That's an odd issue, but I have limited exposure to 4 bars. I am looking forward to hearing your resolution.
I'm not sure how changing the length of the four bars, changes the wheel base. The front cross member position, along with the spring, axle and pirches determine the wheel base. The four bars just keep the ends of the axle aligned with the center mounted spring.
Phil - I am stumped as well as all my measurements shows I am spot on with the instructions. I will get it right for the wheelbase/tire clearance but it will not follow the instruction sheet I think …..
Ok - spoke with Speedway today and although they did not have an answer for me why it happened, they did say making my 4 bars 3:4” longer will not mess up anything as long as the upper and lower rods are exactly the same length. So, my plan is to leave the rear mount of the radius rods where it is as per the instructions …. … and use these rod ends I had lying around in my stash …. These centers were the correct bolt size but two were not …. My buddy Ben (Koppy here on this forum) will remove the centers and put in the proper ones for my setup. I got these out in California while doing the shop tours before the LA Roadster show sone years ago. I had a need at the time for two sets of 4 and it turned out I needed just two. So, they are being put to good use now. They are pretty slick and worked great on my old coup needing a “little help” aligning one end …. I will get the threaded end perpendicular to the head of the rod end and with the added length vs what is now in there … … I will have plenty of adjustability and plenty of the threaded portion into the radius rod to not compromise anything. To do this, if I can find a safe way to hang the calipers, I will remove the disk brake rotors so the fe is lighter and easier to maneuver. I also have some small leaf springs to use as shims … …. to lift the body a bit to help in tire clearance if needed. So that’s my plan and I will start as soon as my rod ends are done …. fingers crossed! PS: I pick up my rod ends tomorrow morning ….
Sorry - no pics today. I worked on the front end all day and in a nutshell, I would call today a draw as I did not move forward but I did not go backward either. As of right now the entire front end is apart save for removing the spring which I will do tomorrow.m - it’s in the way when I try to rotate the front end up or down. I also need to start with the lower bar first and rotate it up vs doing the top bar first then the rotating it down to connect the lower bar. Also my u-bolts holding the front spring are a little short to put maybe one or two leaves in to raise the body for more clearance. One step at a time however …. We shall see what tomorrow brings …..
Nearly everything is now back together and I am now a quasi expert on Speedway 4-bar system for 35-40 Fords and 41 pickups due to the fact that I have probably made every mistake you can make in installing one.! Seriously, installing the lower bar first was the ticket . I also put in two leaf spring leafs to raise the nose a little as well. Presently I am in the midst of taking measurements and so far, and the truck is also not on all 4s but front to back I am good and the fe is square to the frame. It also looks like I have hood tire clearance with the 14” tires - pardon the weird picture angles …. This time, I was able to install everything in on my own …. … but I will say having two floorjscks was certainly a help. The realization of whether what I have done worked is when it’s on all 4s. But, while it’s up I will check a bunch of things before hand. But it’s in and we will see if any adjustments need to be made ….lol
Only had a few hours on the project today most of which was spent on a broken grease nipple. The next three days do not look good for garage tine but we shall see. Trying to get all the smalls done underneath before dropping it down on all 4s ….
Again., a short day of checking over the FE for any issues. Going to a car show tomorrow and will be away with the wife for a few days but here’s my 99 year old Dad, a 1-armed amputee from WWII, checking out my work …. Back at it on Tuesday …..
Well, God bless your Dad for his service.! My Father served in the Pacific including Saipan and Iwo Jima, hardly ever talked about it.
My Dad was not in too long before he was hit - maybe 4-5 weeks. He did not talk about it for a long tike - most of what I learned I got from other family members. He always says that this is second life and the good lord must want to keep him around. He is one of the happy go luckiest people you ever would want to meet. Always smiling and joking around. He goes to the VA hospital and talks to the amputees there telling them life is not over and he is living proof. He’s in the amazing business that’s for sure .,,,
Thanks for posting this Tom. God bless your Dad. He certainly doesn't look 99. I know it's been said before, but there will never be another generation like his. We should all be eternally grateful for his sacrifices.....Don.
Are you going back to 15" front tires after everything is centered? My dad never spoke of the war either. Pass on my thanks to your father and congrats on being 99 and smiling.
I finished reinstalling the upper front shock mounts today- it was much more difficult with everything in place however. Good thing I have small fingers! With that done, I put the 14” tires on and put down on all 4s …. Everything looked really good and I have plenty of clearance - so much so that I then put the 15s on …. Good clearance turning full left and right, stance looks good - so far so good. I then did my measurements …. First, my wb is 111.7” - that’s fine by me and I was nearly the same side to side, different by only a 1/16th”. The diagonal measurements were also taken and a not different by 1/16” as well. Considering I do not think I can get better/ closer than that. I am elated ! After driving it for a while I will remeasure and see if there is any adverse tire wear and adjust the rear axle if anything needs to be modified. This is a real win-win for me - now I have the sway bar to install, tighten the shock bolts, set the toe-in, re-install the db calipers and pads, set the full turn stops for the 15” tires,,and the FE is done. I all ready have my punch list spelled out for startup …. Getting closer to that first cruise ……
Thank you! The finished product looks and measured up to be much, much better than I expected! Yes - the 15s fill the wheel well much better than the 14s. The front spring will settle over time so we will see what turns out. The present tires are not new and they were on the front of my 32 coupe and my old 40 Ford Std coupe for a time so if I have to replace them sooner rather than later, so he it. I got use out of them …..
Yesterday and today were spent on the items I have mentioned. All went pretty well save for the sway bar. I had to change where and how it mounted with the fe moved forward to have enough clearance. I don’t know if I mentioned that a I also wanted to put splash aprons or wheel wells. The fenders do not exactly “hug” the cowl as I had hoped. So I am hoping the splash aprons will keep me from kicking dirt up into the visible portion of the cowl above and behind the fender. I have sone spare fender welting I might wedge up in there from m underneath as well. Getting closer ….
The front end upgrade/change/make-it-better is now complete.,The sway bar was a battle but it is now in there …. Tough to see but mounting the bar under the link gave me the added room for fe suspension travel I didn’t have after the fe move. I modified the front splash aprons to go around the 4-bar setup. The driver ride would not go all the way back on the frame rail hole so I just made a new one….. It should not be a problem. Passenger side went in real smooth …… I do remember that the driver front fender had had extensive body work done to it with patches from a passenger car version so it might not be exactly the way it came from Henry. An added benefit was that the used bias ply wide whites that would not fit before the rebuild do now and have excellent clearance …., So I now move n to the front engine and lighting electrical stuff ….. my punch list is getting shorter!
I have been working on the truck but just nothing picture worthy. I have sorted the wiring yet to be done up front and have cone up with a plan for the headlight wiring. I am itching to get more done but I have issues with the 32 coupe I need to resolve so it is back to running and driving ….. It’s always something…….
Finished up the headlight wiring today - all the running lights and signals now work as they should…. I have to still work out the electric fan setup and a couple other wires. I smoked a couple ground wires while testing for the fan so I will gave to sort that out and then move to the interior and make sure the gauge pod is set up, fog light switch and a few other things are in order before first cruise but we are getting closer … On a side note, just got a Drake catalogue of what is now back in stock. You can now get the 40 Ford pickup hood ornament - for $349.99 each and $69.99 for the handle. Back in ‘17 they were $150 new, handles $50 - whew, tines (and prices) are a-changing …. I am guessing he is doing smaller runs so the prices go up per piece ….
Thank you! For the front I have an old 37 Ford front bumper from another 40 project some years ago that I actually cut in half to do a split front bumper. I am thinking of welding it back together and with some old 40 Ford front bumper brackets that I have slice and dice them to tuck the bumper in. The bumper guards from the 40 also had a backing piece to strengthen them. I have 3 of the backing pieces and will use those to make some kind of license plate frame/bracket and offset it to one side. I also have an old early yellow lens fog light (only 1 - the other is on my 32 coupe) which I will offset to the opposite side. I still might do the split bumper though if it looks good ….. we shall see. I want to leave the grill area open for the best air flow (but I do have a big ass pusher fan on it though to help with cooling …). I have to eye it up but the bumper will be satin black like the rear bumper We shall see ….
Electricals for the pusher fan have been resolved. It will turn on at a certain temp but there is a bypass setup that will turn it on via a switch on the dash and that was giving me troubles. I also resolved the amber/fog light electrical as well, ready for when it is gets installed. We are just down to the electric choke line then it’s cleaning up the wiring and making things neat to finish tgecengine go compartment wiring…. working on taking some pics tomorrow for y’all …..
Pics as promised …. This is how the truck will look and stand sans the front bumper config - middle pic shows the stance and this is with helper springs that in. When I get the engine compartment all dolled up I will post pics. Almost there …..
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