Ben, I laughed out loud when I saw pic of U-bolts bent over! You can go old school nascar and tape up the wheel with 40 rolls of electrical tape! HAHAHA. Sorry the wheel broke Ben. Spacer that shock mount. You can use a small piece of like-sized tubing welded to it
Making progress... Goal is to have it done and paintable in a week and a half. I have to drill holes in the front axle and rear cross for shock mounts, finally mock up and finish the pedals, rivnut the rear wishbones for brake line, trim the front cross, box the frame, figure out the ebrake, and figure out the steering. Tall list. So, in order to accomplish this, I am wondering where the steering wheel goes. I NEED the measurement off of the present mounting hole, so pipe up if you know it. Here is what I have been doing. I knocked off all of the loose pieces And used pc7 to put them back. Useable, but needs sanding, and paint. And here is the worm gear. The les Andrews book says replace if worn... Duh, but how worn?
Great build Might give this a try on the steering wheel, chip off the coating and wrap it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-steering-wheel-wrap.866086/
Progress... Had to notch out the cross supports for the e brake shaft. I have cling's kit, and it uses the stock linkage. Removed the mill scale and coated it with wd40 in prep for paint. Fabbed pedal into place. Trying to sort out how much travel is necessary before the pedal bottoms out. The pedal currently can hit the cylinder head.
I see you opted to do a straight cut rather than a pie cut for the bends there. Got a plan for the gaps?
Correct. I decided to bend it out to match the rear braces. The idea is just to weld in wedges and grind back smooth. And I figured out my pedals. I am cutting an inch and a half out of the height on the pedals to match the new height they are mounted. The clutch pedal will be bent an extra inch to make up the difference.
They are A pedals, but the pivot point is an inch and a half north of where it was originally so that the clutch will work with the new trans. If I cut an inch and a half out of the height portion of the pedals, the throw will decrease, and it will be at the stock height.
Also, remount brake clevis like so. View attachment 3099948 [/QUOTE]A-HA! That looks familiar. Looking good Ben
Just got through reading the whole thread, reminds me of the T I built when I was 18 and the learning curve I went through. The fellow hot rodders you are meeting and info you are learning now is a very valuable and great resource. Love the car too, i like your trans saddle out of the A brake cross shaft, might have to steal that idea some day.
Trad; it was truly Pete's idea, but it works well! And yes, there is a learning curve. Finished sorta kinda the pedals; going to have trouble mounting the master tho; wheeldog, chime in if you can, as this should all look very familiar! EDIT: also, the steering wheel came out nice. I wire wheeled the intricate spots off after globbing pc7 everywhere. After that, I used the durabar round and short rectangle sanding blocks to finish the surface. Needs one more "coat", but then will be good for paint.
Ben, it looks to me like the brake clevis will clear the clutch actuation. Maybe clutch rod can be "u'd" to go around brake clevis if necessary. The rest of the fab work looks great, glad I could inspire some of the techniques you used
Thanks everyone; sorry if I am over- photo-izing the thread, but it'll hopefully serve as good reference in the future. Pete; courtesy to mr. Wheeldog, who came up with the setup and has been helping me along. Here is the final product. You have to be careful not to weld the shaft to your tube, so you just do little plugs instead of beads. Doesn't look great, but functions well. Also, moved and blended the brake clevis to the other side. Edit: forgot to mention, I used 1 inch od cold rolled with a little over 1/16 wall and had to sand the inner down so slip over the shaft. Near the clutch, I actually welded a ring over the tight fitting pipe; 1 inch id with 1/8 wall thickness, so that the pedal had a thicker friction surface. Pedal clevis was also heated and bent so that the clevis straightened out. Also, mounted rear upper shock mounts, and was going to do the front as per cmichael, but I don't think it'll work on my stock axle. The shock would be near vertical, and would run the risk of hitting the frame, because the top mount is basically in line with the frame. Have to think of something different...
Bravisimo, Mr. Ben! You be doin' a fine job on that old girl! Glad you got your wheel straightened out- nice save! All is lookin' GOOD!
Bent bones a la mr. Bowling's advice. I made a 3/8 inch wedge to cut out. The front flat edge was 2 inches from the weld line on the front. Cut with a hacksaw; but make guidance cuts and grinds as required with angle grinder. Make sure that you are all straight side to side. Bend. I held the axle with an open end wrench and bent the bone up to the frame. Grind your chamfers. The brake line isolater is in the way, so get it off. Swap meet gold? Clamp everything in place and place strain on the bend so it doesn't open up when welding. Weld. Grind the inside weld flat. We are going to fish plate this. Fish plate: take a 2 inch by however many inch long 10 gauge flatbar, and drill holes on center two inches away from one another. Cut. Weld em in. I ground the top welds flat for looks. Bottoms were left alone. Round over the corners in the least. If you don't grind em down, it will be stronger. I ran out of gas, so I didn't get to got over it a second time for looks... Still to mount, but take a look. Here is the angle you want; it will increase as more weight is added.
Looking good Ben, you are not over photo-i zing at all. In fact I think it's great to see the detail work. If I did not have guys like you that showed how some things were done in great detail I would have had great trouble building my A, so, keep it up.
Little update; mounted the bones, so now I can work on the steering! If you press the tape measure into the eye and measure out to the bung, I got 7/8 inches so that I can thread them either in or out without a problem. In setting them equal, I actually had to ratchet strap and pull in the driver's side; I measured from three different points on the frame to make sure first though. Having a problem locating the steering though. I had to take it easy today because my welding mask had low batteries yesterday and I am fighting welding flash eye; it sucks. And suggestions steering wise is welcome. A lot of people use f1, but I need A measurements EDIT: Here are shock mount pics, for reference.
Mini update: Tomorrow is the huge day of welding. Everything is going to go together, so big progress soon! Pat; here is what I meant... I don't think anyone can stretch 11 gauge, so this is as close as you can get. Since I am running my rear cross braces, I cannot run the factory e brake isolater, so I sleeved the braces I made accordingly. I am going to fab the e brake mount at a later date; I cannot make it out of 10 gauge because it would be too flimsy.
It is official- I am WAY BEHIND Ben in the race to get our model A's done. I must get out into "the hideout" this w/end to try and catch up! Lookin good Ben
So, I have been welding all day. Went through a tank of gas; here is where I am at. This is tough, and I hate working on the old metal!
BEN! I am impressed! Your tenacity and ingenuity are great to see in a young man, maybe hot rodding does have a future after all! (Ben and his dad made a pilgrimage to my house just prior to the first post for some parts I had (I don't even remember what they were now) but even then you could see his excitement and determination!) Ah to be that young again when working under a tarp, with numbed fingers, sometime with heat, sometimes without... was just a minor inconvenience!
Lookin' good Laddy Buck! Just curious; are you saving that re-rod to give back to me??? (HaHa) Just take your time with the boxing plates- you know the drill- keep moving around and don't get one area too hot. Lotta welding! But cheer up ; then you get to grind it down and make it purty ( that's usually when I light my self on fire!) (Yeow)
To be honest, I paid you for that re-rod and the frame just happened to come with it!!! Big day; another 11 hrs straight put in; almost another tank of gas consumed, a grinding wheel gone, and a little work left. Was really tough. Take a look... BTW: White; thanks for checking in! The deck lid and aprons are going on this project!!!
You'll have that in paint in no time! Motor Mania next?? Oh, and the re-rod mix up?? That's cool, I'll come pick the frame back up next week!! (HaHa)
Over my dead body! Haha As for the motor; I am going to actually place everything back on the frame as intended, and sort out the steering; once and for all. I am then going to ship it up to my fathers house and paint it with the brush on goop from Bill hirsch; millworks uses it, and it's cheap enough. Then, I have my whole "shop" back to myself. I was thinking of actually starting on body assembly and work. I was thinking of buying that full floor kit, and put it on a rolling frame, and then start the work. Think the plan is good? EDIT: I was worried about warpage; as anyone who boxes knows, but I am glad to say all the holes lined up! The trans mount was the one I was worried of; but no issue.
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