Technical Build: The 60's Style T build

and using a Sawsall I removed the center pivot ball by cutting right behind the weld

 

then I used a punch and pliers to dig out the remains of the inner sleave, ground the ends square, cleaned the insides with a rotary file mounted in a drill motor and ground a chamfer around the outsides

 

next I rolled the axle over and wire brushed the nuts and thread and pulled the cotter pins from the pins, using a 15/16" socket, breaker bar and cheater I loosened the nuts a turn or two and knocked the wishbone and axle with a hammer to shock some of the rust, no heat was used and I did not wail on anything. after working the bones back and forth for a minute or two I was able to open them up.

 

I am using a pair of bungs made by a local guy, they seem nicely made and were not too expensive. If I had a lathe I would have made my own. they take the large Ford tie rod ends. anyway I drove them in using a heavy brass drift I made out of a chunk of marine propeler shaft.

 

threaded the ends in and there you have it.

 

one last pic, here's the front in place with a plywood pattern of the mount, frame at aproximate ride height and rake, about three inches of suspension travel and king pins at about six degrees.

 

ok I lied, this is the last picture!

 

day five of my modified

as you may recall Wednesday I pinched the rear frame rails and sectioned the stock Model A cross member. this narrowed the cross member the 6" I was looking for but although it looked clean it did not reduce the height enough to use the '36 spring.

I could have a new spring made or redo the rear cross member.

I chose to make a whole new cross member, one that I hoped would look like it belonged there.

here is how I did it.

first the situation at hand, you can almost see I have blocked the frame up off the rear axle with a couple short 2x4s to aproximate minimum suspension height. you can also see the spring is not in the cross member and the hump of the cross member is unnessesarily intruding up into the bed area.

 

I removed the remaining rivits holding the stock cross member, ground Wednesdays two tack welds and removed the cross member

 

I took a piece of 2-1/2"x2-1/2"x3/16" tube and ripped it lengthwise removing two corners

 

then after straightening the pieces I tacked the two ripped pieces back on creating a hat channel shape similar to the original cross member

 

next I trimmed the flanges and ends to mimic the original, kinda

 

I cut a square hole to accept the center spring bolt and with a couple vise grips I clamped the cross member in place.

 

and here it is with the bed mocked up,

I think this will werk, 'eh?

Paul

 

well you know how it is, you quit for the day and ya just can't stay away

so I turned the plywood bone connecter brackets into steel

I used 1/2" plate.

if I go real slow I can use my little plasma cutter.

cut and grind;

 

drill and ream with a tapered reamer,

wish I had a drill press

 

bolt and clamp,

 

stand back and check the look..

 

hey it's Monday!

and here's part six of my modified;

today I hung the front end, and here's how..

I borrowed an idea I saw here on the HAMB and altered it just a little,

I made some brackets that weld to the wish bone tubes just behind the forward weld at the front yoke. this will increase the wheelbase by a few inches when I use the stock front cross member.

I should be able to maintain three or four inches of suspension travel and still keep the front horns, I prefer that look over the bobbed look.

ok.

I made another plywood tempate for a pattern of the brackets, transfered the layout to some more 1/2" plate and cut and ground both brackets

 

checking the fit,

 

used a cutoff wheel and sawsall to remove the stock front perches

 

used the chop saw to cut the bushed end free of the arm,

 

and ground them clean

 

then I fit and tacked the bushing sleaves to the brackets

 

removed the brackets and sleaves and welded them up

 

,put it all back together and rough aligned and tacked the brackets to the tubes

 

and there it is!

 

one more close up

 

one more with bracket welded both sides and painted with X-O Rust Satin Black in a spray bomb let dry to touch and rubbed with a bare hand to take some of the shine out.

 

one more just cuz..