Projects Drdave accidentally buys a Model A. Now what?

A T-Spring will lower a stock Model A 2" upon installation. The downside is they are only 2" wide so they require shimming and spacers to properly fit in an A. Another issue is they weren't designed to handle the weight of a Model A. They tend to sag on sedans & coupes. I manufacture a 26/27 T Spring hats 2.25" wide which allows for a bolt in application as well as the added ability to handle the weight of a Model A

 

Making progress, be it ever so slow. Over the last few days I’ve nibbled away at getting the front end broken down. Finished getting the steering and brakes disconnected and getting the brakes off the spindles today. Next up, get the front spring and axle out and start working the springs over.

 

More progress over the weekend. Got the front end out and broken down on Friday afternoon. Yesterday I started to radius and taper the leaves of the front spring, but then I thought it would make sense to figure out which leaves I was likely to keep and which I would probably remove so I didn't spend a lot of time on leaves that weren't going to be used anyhow. I had a 10 leaf pack, so going through all my notes compiled from all the threads I've read, I ended up starting with pulling out 4 leaves....#'s 2, 3, 5 and 8. I thought I would reassemble the pack quick and throw the front end back in and set it on the ground to see if I was close. It then occurred to me that I was going to need to reverse the main leaf at this point, so marked that out on the floor and spring and went to the press I've had for 20 years but had yet to use. Finally, it was time to mock it all up and I have to say I was quite pleased. I'm pretty much following @Elrod's set up with keeping the mechanical brakes, so I have a 4 inch stretch dropped axle, '32 spindles and spring perches as well as the modified spring. With this set up, the '35 wires and 550 Firestones, it came to right at a 10 inch total drop from stock. I think that's gonna be in the ball park. I took it all back apart and finished with the radiussing and tapering the ends of the leaves. Now onto all the cleaning, painting and rebuilding of the components.....and dropping the rear end, of course.

 

Wow! Lookin' good, Dave. It's gonna look great once ya get the rear down. The wheels turned out nice. Now I'm starting to regret getting rid of mine!!

 

Haha, don't look toooo close....those wheels have some pitting to them the powder coating didn't fill. Adds character. LOL.

 

Cars looking great! Fun to watch as your plans evolve and come together. Looking to be a cool car! Thanks for sharing.

 

Mine were pitted, also. Nobody noticed when I was driving down the road!

 

To each their own but I love the look. Big and little full fendered Model A's that are warmed over with mid century upgrades 40's-60's. are perfect in my book.

 

Lookin good!

 

That front end is sitting right! Looking forward to seeing the back come down now. Love a low fendered A!

 

I agree with you guys. I like highboys fine and dandy, but sedans especially look so good lowered down with the fenders on. Seems 4dr deuces are the rage these days so maybe that will trickle down to stuffy A town sedans. If not, I’m used to being the odd duck, so it’s all good. Lol

I think I forgot to mention that I ordered the interior kit as well. I didn’t pony all the way up for a Lebaron Bonney kit, but I did go with the Cartouche original mohair style from Macs. If the kit arrives before the SK, I don’t expect to get it all in for the show, but hopefully would be able to install the seat upholstery at least. Before I put in the whole interior, I’ll rebuild all the window stuff and I think I’ll replace the top since it’s got a leak. Of course, once I think about that, it’s hard for me to not think about stripping the peeling paint off and do a “quick” paint job. I’m a mess....


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It never ends, one thing always leads to another.

 

....ain’t that the truth!!!


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Love the look Doc...You did good on the front spring, loosing a few leaves and tapering the ends. Good job. In fact Nice Model A, too !
Just don't do what I did on the T rear spring years ago.. I had the spring shop reroll the eyes on top, brought it home, reassembled the pack, put the spring in..lowered my roadster to the floor and ..BAM..
Broke the eye right off one side...DUH !! Never even thought about the 2nd leaf being TOO LONG to fit in between the eyes that were on top now !!...Live and learn..

 

Wow, that is really looking good! See you at SK!

 

Howdy Randy!! Fortunately, on one of the threads I was reading for tips they mentioned that very problem, so I cut an inch off each side of the second leaf. That’s crazy, though, I wouldn’t have thought it would be enough bind to snap the whole eye off. Wow!!

Let’s hope...that’s the plan anyway! Haha!

 

If they didn’t reverse the arch, and instead flattened the eye and then re rolled itnon the other side it probably snapped because it was work hardened.

That’s generaly something a competent spring shop would say no to doing but the way he worded it made it sound like it was a possibility.

 

You are probably lucky you didn't pony up for the LeBaron Bonney kit. I have been into old cars since the sixties and they used to be the place to go. The upholstery in my AVATAR is from them. Unfortunately they have got a lot of bad comments lately and it would hesitate to go with them unless something changes. I hope they turn it around.

Charlie Stephens

 

I think most complaints come from the waiting. From my experience they take your order and deposit, then order the fabric, then it waits in line, then gets made from scratch, then eventually gets shipped. My headliner for the 46 is very very nice. It was worth the money.

But I had to call them once every week or two to get an update because the time estimates were always bullshit, and it took quite a while to get my stuff.

I can’t recalled 100% but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 8 weekends before I had it in hand.

I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again, but only if I wasn’t really in any hurry.

Order it in the spring if it’s for next winters project sort of thing. Then your not all worked up about waiting.

Just thoughts from the peanut gallery

 

@drdave I love the rake! It reminds me of an Early Times Car Club type of car.

 

Thanks @Rolleiflex, that's kinda the look I'm going for actually. Of course...at this point it's all look and no umph, but maybe once I get this all worked out I'll mess with the 4 banger a bit get a little more juice out of it.

Funny you guys mention the wait on a LeBaron Bonney kit. When I ordered the Cartouche kit, they told me it would be 6-8 weeks before I got it. Last week I was surprised to find a truck pull up and deliver it. I was blown away that I had it in two weeks. Unfortunately, it wasn't the color I ordered (I'm staying with the olive green mohair and the kit that came was more of a blue green), but Mac's was super cool about it and sent out call tags for the boxes. It would be nice to have the interior here in time to redo the seats at least for the SK so the wife and daughter have someplace nice to sit, but if it's not here, no biggie....I've got blankets. LOL

Got to put in a little time this morning before I had to be to work this afternoon and got two leaves for the T spring out back smoothed off. They seemed a little harder than the A leaves up front. Wonder if they have more temper or something to them? Took a little longer to grind and sand them, but hey, I'm swimming in time, so no big whoop, right? Haha

 

We were supposed to be camping this week for spring break so I took a couple days off work, but due to a week of forcasted rain, we cancelled. Got to work on the car Monday am and all day yesterday. Finished all the spring leaves and cleaning the rest of the front end parts. Got most everything painted and am pretty much ready to start reassembly. Hoping to have the front end back together over the weekend...fingers crossed. LOL

 

OK, so here's a question for you guys that have removed some of the longer springs at the bottom of the pack....what do you do about the spring clamps? I assume they won't stay in place without enough leaves between the top of the clamp and the bolt at the bottom. Do you drill a hole further up the clamp or do you go without them altogether?

 

I don't use the leaf clamps.

 

I don’t have any on mine currently but planned on drilling a hole higher up

 

Dave... I didn't use them on mine either.

 

So you guys without the clamps, do the leaves have a tendency to want to rotate and wander or do they stay lined up fine? My intentions are to just have an around the town putter and not a long haul reacher, at least for now, so it's not like I'll be racking up enough miles for it to be a problem really I guess?

 

My rod has Posies springs on both ends. The front was disassembled and chromed. The rear was disassembled and powder coated. Reinstalled without clamps. Yes, the leaves want to rotate some.
To your question, I would drill the clamps and reinstall.

Phil

 

My leaves stay put. The crossmember and the clamps to it seem to hold things in place. But my car's a 32, so maybe an A rear spring might wiggle more?

 

For as little effort as it would take id put them back on