle had either the lead washers or the fiber versions....I can't recall now. When I did pull it apart and cleaned it up...it received a brand new set of bronze thrust washers.

I might just have to look into the roller replacements though...

 

very nice

 

*UPDATE*
The rear axle saga continues...

Got some more progress made on the rear axle this weekend. I was always unhappy with the way I had done up the radius rods...the welds were so sloppy and crooked, so it was natural that one of my "little projects" would be fixing them.



A close up ...


I also found while inspecting the torque tube, I found that the weld (from the shortening process) had badly cracked by the damage to the drive shaft. This too was corrected...



The complete rear end....



I also took a little time in the morning to mess around with the front end alignment.



Had to trim down the tie rod and got it all welded and ***embled...



....and painted...








More to come!...




​

 

...bump

 

Almost a roller, eh? So close, yet so far..


iPhone - TJJ app

 

Almost ...I can't wait!

I am really getting excited to have this thing all back together, painted and running so I can put the body back on and start road testing this thing!

 

Lookin good my friend.

 

Cute as hell!

 

Thanks kindly! ...I just hope I can get this thing back together in time for Bonneville!

 

Clayton, You are sure making some great progress on your roadster. Looking forward to the rear axle overhaul and mods. Going to be clean and reliable !

Dave

 

I am quite pleased with my progress as well..been doing the same job as last time (far better quality this time though) in a quarter of the time.

"clean and reliable" ....my working motto this time