so-cal hairpin kit

so after dropping 5 and a half large on a hairpin kit to replace my wishbone on my sedan i get home and get everything torn apart and put back together i realize my hew expensive hairpins look like a flaming bag of poo i am kind of stuck in a rock and a hard place i cant move them up to the top of the frame rail because of the exhaust and i the car is channelled so the cowl is in the way of running them through the frame i dont know if these are the "32" or "model a" hairpins but if you look you can see the hole where my split bones mounted maybe i will just return them but i did like the thought of integrated shock mounts thanks guys

lefty

 

Move them up , mount them to the rail and put a proper exhaust on it , Assuming you want to drive this thing on the street ?




.

 

I second that 4t6ford......... thats actually a pretty nice lookin ride build some mounts for those hair pins and call it a day

 

proper exhaust ???? lol i've got like 16 hours in those lol

 

as cool as those zoomies look AND THEY DO LOOK COOL, whats the decibel count inside the sedan?

 

i have no clue i have never fired them up i was looking forward to it ohh and thanks for the compliment they were my second attempt at making them maybe i will just run lakesters like everyone else

 

keep us posted Lefty

 

Oh well lunch break is over fer me have a good day guys gotta go back to work ):

 

as soon as i get home im going to run the adjusters in on the clevises and tie-rod end
i have a question when you guys use adjustable components where do you start when you build it, i tried doing it with everything halfway on the threads but it looks weird but i figure for adjustment sake they should all be in the middle

 

Set the front axle at 7 degrees positive caster. ('I' beam leaning back at the top)
Check angle with an 'angle finder', or 'graduated level'.

First, set your hairpins at the approximate height where they will mount to the frame.
Now, find the central count of threads on your clevises (upper & lower) and screw the upper one "in" the same thread count as the lower one "out".
Secure the hairpins at the rear, double check caster.

 

the shanks on the tie rods are 2 inches long if i leave one inch sticking out it looks weird but i dont want to loose all of the adjustment also if you guys run them in the fram how big of a hole do you leave on the back side to get the cotterpin in and out

 

1/2 inch sticking out should allow ample adjustment . If you don't want to do a decent size hole run a Nyloc rather than a castle nut .



.

 

Stick with the castle nut. They put them on there for a good reason.

 

well i got it handled this evening i just traced the brackets cut it out and the set them in at an angle to ofset the taper of the frame so they are straight instead of welding them flush with the frame and cut an 1 1/2 hole in the back of the frame to get to the castle nuts thanks guys

 

Never have understood the concept of having a tie-rod at the end of the hairpin. There's ample flex in hairpins to solid bush mount. Maybe it's just a look thing. The I-beam really only moves a comparatively short distance.

 

Other than tie rod interference,.. (And the ability to adjust caster) What was your reason to ditch the split wishbones in favor of the Hairpins ?

 

well the first thing was i still had to buy lower shock mounts and i would have had to replace my spring perches through the axle because there wasn't enough left to get a nut on and the third was i bought 4 inch drop so-cal steering arms to run with the wish bones so when i exchanged them i got a slight bit of credit towards the hairpins and i can sell my bones also this is my first build and i would really like to be able to adjust the caster without pie cutting the wishbones incase i didn't get it right the first time