great car and great work! I had similar ideas for my car wanted to build something my dad and uncles would have built out of the "farm cars" when my grandfather wasn't looking.
Read every reply. Great thread. How thick did you plane the wood to start? Sent from my K88 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I stumbled on a pair of 700-19" tires for a good enough price that I couldn't resist trying them out. They are really big, but new old stock and in fine shape. They'll work for now, until I find something else. Kind of reminds me now of some of the old cars like the ones Jimmy B posted in his "Modifieds as they were" thread. I think a lot of those old time guys ran what they had, or could get, and aesthetics were kind of secondary. I also wonder if they didn't have large diameter rear tires just for the salt, for the gearing advantage, and smaller ones for the street? Kind of like how they had to put the fenders back on to make the cars street legal? Anyway, I stole a picture from that thread as an example. If that's not appropriate, please let me know. I'm not trying to say my rig has anything on this car, just an inspiration kind of thing. I know modifieds and speedsters are different animals, but the title of my thread does say "speedster kind of thing." Left myself a little wiggle room. I think if I could find some 600-19s I would be set. Anybody want to trade for my 700s? Now a few of mine. There is also one of the bent front spring that I didn't manage to include in that post.
^^^^^I love 3/4 rear views. Its forced perspective the rears look bigger and the fronts look smaller.^^^^^^
Thank you. Yeah, the rear 3/4 does exaggerate it. I must have accidentally hit the "thumbnail" button on those last two. I tried the 700s out before I lowered the springs and was not happy. The lowering helps, though. I found the one picture I took of the first try, and I'll re-post the profile I just put up, so we can see them together. Old height first. It's kind of subtle, especially in the pictures, but in real-life, the whole car seems lower and more appropriate. It really seemed to tower in the back before I removed the leaves and bent the ends on that rear spring. I probably only lost a couple of inches or so, but it made a difference. You can get an idea by comparing the angle of the frame to the ground.
I bought a 1927 Popular Mechanix magazine at an estate sale about 50 yrs ago (long gone now). It featured reader's speedsters (or whatever they were called then). I remember the nicer ones looking sorta like yours. You could tell in the black & whites that almost none had any paint added to what was or wasn't there and they probably had never been washed. Mostly very crude looking. One even had an external combustion engine and the guy said, "because wood is free"! Nice vision you have and you're gitten' it! Good work! sent from the red phone
I really like your build...and like the rubber rake. To me, it has a decidely dirt track kind of look to it. I think it needs a number on the cowl (is there a photoshop artist out there that could give it a shot?)
That switch looks damn near same as my old pan had on it ! Are you using Harley parts ? LOL Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I really don't know. It was the oldest, crappiest one in the junkpile, so I thought it was perfect. It has a kind of Art Deco vibe that appealed to me. Maybe from an old boat? Funny thing, after I penciled the reminder on the dash, I noticed "on" stamped into the escutcheon. Oh well.
I watched your start-up video and saw that it takes a little more than flipping that switch. That thing is awesome! How does it ride with the lowering and larger tires? It kinda reminds my of one of those WWI era movies with the barnstormer biplanes, just the basics and a whole lotta Fun.
I haven't even taken it out with the new tires. Call me a wimp, but it's been too cold this weekend, looks to stay that way for a week or so. This flatlander just isn't up to cruising that thing unless the temp is above 50. My little aluminum cowling is cute, but it doesn't manage to deflect all of the wind. I'll report back soon, winter weather here is notoriously volatile.
I don't know how common they are. Got them from a shop that was liquidating all of its inventory. They are unused, rubber is still pretty soft, no cracks. Seem ok to me. Another reason I haven't tried them out on the road yet is that the brakes on this thing are scary. I have done gobs of research and adjusted them at the wheels (correctly, I'm pretty sure), but I can't even get them to lock up on dirt. Out on the open road, I couldn't panic stop for anything. I peered around underneath, saw the rod from the pedal to the cross-shaft was already adjusted as short as it would go. I have pulled all four drums, shoes have linings that look fairly unworn to my ignorant eye. This sloppy mess holding the cross-shaft to the frame rails looked wrong, though. So I hit up Mike's Afordable parts again (shameless plug, they have been good to me) and ordered some split bushings and the appropriate brackets. The weird thing is that there is no way the old brackets have room for a bushing. The shaft just runs on the brackets. Are they stock? Modified? Did early '28 A's have non-bushed cross-shafts? Here they are with a set of the new parts. Got them installed no problem. I didn't grease them yet. As far as I can tell, there was never a provision to do so. Maybe because grease would attract dirt and accelerate the wear? Anyway, they are obviously new parts, kind of shine like a diamond in a goat's ass on that old chassis, but oh well. It was getting dark by then (shade tree, remember?) so I decided to forgo adjusting anything. After all, the cross-shaft is in pretty much the same place, just held there better now. Jumped in and tested them on dirt. Absolutely no change. Phooey. I'll have to go through the whole procedure, by the book, and adjust all of the rods and wedges, hopefully get some brakes working. I still think the new brackets and bushes are a damn sight better than what I had. Progress (I hope).
I think your discovering why the juice brakes were such a popular upgrade to mechanical brakes. Brass or bronze I understand is self lubricating. I think bias tires if stored correctly may not have aging factors as modern tires do.
My understanding is that, once you get them adjusted, mechanicals can be pretty effective. Just require regular maintenance. This car is so light, it should be no problem for the stock brakes. Just got to keep fiddling. I have always heard the same about bronze. I am going to take them back off and polish the bearing areas on the shaft, though. I was in a tizzy this afternoon to see if they would magically fix my problem. The tires are Firestone Deluxe Champions. I have no idea how old they are, but you may be right. They seem to have held up well. I feel a little better about them, now that a few guys have complimented them (funny how a little validation goes such a long way), but I still wish they were 650's or even 600's. They'll run fine for now, though.
rwrj, Have you checked to see if there is any slop at each connection for the brake rods? If the holes are worn oval in the clevises and arms at the brakes or cross shaft, it all adds up. The pins need to fit snug at all the connections. I had all the worn holes welded up and I redrilled them. You can also go to a larger diameter pin size.
7.00 look good..............keep fiddling with those mechanicals because when they are adjusted right they stop pretty good, I had a hard time with '31 roadster brakes at first but got them dialed in so it stop well enough to be comfortable.
I'll check the rod ends. I think a big part of the problem is that the rod from the pedal to the cross shaft is adjusted as short as it will go, which makes the arms at the ends of the cross shaft angled. My understanding is that those arms should be vertical before the brakes are applied, to maximize the mechanical advantage. I'll start there and work my way towards the ends.
Looks like you are doing great! just passing along a little of what I experienced. The brakes on my A improved a lot after I preplaced the wobbly old wishbone ball socket., although still not great buy any means, but a lot better. I'm guessing the axel movement when brakes applied was not allowing the actuating arm to work properly, just a guess? I am thinking shocks next (lever) to take some more slop out of the thing (not running any now) figure can't hurt any thing but my wallet. I see you have shocks are they hooked up ?
The wishbone ball is good, I checked it while I was under there dropping the pan so I could adjust the crank shims. There is a little slop in the rods and pins. The shocks don't have arms or dogbones. I put a wrench on them and they seem frozen. They are on The List. I think you guys are right, there is just too much accumulated play in the whole system. I'm pretty confident I can chase it all down, given time.
Great Work - Pure Low Buck Awesomeness! After all that work - I would have varnished it to show the Cool Wood Work! It looks awesome in gray too!!
I haven't. I have done a bunch of searching over there, and learned a lot. I wasn't sure how something like this would be recieved.
The Jalopy Journal
