The going has been a little slow on the roadster ch***is. So far I have the rear step done and now I'm moving to the front suspension. Last night I got my 36 wishbone bent to fit the axle. Today I started on the front shock mounts. If you're building a traditional AV8 do yourself a favor and get the Bishop/Tardel book and follow it to a T. I started with a cherry pair of F1 shock mounts that I scored off Ebay a few years ago. First you cut off the bottom of the mount at the bottom of the first bolt hole. Then I drilled out the two front crossmember rivits in the ch***is to a diameter of 7/16" I then cut and rounded the bottom piece of the mount and rotated it 90 degrees and checked the fit. I bolted both pieces to the ch***is and then clamed them so they wouldn't move. After welding, blend the weld and allow to cool, do not quench. There you have it, traditional shock mounts for your hot rod. I gotta go do the other side now, enjoy.
Well....................Mike/Vern's book is good, but as following it to a "T", there are a couple of places I would advise not to..............but it is a great book. I did this a couple of years ago, the exact same way. It looks great, but I did heat the mount and bend it out away from the frame at the top to get a better shock to mount angle. You must have the short arms, because mine are about 7" tall. IMHO
early plymouth or dodge look nearly the same, that may be what he has. I took a pair of those and am using them on the back for lower shock mounts, the bolt holes are close to the banjo flange pattern.
Thanks C9 damn, lied to by somebody on Ebay again So am I going to run into problems finding shocks or having them look goofy? I hear there are a few things in the book like the motor mount location that doesn't work with every flathead. Something about certain waterpumps interfereing with the radiator. Anyone know some of the other anomolies in the book?
You'll find a shock that should work just fine. I searched the monroe catalog, turns out a shock off a 1960-70 SAAB has the right ends (5/8" ID) and is fairly short (9-14" or so). Fits great. Just play with your bottom shock mount location a bit. I'd try the ones that mount on the bottom of the axle using the spring mount bolt.
I used the Mopar units on my coupe. I had a headlight mount from a Model A welded to the top of the shock bracket;works rather well.
Thanks 29SX276, glad to see they work just fine. I think I'll bend the mount a little bit away from the frame to straighten the shock up a bit. Don't happen to remember what part# and brand shock you used do you?
About the best views I could find of the SoCal shock mounts on my 31. SoCal headlight mounts as well. Posted to give an idea of shock length, angle etc. This pic may help as well. AV8 recommended the SoCal front shocks on this car. The best he'd found to date for roadsters. Made in Canada. I'd recommend taking a look at Speedways shocks. Looks like the same thing to me and you can find matching chrome plated rear shocks which are also made in Canada. Speedways prices are very reasonable. A pic of the rear shocks. These shocks are mounted to coilover mounts from Pete & Jakes. Done in case I ever wanted to go to coilovers. Having a coilover mount makes it an easy bolt-in swap. I doubt very much I'll go to coilovers with this car or any future roadster/coupe with solid axle front end etc. There's not enough travel with coilovers and adjustability does not compare to a transverse spring setup with separate shocks. I forget the amount of travel with the front shock, but it's in both the SoCal and Speedway catalogs. I understand you can find the short front shocks in the Monroe catalog - painted black. Not sure about the valving, it's probably ok. The chrome plated shocks on my 32 are Monroes, but they're from the Deuce Factory circa 1985. Making the 32 an old new car I guess....
I meant to add, take note of the vertical component in the 31's shock mount. That gets the mounting holes close to the upper and lower horizontal legs of the (boxed) frame channel. Imo having both shock mount mounting holes on a horizontal plane may lead to flexing in that area and possibly cracking the frame. If I had to use such a mount, I'd install a backing plate inside the frame.
And one more thing I thought of. Not sure how you're going to set up the lower mount, but when you use an aftermarket lower shock mount bolted to the spring perch bolt you'll find a disparity between brands in how far the shock mount bolt goes toward the outside which will change the angle. I have pics of both the Deuce Factory and SuperBell lower shock mounts that illustrate this if you wish. You can see a little bit of that in the pics above, but keep in mind the 32 has a folded steel shock mount that welds to the frame so that it's horizontal distance of the upper eye is little different from the SoCal mount.
Thanks a ton C9. There's a flange on the inside of the crossmember that's on the backside of the frame. So the bolts p*** through the framerail and the crossmember as well but I do see what you're saying and a plate might be worth fabbing up.
Alot of folks choose short shocks for good looks, but unless it is specifically a hotrod shock this can be a mistake. Short shocks are designed and valved for independent front suspensions where the shock is mounted mid way on the lower control arm. The shock travel is only one half the wheel travel so these shocks have to be fairly stiff. Using these on a straight front axle where the travel is the same as the wheel travel often makes the front end damping too harsh. The valving of shocks designed for a rear axle is much better suited for straight front axles. Here's a link to the Monroe shock spec catalog: http://monroe.com/catalog_lookup/misc_app_docs/08_MountingLengthSheet.pdf Some shock tech: Shoot for 15-25 degree angle for shocks, 1/3 stroke extension and 2/3 compression (angle softens shock, increases effective length and resists roll). Mount shock as close to tire as possible and make sure mounts are parallel. A "gas" shock IS an "oil-filled" shock, it just has the fluid pressurized by a gas of some sort - usually nitrogen. The gas does not affect the shock's hydraulic actions, it just keeps the fluid presurized to keep it from foaming and changing the hydraulic characteristics. The more expensive the shock, the more stages of control, and - usually - the "softer" it is throughout its operational range. If you want to do chrome the old school way, get 2 exhaust tips, slide them over and they're chrome!
The book says to use a 1933/34 wishbone instead of a 1932, so the motor mount and K member locations are kind of messed up. The stock 33/34 wishbone will get you more firewall clearance, but then you have front crossmember issues and will need to make a longer torque tube or use an ~1 1/2" spacer. Mike explains the problem at: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58669&highlight=av8+wishbone He did a correction on lengthening the 33/34 wishbone (effectively converting it into a 32 wishbone) at: http://www.earlyford.no/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=600 Save yourself a lot of h***le and just get a 32 wishbone if you don't already have one. Everything will drop in the Model A and bolt up to the stock torque tube like it was made for it. Very slight intereference at the firewall if you use a mechanical pump, but nothing a few smacks with a hammer won’t take care of. I can confirm this set up works as I built my car this way If you can't find an original bone, they reproduce them now at http://shop.hotrodwishbones.com/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=2 Anyway you do it, I wouldn't recommend prelocating the engine mounts or K member. Bolt the drivetrain together and install the wishbone to get the most accurate location.
Finished product, mated Model A headlight mounts to the Dodge parts tig'd,blended add some nickel plating and voila! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4461&highlight=nickle
Lucky 77; They're Monroe adjustables,three position.Unfortunately I can't find a part number;probably covered with paint.
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