Technical Hotrod Safety Equipment Thread

Two things stand out*;One would of been any padding*,an the other is I hated the roll bar look after I got it in.
Other things are that it was in the way of moving bench seat back more,I needed more room.
An last but not least is,I try to write to both inform n have fun.
It's like seeing some fools put in bucket seats,who didn't think it through,pretty girls can't snuggle up with buckets.! View attachment 4885769 [/QUOTE]

So, if I’m looking at the photo correctly, and I like to think that I am, there’s some type of safety apparatus in the photo, right?


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So, if I’m looking at the photo correctly, and I like to think that I am, there’s some type of safety apparatus in the photo, right?


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Sure,she is sitting on the seat belts,an the rain coats are in storage pocket,how much safety can we have after all,those are some dangerous critters ! Stay safe !!!

 

My biggest piece of safety equipment is defensive driving. If others want to drive over the speed limit or carelessly let them. It doesn't mean I have too.

On my street cars racing lap belt for the driver period correct style seat belts in the other positions. Rebuilt stock master cylinder, rebuilt stock brakes, new hoses and hard lines.

 

I carry a fire extinguisher, seat belts, but the two things that will help keep you safe are what I told my kids and recently told my granddaughter while teaching her to drive. 1. Never follow too close . 2. Expect everyone else on the road to do the wrong thing.


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I believe the lack of a switch to allow an automatic trans car to be started only in neutral or park is very dangerous. I also believe any car with an elec fuel pump should have a safety switch to automatically shut off the pump in an accident, ( oil press switch or roll over switch) Greg

 

I don't have any safety equipment. No seat belts anyhow. I do have power disc brakes and some drivetrain updates if you count that. I've considered throwing some lap belts in but haven't done so yet. I usually drive like an old lady in it though....

 

In addition to the many good things mentioned already.......laminated ‘gl***’ in the windshield and tempered elsewhere else.

 

You are very correct. I do not trust any others on road or take anything 4 granted.
Last winter on way home on dark on 2 lane highway.
In distance see a car travelling high rate of speed on a gravel road intersecting the 2 lane highway.
I immediately reduce my speed of 105 kmh or 65 mph down to 70 kmh or 45 mph.
This clown slid right across highway into the ditch and drove out of the ditch along side me and onto the highway.
Too dark, too fast and could not see his tags. Called 911 but Highway Patrol could not find him
If I had not seen him would have been Tboned but good.

 

The well hidden ch***is under my car has all the safety features one would expect to find on an early 90s pickup. Then add safety gl***, lap and shoulder belts, a well secured fire extinguisher behind the seat, and LED lighting along with an LED 3rd brake light. Then I drive like everyone else on the road is out to kill me.

A roll bar on a street driven car without a helmet, a 5 point harness, and a racing seat, is pretty useless, padding helps very little, and if you are moving around in the seat, the risk of injury rises steeply, the roll bar can hurt you much more then it will help you.

I was involved in a head on crash in a hot rod at 30 mph, in town. I wasn't wearing the lap belt that was installed in it. Fortunately the collapsible steering column did its thing. I was lucky, I only got 11 s***ches in my forehead, a sprained thumb, and a sore neck. The car that turned in front of me only 20' away was lucky because her car had air bags that saved her. My coupe was built to replace the one that got wrecked. One learns a lot from real life experiences if he is lucky enough to survive them. Gene

 

I also install a total kill battery switch within reach of the drivers seat on all my cars.

 

I hate thinking about the ugly side of the safety equation with these cars. I see surviving a crash in my coupe or roadster at anything more than parking lot speeds unlikely.

 

There is nothing wrong with added safety equipment. That said, there comes a time when too much worrying about what could happen will ruin your driving experience. Short of a full roll cage, Halon fire system, collision sensors, helmet and a bubble wrap suit you just can’t prepare for everything. Drive like you have some sense and stay focused seems to be the best course of action. I’m more concerned about injuring some one else than I am about protecting myself.

 

A lightweight safety green or orange vest, folds up small. Tuck it away, and make plans to never need it.

 

A 6" tall plastic Jesus on the dashboard.
Worked great so far.

 

I've got this type mounted in my avatar. I use a thin piece of copper electrical wire to stop the latch from undoing. If required you grab the latch and the copper wire pulls apart but has not accidentally unlatched in 8 years. Not as much vibration as speedway of course.

 

Arc Welding 101: Cleaning material with brake cleaner before welding

Haven’t read about this on the Hamb for many years. So for you fabricators... listen up.
I’ve seen this decision made


https://www.thefabricator.com/thewe...ore-welding-a-risky-move-that-can-turn-deadly

 

What is the consensus on 1941 Chev truck door latches. Am I flirting with death leaving them in my build or are they a better design than some. Thanks Steve

 

The NSRA safety 23 items are a good start for any build

 

put over 100k miles on my 39 pickup and never fell out.

 

Thanks, that is a good test case, I was only planning to do 99K. If you do happen to fall out can you please let me know .
Steve

 

The point of the 41 Chevy doors, as well as any other cars or trucks of any brands, with the older door latches is about the condition of the cab. If the cab is solid, there usually isn't any issue, but when the cab becomes questionable, you really need to check it out. If you can open your door, and lift it up or down almost any amount, you could have a problem. An 1/8" total movement up or down is enough to make me nervous.

The closed door is located in place on the latch side of the door with a dove tail. That would be a triangle or wedge shaped piece that is either screwed to the door, or its screwed to the door post. That dove tail fits into a female version on the either the door post or the door. When the two pieces are together (when the door is closed), These two pieces are suppose to stop the up and down movement of the door. Usually at least one (or both) of these pieces is made of stamped sheet metal, or a cast aluminum and they do wear with age. When they become worn, they allow the door to shift up and down. If either of these pieces are worn on either of your doors, they need to be replaced, and you need to see why the door is moving, and fix that problem as well.

The latch has a tung that is spring loaded pushing the tong outward and catches another wedged shape piece to hold the door closed. When you close the door, the spring loaded tong is pushed back into the door against the spring as it p***es by the wedge shaped latch stop, and when it clears the wedge, the spring pushes it back out. The inside edge of the tong is wedge shaped so it will push back inside the door and its back edge is straight cut, and wedge piece has the straight, thicker edge towards the inside of the cab. The back edge spring loaded tong sits against the back side of the wedged piece, and that is all the keeps the door closed. Because every time the door is closed, the tong and the wedge piece slide against each other and both piece wear just a little on the mating edges. Originally, the edges have crisp defined edges, but as they wear, then tend to round off a bit and also wear off the length of each edge, the more they wear, the more rounded, and the shorter the pieces get. As age and use adds up an the once crisp flat edges get rounded and shorter, their ability to stay latched decreases.

We also have to consider the condition of the spring that holds the tong outward. It is a compression spring, that means every time its used, it either stretches, or compresses a little more. The issue here is, that spring is compressed (or expanded) every time the door latch is opened, and every time the door is closed. Then we can add the harsh conditions the spring lives in, consider the amount of rain and winter weather the spring has endured over its life. In addition to being continually compressed (or expanded), abused by weather and what ever mother has thrown at it the last 60, 70, 80 or more years, its also been caked with dust, dirt, and possible rodent abuse. If the spring looses enough strength, it may not be able to push the tong out far enough to form a good latch, or it may not be strong enough to hold the tong against the wedge tight enough.

Another area we need to look at is on the hinged side of the door. If the door hinges are worn, they will allow the door to move up and down, and occasionally forward and backwards, any of which can cause great problems even with good latch pieces. If the door moves far enough, the latches might be able to shift far enough to unlatch the door.

We also need to look at the condition of the door posts (front and rear) and its supporting sheet metal. Even if the hinges are in great shape, if the floor pan or door post is rotted away, the weight of the door can move the door post. If the post moves, the door may not be able to stay latched.

We also need to look at the condition of the door itself. For the door to stay latched, the latch ***emble inside the door, and the hinge area and the latch area of the door have to maintain their shape. If the bottom of the door is rotted, the hinge end and the latch end can actually move in relation to each other. Again, moving parts of the door can unseat the latch.

So possible door latch issues can be caused by worn dovetails, or its mating surface.
Door latch issues can be caused by worn tong or wedges pieces.
Door latch issues can be caused by a weak or broken tong spring.
Door latch issues can be caused by worn door hinges.
Door latch issues can be cause by rusted sheet metal around the front and rear) door posts.
Door latch issues can be caused by a bad door frame on the door itself.

The door latch tong and wedge contact pieces only have between 3/8" and a 1/2" of maximum depth and about 3/4" maximum width contact area when they were new. A wide door gap on the latch side reduces that possible contact area, and any single, or combinations of the above causes can cause a door to come open when the truck hits a bump on the road, or goes around a corner.

It should be pretty obvious that each truck has to be checked out individually, just because one might be OK, that doesn't mean the next 4 will be. Gene

 

Gene

Thank you for a very comprehensive and detailed explanation. What I take out of this, if I have read it correctly is that these latches will be acceptable for my use if everything is in good condition. Once things are not in good condition my margin for failure quickly increases. This is something I can work with and make informed decisions on. I was wanting to keep this reasonably original but not to the detriment of my safety within reason.

Steve

 

Was a thread on here recently, but can’t be repeated often enough......

here’s the link to the article, worth a read if you have not already done so...

https://www.brewracingframes.com/sa...pkpWweT28sOQomhGk_FSW8PMDWOMW2WdW-Q5fo6pmar0w

 

I get flamed for not being traditonal enough, but when I build its with the idea I'm going to drive the car a lot as a semi-daily rain or shine transport - not a cruise night toy. So while admitting that most of are cars will never be as safe as those around us, my priority is to be able to stop and change direction in an emergency, to stay in the seat to make the emergency maneuver, and to be easily seen.

So disc brakes, dual master cylinder, and modern tires are a must. Seat and shoulder belts. Bear claw latches on early cars. Very concious of conditon of steering box / suspension components. Bright or LED lights with a high mounted stop light of some sort, and always drive with lights on. Battery cut off switch. REALLY LOUD horn.

I think too many people discount the issue of just staying behind the wheel in even an emergency maneuver let alone an accident. In addition to being very concious of strong mounting points for the belts, on early cars I also try to add extra bracing to tie seat attachement points to the frame if possible.

Best safety componenet is the driver - drive an early hot rod like you would a motorcycle - head on a swivel, certain that anyone near you is out to kill you.

 

Check with an engineer Steve before you get too keen on your old latches. I live in NSW and had to install burst-proof latches in my '39 Chev. I modified early Toyota Corona for mine but I've since learnt that some of the late model trucks (Sterling I think) are compact enough for early Chev. Some of the bear claw latches aren't accepted either.

 

Do not have your fire extinguisher or anything else heavy laying loose in the cab with you. You get in a wreck and that thing goes flying, it just might conk you on your head. Other than that, good tires and highly noticeable brake lights.

 

New dual MC, SS braided PTFE brake flex hoses and fuel lines, Fire extinguisher with secure metal mount and velcro strap as secondary device to make sure lever stays put, Safety gl***, NOT cracked windshield, Never use cell phone while driving, proper scrub line on suspension, new DOT tires, properly aimed headlights, at a minimum lap seat belts (newer the better?) all electrical circuits have individual fuses. I am sure I missed some other basics, all bolts to be secured with cotter pins/ ny-lock nuts or better yet grade 8 bolts with metal locking nuts and hardened flat washers, no welded/steering & suspension parts.
Just my 2 cents..

 

Hello,

When we bought the 2nd 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, it had all of the power necessary to make it a cool cruiser/hot rod. The 327 purred like a kitten, the A/C worked like cold air should. When I tromped on the gas pedal, it moved like no other. It was definitely not like my first 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with a Flathead. That sedan delivery took forever to get going at speed. But, while my wife liked the sedan delivery, she said it needed a lot of work to get it to be a solid, reliable hot rod. This also meant that seat belts of some kind needed to be in place.

Being an ex hot rod/drag race guy, I wanted a 5 point harness with a quick release set up. The mounting on the floor would be simple with aircraft grade nuts and bolts as well as large wide washers. But, when I showed my wife that set up, she asked, "Won’t the shoulder belts wrinkle my newly ironed dresses and shirts?" She wanted to drive the sedan delivery as she thought it was the coolest car she ever owned.

Style over safety came first, so I had to rethink the seat belt set up. I could not have the 5 point shoulder/seat belt system just for the driver, as she would be driving it by herself. So, the easiest and simplest ones were the wide stock/factory seatbelts offered by the GM dealers. We chose a light tan click belt system. It matched the seat/headliner and rear cave upholstery color. So, it worked out in the long run.

The seat belts were standard equipment in all of the new cars, so, it was fine for our 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery.

Jnaki

New brakes, new brake lines, shocks, front end alignment , true all tires, and full off car machine/on car balancing of the tires, made the sedan delivery stop on a dime and handle like a sporty car. Now, it was safe for my wife and her friends to be alone in the sedan delivery for whatever purpose came their way.

The only drawback to owning this cool sedan delivery was that it is a couple’s hot rod. The two bucket seats were adjustable and offered 1000s of miles of comfort. But, when a family addition arrived, there was no way to comfortably make a third safety seat fit correctly, even in the large cave behind the seats. It just would not be comfortable or safe doing emergency things in the sedan delivery.

So, we had to sell it to get a small station wagon for all of our family needs. We enjoyed it for 7 years and countless happy miles of driving in a hot rod in So Cal. The photography equipment and necessary paraphernalia all fit nicely strapped down in the dark, big cave out of sight, so it was built for roving photographers.

 

To many rods treat brake lights as something to hide. Wipe lash injuries are real & hurt for many years. Modern traffic everyone follows to close. Big bright brake lights help. Illegal but I have a switch that turns on/activates a green running light when on the gas, a set of little bigger yellow lights when coast off the gas warning people behind me; then legal big bright brake lights & turn signals. Read somewhere college study tested & recommends this type lights on cars but laws always ten years late. Use the turn signal early way before the turn hope the nut behind sees it. Stay safe