Technical Botched dangerous suspension 34 ford axle/coilovers

The rear coil over install is just plain despicable.

Looking at the photos, with the angle they look like they are mounted at, I cant see how they would even compress with suspension travel. Both coil overs are fighting each other.
Something had to give, with that kind of side load on them.
Might be what broke the one.

The other one that is still intact has the upper spring seat, already almost hitting the cross member. With the angle that coil over is on and the body went down with normal travel, the spring seat on the coil over would jam into the crossmember.
Maybe the other one was like that too, and how it broke?????
Or maybe it broke due to the whole install mess????

I looked on their website and it says they are expert welders and fabricators with 30 years experience.
OK! Ya right.

Bill

 

I also wanna point out that it was not price That influenced me to go to this shop

Number one was they had good reviews online at least when I looked at google

Number two, he had a shop full of cars 67 GTO, 57 chevy, were just a few of the cars he showed me

He told me several of those cars he did frame off restorations on.

The shop absolutely looked the part of a legitimate business that did good work

So I'm looking at the cars in the shop. And the owner taking me on a tour of the shop and him telling me he's been racing and building hot rods. For his entire life and his true passion is helping people keep their cars on the road

He talked about all the charity work
He does in the community,

He gained my trust and I shook his hand and did business with him

And again I want to tell you he is a good smooth talker

I accept responsibility for not vetting him and the shop,

And I am going to continue to pursue this matter through the state and legally

 

You sound like the legal issues have been started, now you need to decide what you want to do to get back on the road. Do you want cross-spring in back then you can order a crossmember and spring for that from P&J, Posies, etc and the shock mount you have will work for regular shocks. If you want coil-overs, then crossmember and new coil-overs are available. The lower shock mount on rear end, needs some more work to enable use of longer bolt, which would eliminate the rocking motion where the bolt passes through the plate. You decide what you want, and forge on.
The heirloom car looks nice, and should be fun to drive-safely.

 

This truly gives us all a black mark . When someone’s family member gets hurt from a Hot Rod , we all look bad . This guy needs to be shut down , before a tragedy takes place , we all should of tried to stop . Just my 2 cents

 

Nobody see this? I know neither person.

 

Bill,
The Google review I said I saw is about Traffic Jams Speed Shop, not yours. I searched for the shop in the #1 comment, took a look at the reviews, and saw the review that's obviously by @4211papas34. I was replying to the thread, not to the comment just before my reply. When I saw your reply a day or so ago, I didn't understand what was going on, but now I think I understand what happened.

 

Even in our world, work like that shown above still shows up. I recently looked at an OT 70's Torana where the rear wheels were tubbed by cutting the inner guards out... including the monocoque subframe.

A lot of stuff ends up on the street here without being engineered - not necessarily legal, but if people don't get caught then they believe there is no harm. Our extensive testing/certification laws usually only catch the honest people (or those with a conscience).

Cheers,
Harv

 

This suggestion will sound painful, but since you've started legal proceedings, you may want to consider....
Don't change the car in any way until you find out may be considered evidence by the state.
Can charges be filed in both Wisconsin and Illinois (interstate commerce violations/fraud)?
Would it be worth your while to have it inspected and documented by a reputable appraiser or shop to support your issues? Most bureaucrats can't tell their elbow from their ass!
Photograph every modification from every angle and distance to help display/showcase the bad job.
Verify with the state that any investigations or charges are against him, not the business (there's too many ways for individuals to side-step accountability).
When it is appropriate (don't jeopardize your case in the meantime) name names and location!
Please keep us posted on progress on your legal case.
Good luck!

 

It would be great if everyone had the intelligence and capabilities to complete their modifications to a satisfactory level and our "Australia-style" standards and regulations were not needed...... but welcome to the real world. If inspecting and monitoring keeps the shit type of work off the roads my wife, children and grandchildren travel on, maybe it's not such a bad idea. Never assume everyone operates at the same level you do. That is a dangerous mistake to make.

 

Looks like the 'work' of someone who had to split in a hurry. Wow.

 

When I saw your post right after mine : "I saw your Google review", it appeared to be directed to me.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Thanks for clearing that up.

Bill

 

Here's one way to fix the rear end set up

Posies 1934 Ford Sedan SuperSlide Parallel Leaf Rear Spring Kits (hotrodhardware.com)

Do you have any better pics of what they did to the front end ? Looks like they heated and twisted the steering arms 180 degress, and the shocks don't look like they have any room to move up and down , bolted to the spring shackles.

later kb

 

I certainly hope that was just bad humor.

 

I did better work that that when I was 19. If I couldn't properly weld something, I had friends that could. Today, I will tack something up and call in 1 of the 2 mobile welders I trust to finish up the job.

Building stock cars was something that has stuck with me over the years. If you wanted to race, you had to build your own car, or have deep pockets for someone else to do it. The tech inspectors were on their game and kept us safe and honest.

 

I thought my welding was a hack...... Sawzall...

Somone basically ruined a nice car.

 

I'm not being mean here: I'm thinking that the car was in need of a thorough inspection, before this. From looking at some of the pictures, I get the impression that the car needs quite a bit of work for it to be more roadworthy/safe, and maybe resolving this issue will result in that. Again, not being mean: The re-wiring looks like it's close to the radiator fan and exhaust manifold. Are there chassis and suspension risks from the rust that seems to be present? How are the brakes, and the fuel lines? It's hard to tell from the pictures.

 

Why So many Shocked !!!!!
If you take the Blinders Off ,
You will See this work ethic /poor judgment for others Is In Ever part of our Lives Not just in Hot Rodding /automotive.
If you know of a Human doing work Like this , Speak Up , De friend , Cut Ties with Family ,Shun Them..
There is some scary / iffy thing's posted even here ..

 

@4211papas34
Is this the gentleman you dealt with? Just curious. If not, I’ll delete it.

 

It looks as bad as anything I've ever seen. Having said this, it isn't beyond repair, so hope you find a good shop or individual who can properly fix the damage, and get your car back on the road driving safely. I'm sure it wont be as cheap as the crap job, but hopefully it will be solid next time.

 

After looking through both threads about this situation it seems the shop is less than qualified to do this type of work. The front axle looks to be poorly modified, not their fault, but they should have caught that during alignment let alone installation. The rear suspension is incorrect in design, parts selection and workmanship as explained previously. Other issues like the steering mount and sloppy wiring complete the scene. I don’t know the extent of the work by the shop in question.

I can’t imagine anyone having all the suspension modified on their car and not taking a look at it, preferably up on a rack, before driving it away,

Not being aware of the regulating bodies in that state I do not know the recourse or possible penalty that way. In my experience with incorrect work, the legal system usually wants to give the vendor a chance to rectify the work before considering any other judgement.

 

Former Machesney Park Man Sentenced To 8 Months In Federal Prison For Concealment Of Assets From A Bankruptcy Trustee

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/p...ed-8-months-federal-prison-concealment-assets

 

I know I'm not a top level craftsman. My standards are will it work up to the point where another failure will not cause the mod to fail too. An example would be a flat tire at 70 MPH or a bad pothole, leaving the roadway for the shoulder, a minor collision which did not hit the chassis, etc. It should be able to at least meet if not exceed the OE it is replacing. On 50 plus year old tech, that should be a reasonably easy target, provided you are not quibbling over less travel on a lowered car for example.

I've heard reports of long waits, crazy red tape, overzealous inspectors and uneven interpretations down there. I can imagine that and worse here due to the quality of many understaffed, overworked and poorly trained gov't officials I've personally dealt with. I don't trust anyone who is going to write the standards. The list would include the legislature (clueless and driven by special interests), auto industry people who want to work with this while also tied to major manufacturers (SEMA types, who would skew toward new products) and the SAE, who have stood by while the OBDII standardization has blossomed into every manufacturer for themselves again and have not said anything about the conflicting "don't text while driving" and having a big tablet in the dash be the main driver-to-car interface. The standards will be heavy-handed, byzantine, and lean toward any changes being to the most modern OE standards rather than just better than the original vehicle. Think full computer controlled ABS or an 'approved kit' disc conversion on a 1932 roadster that came stock with mechanical drum brakes, rather than a set of '40 juice drums.
The enforcement would fall to the sort of inspectors that would be qualified, yet unwilling or unable to work private sector and cover every type of build from 1920s style backyard banger single seater capable of maybe 60 MPH to an engineering firm retrofitting a 10 year old race car able to achieve 200 MPH plus and 1.5 Gs cornering with enough to qualify for street use is going to be a small pool of talent. I also am unhappy with the gov't having qualified immunity so they do not assume any responsibility for approval, let alone have a path for appeal.
The gov't and big business would prefer that individuals only rent compliant current standard approved transportation, subject to recall at each advance in technology. That would fix a lot of problems, but force the costs on the individual. The group in this forum don't want to use White Teslas to transport themselves from point A to point B, and I'd guess this applies to a lot of the general public, too.
States here have varying degrees of inspection, some have none, others have annual inspections for basic safety and/or emissions. These do help keep the worst offender vehicles off the streets, but do nothing to identify and prosecute businesses or individuals who do unsafe work. It falls to the owners of the vehicles, who often have no idea what level of work has been done. That has been shown in this post. People who do work like this should bear the brunt of the costs, but the legal system allows for dodging it, through LLCs and bankruptcy or simply closing and reopening again under another name.

TLDR; The answer to protecting from hazardous conditions must include a cost-to-benefit and shared responsibility, or we will all end up in cocoons for our safety.

 

The guy is a professional butcher. So sad and dangerous! Hope you get it resolved and find a shop to get it back on the road.

 

Did this guy work on the brakes also? Looks like the pushrod from pedal to master cylinder is just stuck on with no nut securing it, and the pedal looks like maybe some angle iron welded on to offset the pedal. Also, the brake lines and fittings are just dangling out there in the wind. Better check them close.

 

Nobody can hack up a Job that bad. That truly is "custom".

You'd have to make a real effort to be a hack and phuck something up that bad.

Unbelievable ! Has his shop burnt down yet?

 

I agree with all that you say. Implementing a workable system would, no doubt, turn into a nightmare.
Our system down here in Australia is actually not too bad. We are not expected to build in compliance with all current vehicle standards, but basic safety aspects (including quality of work and parts) are assessed.
It does help to keep the sub-standard stuff off the roads.

 

Thanks. I know it was a novel, but it's rare to have 2 sentence answer to an issue. Just defining the problem takes time.

It doesn't help that a year ago, I had to deal with a (different) state agency on a matter where every officer I talked to had conflicting opinions, used internal slang, had no written policy or forms, and a short time limit (90 days) to jump through all the invisible hoops before property would be confiscated permanently. I received from the state agency a generic, automated reply 8 months later to my written email request.

 

If it took him 30 years to get that good, I wonder what his earlier work looked like.

 

Take it as you wish ...

 

Most of these problems stem from an astounding , unprecedented , here to fore unseen LACK of common sense.