I started out building a 31 tudor, when I found this 29 coupe, and thats when things changed. I was building a spring behind front axle set up for the tudor and decided to just start over with a more traditional set up for the coupe since it had a frame with it.
I pretty much had a rolling ch***is before starting over so hopefully it wont take long to get back there. I started by making frame rail extensions for my spring behind rear axle set up. I only needed to Z the frame 2" since the spring I am running is a medium arch spring . I clamped them to the frame rails keeping the as straight as possible and measuring several times. After welding I welded a brace across the frame to keep it steady and cut the crossmember out and welded in place.
Here are the pictures of the frame. Having to email photos to myself to get them to load for some reason.
A picture of the spings. I've been told these are t springs, but speedway sells a set called medium arch springs so im not sure what they are but they work.
To lower the front of the car without a Z'd frame, I'm using a dropped model a axle, posie 2" lower spings and I pancaked my front crossmember. I made four cuts in the cross member and after welding them up I fish plated them all. I think this should still be strong enough.
I took a day off yesterday to start boxing the frame. I'm not sure what you guys will think of the way i did it, but it should be just as strong if not stronger than just welding a plate to the inside rails. I got some 1-3/4 x1-3/4 square tubing and stacked it on top of each other inside the frame. I cut the bottom piece to match the frame rails and tacked it all together. I finished welding and grinding the bottom side and am now in the middle of welding the two pieces together down the middle. I removed all the rivets before boxing the frame which made plenty of holes to plug weld the back side of the tubing to stop any possible squeaking and added strength.
The last couple of weeks I've been in the garage more than in the house which is fine with me, but my wife has been riding my *** about it. I dont think shes into hot rods, at least ones that aren't finished! Anyway I've gotten a lot of work done. I polished on the axle and drilled it with 17-1" holes. got the frame boxed, and got my front end back together. I had previously machined the brakes so it all went together rather quickly. I went ahead and painted the backing plates, will see if can keep from scratching them!
Here it is with the tires back on it. I've got the pedal bracket built and tacked in place, as well as the motor mounts. should have the f1 steering box in bolted up in the next couple of days.
Thanks for posting the frame shots. I have a pretty good chunk of a 31 roadster and I keep thinking that I'm gonna go Lincoln Y Block in it. I'm a long way off from starting the build But this just answered a whole heap of questions.
Thanks for looking, after sanding the welds on the front half of the frame where the tubing was stacked on each other it wasn't as smooth as I would have liked so I added an 1/8" plate to the front half of the frame. I figured it wouldn't hurt for strength either since the motor weighs in at around 700 lbs.
I'm working on a '30 tudor and I'm thinking about using a Y block also, not the Lincoln motor but I have a lead on a '59 ford. don't know if it is a 272, 292 or the 312 But I guess they are all the same outside size. Is your Lincoln motor the same outside size as the Ford Y blocks? do you have to modify the firewall to get it in the model a frame? thanks
The Lincoln is quite a bit larger than the ford y, and I will have to make some mods to the firewall in order to get the motor as far back as possible.
You are sure building one clean looking Model "A" Tudor ! Like the idea of the Lincoln Y-Block. Going to be a torque monster. Check out the thread on my '31 "A" Coupe with a Marine Y-Block. Hope to finish it this year. Dave
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