Well, I am getting payment for my car very soon and I am going to start the tear down today. I'm only going to take off the front suspension at this time because next week she'll get hauled across the street to a mechanic frined of mine. He has agreed to let me use a space in his shop and the move will be a little easier if she doesn't have that crumpled metal hanging off in front. For a while, I thought I'd need a new frame and had made steps to get one. In fact, I was going to go with a whole new chassis. That feel through for reasons I won't get into. Friday afternoon, I looked at my frame a little closer. An eye and mind that is not grieving seems to see and think straight. I think I can save the frame. It appears that the wire wheels, and other suspension pieces took the impact and absorbed most of the shock. If you look at this pic you'll see that the spring perch is bent on the drivers side where the axle hit it. This pushed in the cross bar. Looking at it yestarday, the cross bar doesn't appear to be out of angle and the crossbar is pushed in at a max of maybe 1/4" right in the middle. Now that my mind is a little clearer and my thinking cap is on tight, I think I can bend the perch back to shape and possibly the cross bar. I'm gonna give it a shot when I get her moved. Cost wise, not having to replace the frame will save a bunch of cash. Even though I'm getting what is more than enough to fix her, I don't wanna go spending money like I won the lotto. I'm a smple person and Miss Behavin' was a simple car. Mabe that's why I loved her so much. She was a driver and the 6,342 miles I put on her in a span of 4 months is a testament to that. I'd like to go with a dropped "I" beam and may give up the few extra bucks to do so, but that would be my only "treat" during the rebuild. Damn, I just LOVE this frontend! RPM sent me a set of headlight brackets that would put my headlights down low like the pic, but I'd need to figure out a way to use friction shocks. I think regular shocks and the brackets to use them would be a little too much and distract from the "I" beam axle. Again, I like a simple look. Somebody talk me out of it! Tube axles are cool too. Right!? She won't get extra chrome or anything like that. Well, I'll try and talk myself out of it at least. If I go with the "I" beam, it would get painnted or powder coated lik before. Either way, she's gonna end up what she was always intended to be. Just a freakin' hot rod. I'll post pics of the rebuild when it hits full stride. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________ <!-- / edit note --><!-- controls -->
that I beam sure looks nice and insurance money takes the sting out of the purchase price.good luck on the redo.
Okay, first a reminder of what was. Courtesy of Officer ******** of the Houston Police Department. The wire wheels and tires (what was left of them) were the first to come off. I noticed that my first thoughts on the frame may have been wrong. It was starting to look like only the spring perch was bent and not that much. I think a little heat and a hammer may fix it or I could replace it. So, I began removing the spring. 3 out of 4 leaves survived. The bottom leaf is toast. Next up were the friction shocks. The clevises for the radius rods were ripped off in the impact, so the friction shocks were all that was left holding the axle in place. These arms were given to me by Rick. It sucked to see them mangled. Here's the front suspension assembly removed. I then set about removing what I could save. Spindles and king pins seemed to be okay, but the left steering arm was snapped in half. It's what tore out a chunk of sheet metal from the cop car. I'm saving that chunk of metal and will make a shadow box for it. The Wilwood brake setup came out okay, except for a bleeder fitting snapped of one of the calipers and the rotors were bent a little. I didn't save the rotors. To my great surprise, the drag link, radius rods and rod ends survived. Scratched up, but NOT bent! The same can not be said of the clevises. They were snapped clean off. It's beginning to look like I won't need to replace the whole front end! Which frees up capitol for an "I" beam. The spring mounts came out okay too! Unfortunatly, the tie rod took a beating. It was bent in two different spots. The heims were okay, so I saved them. I'll just replace the tie rod. I'd rather not take chances with trying to get the bends out. So, here she is. Her front all naked and everyone staring. I'll wait til I get her to my friends place before really tearing into her. Today, I just wanted to know what I could save off the front and see if it would let me get that dropped axle setup. I think I may have made it. I'll crunch numbers later. __________________
you may be pleasantly surprised. When you loosen all the fasteners and take it apart, I bet some of the bent pieces will return to shape...hah, you posted up the latest pics as I was writing. guess some turned out okay and some not. best wishes
Yes, it sure does look nice, but I don't want to blow all my money on this car. It would be nice to have a little left over for lean times. As of now, I have crunched the numbers and I'll probably be able to go the "I" beam route. I'll know for sure when I get the frame cleared so I can check to see if she's square. If I have to replace the frame, I'll do so and go back to the tube axle.
My paper weight is a batwing bracket that was on a car that barrel rolled at 180 mph. It looks like you have a whole bunch of paper weights... I'm glad YOU didn't end up as a paper weight. Let the healing begin. -Abone.
Thanks. Man, it felt so good to be wrenchin' on her again. I didn't stop to get a smoke or take a break. I was in the zone and loving it!
OK I musta missed it but did the city take blame and make it right with ya????...good luck with the rebuild,Im learnin from watchin it
i have a pair of friction shocks from a 40 merc you can have,,,just pay shipping...let me know if you want them
Yup, they took blame for the car and the check is in the proverbial mail. It will be a while for the injury settlement, but it's coming too. Not as quick, but coming. The time will fly by as I get going on my car. Yea....... I'm stoked.
Fred just make sure and measure the chassis for square, and your threads on those rod ends and bars. I'm sure you know to look all the parts over before using them again, but just reminding you...lol How are you going to mount the beam axle ?
I would be kinda afraid to re-use any of the front end parts after they have been in an accident no matter how good they look (they could break later), also I would just replace the front crossmember/spring perch, easier than trying to straighten it, but that's just me.
Reversed eye spring behind the axle. Yea, I checked out the rod ends and bars and they looked good. I was really surprised. Looks like the wire wheels were a good bumper. The right wheel/tire and the tie rod took the most shock. She took a glancing blow instead of a dead on the side hit. Kenneth, I hear what you're saying and will check everything before I reuse it. I'm going to remove the powder coating and that will let me get a closer look, but as of now, things look good. Thanks for the concern. It's really appreciated. I sure don't want to be the cause of an accident.
No early Fords or Mercurys used friction shocks. They were Houdaille lever arm hydraulic shocks. So glad to see the car isn't terminal. Don't forget Texas has a minimum headlamp height law which was discussed here a few days ago. I think 24" to the ceter of the bulb was the low side. There is a high side too but it pretty much doesn't apply here, except possibly for the Gasser Brigade.
Fred, I wish I had gotten over to see the carnage in person. Sorry it didn't work out. If you find anything at all about your chassis that you don't like, let me know. We can bring it here and I'll fix it properly for you. You buy lunch. Keep us updated. Scotty
How much are you budgeting for an axle? I got a real Ford axle, dropped with holes drilled, and '32-'34 spindles, with the integral steering arms(looks like you have Chevy spindles and I don't believe they will work on an I beam) for $550 from www.droppedaxles.com. I can probably find you a good price on a set of juice drums.
I would suggest checking at a minimum with dye-penetrant. Good to see the repair process getting under way.
Okay, here are the pics of what has been removed thus far. Well, nothing to see really. Just most of the bent stuff removed. Today, I disconnected the rest of the wires and other items. The body is ready to be removed. I labeled everything so it will be easy to put back together. Oh, on a light note. Here's a chunk of HPD car that my left steering arm tore out. I'm gonna frame it. "Failure to yield." That freakin' cracks me up.
lookin good fred all thangs considered , im glad you are well enough to start mending on the T , keep the updates comin man!!
Misappropriation of Government property. That'll have you banged up in the pen in no time! Glad to see it all on the mend. I just have to reitterate some of the comments here about reusing stuff. You have the funds, don't skimp on the rebuild. Pete
Today was the first full day I've had to work on transforming Miss behavin'. I think I got quite a bit done. So, here are the pics. First I removed the body and set it up so I could roll it around, if I needed to. I removed it myself. Yea, you might say I was motivated, plus fiberglass isn't that heavy. With the body removed, it was easy to check for hidden damage. The Lokar shifter is toast. As is the tranny cooler and the battery. I already knew about this, so no tears were shed. The engine and tranny had been ripped from their mounts (I still don't know how they stayed on the frame while the car got towed down the freeway), so removing the assembly from the frame went quick and trouble free. So, here's the chassis all naked. As you can see, putting things back on should be a breeze. None of the brake lines were bent or crushed and the same can be said of the fuel line. I got a tape and check the frame for square and she was good! I was VERY lucky. After I wiped the frame down, I decided to mock up the radiator and grill shell. I was "feeling it". The radiator came from Tbucketlar on the Tbucketeers forum and the grill shell came from HAMB member, Flatheadete. Thanks, guys. I think the radiator is a Total unit and one of their thick ones, but it had a rounded top. It should do as well or better than what I had. I'll probably cut down the dummy neck and go with a cap or the top off a jar of pickeled artichoke hearts. Now, the grill shell has a few minor dings and a tiny bit of surface. I'll tap out most of the dings and take care of the rust, then paint the inserts black. As you can see, the shell is way longer than the radiator, so I'll trim out about 6". But the fit width wise and the look are just what I wanted. I'm not going to make the grill look perfect for two reasons. First, it's in good shape. Second, Flatheadpete (HAMBer) was the first person of many who offered to send me something to not only get her going again, but to keep me motivated. I was in a very dark place for a while and stuff like the radiator and this grill, really helped keep my spirits going. So, the little dings will give this plastic car some soul and when asked why the radiator and shell aren't all shiney and new, I'll tell 'em the story of Miss Behavin' and where the parts came from. Once again, the hot rod community comes through. I'll shine the spot light on you other guys as I come to your stuff, but I just want you all to know I can't thank you enough. The Tbucketeers and the HAMB are truly the two best hot rod sites on the net. Thank you.
The body was held to the frame with "well nuts". The body moving up and forward ripped it from the two mounts in the rear. The two in the front held up, but tore the fiberglass a little. I'm going to have to drill new holes and find a more secure way to mount the body. The problem is the body being 'glass. If the hit or movement is strong enough, the glass will most likely always be on the recieving end of the most damage.
What up Fred!! I was wondering how the bucket was going, hadn't seen anything till tonight. I'm sure it's gonna look as good as it did the first time!!
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