OK- there I was -I had coil over shocks, but did not know the spring rate-and I needed to know that. coil spring rate checkers are expensive ,SO I have a small press, I bought a $10.00 bathroom scale- I put the spring on the scale, established zero and with a scale ruler alongside- started compressing the spring, measuring it at 1" intervals. it is a 140 lb spring. 10 $$ and I got a bathroom scale out of the deal. although I think the scale is lying when I get on it.
Squirrel thats how I checked the seat pressure for my flathead springs. Cheap Walmart scale. Chucked a valve up in the drill press and set a stop. Worked like a charm.
Put a steel plate on the scale and put the spring in the center of the scale to make sure you are getting a more accurate reading. Also, smash the spring 1/4" or 1/2" and write down the reading. Then go another full inch and write down that reading. Subtract and that's your rate for the first inch of travel. Go another inch if your scale will take it. The more inches you can do the better off you are for accuracy. Never try to start at zero and measure at one inch, you will be off. The spring needs that first 1/4 to 1/2" to seat firmly. Spring raters usually go for less than $150 at racing auctions and swap meets if you but the older Deco style. If you have to have the latest and greatest then you spend a lot more. I used a $9 digital caliper on my old Deco so I could reset the distance at zero after the initial pre-load. Less math. SPark
My wife wanted something that would go from zero to 200 in under six seconds for Christmas........ So I bought her a bathroom scale.
I picked up an old 0-350 lb commercial scale at a thrift store a few years ago for $4. It sure has come in handy. When I converted my wife’s Corvair to an alternator I weighed them both just for kicks, that generator weighed over 30 lbs and the alternator only 15 lbs. Nice little weight reduction where it’s needed most. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was headed to the pharmacy the other day and my wife said to pick up some of those blue pills that help with my arousal, I replied "you out of diet pills again?"
Hello, Here is one that has been with me forever, and I am still wondering why that root feeling stays with me so long. “Accelerating sound of a hot rod just makes the body feel uplifting…” To jam the gas pedal and hearing the motor roar is a sensation that has always been a part of my life, even when I had an 80 hp Flathead motor. It was the feeling I cannot overlook that makes me feel really good about life. When I had a foreign car station wagon with a 4 cylinder during our “rough” economic times, at least it gave the feeling about the surge in what little power it had. But, it definitely did not compare to the big horsepower sports coupe for that “throw back in the seat” power and sound. Or the fast 58 Impala roaring down the street. It was a definite moment thinking about our little foreign car 4 cylinder vs. the sound and power of the 671 SBC C/Gas Willys Coupe we built and raced. Jnaki Power has always been a part of my life, with that exclusionary time period when that a 4 cylinder station wagon was the best offer around for our tiny family’s, monthly expenses. Now, driving my wife’s station wagon has its own 300 hp power for some “oomph”, even loaded with a trunk full of presents or trees/plants from the recent garden supply store. She also enjoys "power" in all of her cars since we have been together, that is of course, after the 1962 Corvair. For her 6 year old station wagon and my 15 year old car, we have plenty to ponder as we accelerate away with lots of power, on our daily road trips across the county, visiting our granddaughter, and down the coast for the best drives in So Cal. The feeling of power stays with us old hot rod/drag race guys forever. The memories spark a 1958 impala blasting through the quarter, a 671 SBC Willys Coupe accelerating, or our modern powerful daily drivers... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bF7b3vYC5U
The Jalopy Journal
