History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

On a merely tangential note, four bucks picked me up a pair of these cast aluminum hub covers for early Ford spindles at a local swap meet. Does anybody know who made them?

 

I have never owned a Schroeder but believe the adjustment is made similar to my Floyd Davis duplex steering box, not on the worm wheel axis, but on the worm. The Davis box has two worms and two worm wheels operating two Pitman arms and two drag links and thus no tie rod.

Four spur gears, two on each worm shaft, reverse the direction the pitman arms move relative to each other.

In the case of the Davis, one of the taper roller bearings outer races on each of the worm shafts is housed in an eccentric steel ring carried by the main housing casting. That eccentric ring is adjusted by positioning the ring manually while assembling the unit to adjust the back lash to a minimum.

The attached first picture shows the side of the box without the adjustment.

The second attached picture of the housing can be blown up and those rings can be seen. They are held in the adjusted position by the set screws and square locking nuts clearly visible in the photo.


Now I would like to know where in Australasia you are? Might that be Adelaide?

 

28dreyer,
Thanks for you repsonse. I'm about an hour out of Adelaide.

Do you have any information in relation to the steering arm and pitman arm lengths on the original Kurtis midgets as mentioned in post 4388?

 

[/QUOTE]Do you have any information in relation to the steering arm and pitman arm lengths on the original Kurtis midgets as mentioned in post 4388?[/QUOTE]

I would hope several people on this thread could measure that for you easily and respond quickly. If not, given a week or so I can drive out and measure two Kurtis cars for you.

For comparison, my two Pitman arms are 6" center to center, and the steering arms are 6 3/4" center of king pin to center of drag link connection.

My steering arm length however, may have little or only a coincidental relevance to a single drag link set-up with tie rod because in order to approximate proper Ackerman with this arrangement, the pivot points on both steering arms must be forward of the axle (or a straight line between the king pins) a calculated amount.

Thus, when turning left, the left or inside wheel turns through a larger angle by the forward moving drag link while the outside wheel turns through less of an angle by the rearward moving drag link.

The attached picture is the only other Davis steering I've seen and graphically shows the steering arm pivot ahead of the straight line between the king pins as represented by the shock arm. This Solar midget has a forward curved axle with the spring behind.

South? Any where near my good buddy in Aldinga Beach?

 

28dreyer,
I am in the opposite direction , and hour to the north. That said, I am a member of one of the local vintage speedway clubs so may well know your friend.

 

That yellow #23 looks like Johnny Ritters ELTO power car.

 

I was given a photo album of racing photos recently and inside was this URA logo transfer from the mid-1950s.

 

View attachment 2075092

Here's a picture of the bellypan.

Can anyone I.D. the in/out box? There's no name or numbers of any kind. Thanks.

 

With the slots at the parting surface, it looks like a change box as well. Does it have a planetary gear setup inside? Maybe an Ambler, although the ones I've seen are marked...

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a change box? Gear change? I'll look inside and take some pics. I've never heard of an Ambler. Where would markings be? Any info on the company? Looking to soak up as much knowledge as I can! Thanks.

 

Could be a Bennitt change box. Right after the war Lorin Bennitt built some in-n-out boxes with changeable gears. They were popular for a short time before Casale and Halibrand came out with their QC rear ends.

 

There have been many posts regarding in/out boxes and change boxes on this thread and a couple separate threads with many pictures posted.

An example is page 174 of this thread, posts # 3476 and 3477.

Using the wonderful search function of the HAMB should yield you much information and possibly an answer as to the maker of your box.

I would guess there to have been somewhere between 30 and 50 diferent makers with probably 15 to 20 producing commercially significant successful units.

Incidentally, for the later quick change rear ends, the numbers aren't all that diferent.

 

Could you post a photo of the Engine side of the I/0 box? It looks a lot like one that I have. Might be able to help.

 

Here's a few more. The coupler is missing.

 

all you need is the crank flange .

 

wow they are nice! those should be repopped so the rest of us can share your joy! contact dennis at Obrien truckers ,he'll work with you if you let him make a casting off of one of them (MAYBE GIVE YOU TWO MORE IN RETURN SO YOU HAVE 4????)

Paul

 

Thanks for more photos.
It's not the same as the one I have.
You could fit a Ford slider to that 6 spline shaft. that would make it much more common to find a coupler to fit your application.
Definitely a quick change I/O box.

 

This is an odd one. I have never seen a dog clutch with two straight cross grooves (four segments) but as I think about it, it's an easier way for Joe average to machine the mating parts as opposed to the six segmented ones that were commonly used on the better in/out boxes like the two diferent crank coupler halfs shown in the thumbnail.

Many of the other boxes used the Ford slider that Stryker is referring to that I believe was a Model A Ford 2-3 transmission gear 6 spline hub and shifter collar that was then used on the 6 spline portion of the clutch shaft that had the gear to the counter shaft cut off of it. That gear (with welded on flange) or a pupose built gear and flange were then bolted to the crankshaft flange. The inside teeth of the shifter collar meshed with the external teeth of the crankshaft coupler gear (just like a shift into third gear on the Model A) to provide the in/out function.

What you are seeing in the right hand portion of DWX's first thumbnail is the 6 splined clutch shaft with the gear cut off which now can mount the single 6 spline single change gear for the quick change portion of this combination box which drives the 48 tooth internal tooth output gear whose shaft is splined to the U-joint.

 

As for the hub covers!! I may be total wrong but those look like something you get at LOWES or someother fence supply store. David

 

You're right. They look exactly like the caps for galvanized fence posts. They've been chucked in a lathe and cleaned up with sand paper.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Even though no positive ID on the I/O box, I now understand how it works and what I need to make it complete. You guys are great!

Still looking for info on the rest of the car (post # 4351 page 218).

 

Don't know anything about the car, but whoever did the rivet work on that tail was either a boiler maker or worked in the aircraft industry. Just sayin

 

Could that be a Solar midget?

 

no.

 

I know is not a Solar. But I have been told the car has a "West Coast look" to it.

 

Odly enough, one showed up on e-bay today.

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87 pictures of midgets at Ascot 1962.

Jones, Foyt etc

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157629488356531/

 

Bill Krueger here; Max Walter Reichenbach was my father-in-law. I drove his midgets for 10 years UARA Champion 1969].I worked with him for 20 years and can tell you menny stories about him just don't know who to tell them too

 

Do you have a small tape recorder? It is a great way to preserve bench racing stories until your hack writer can get them down on paper. I collect stuff on Max when I come across it but have been very busy with our current racing program. We blew up two motors this year and flipped the car we worked all year to get to the track.

It would be great if all bench racing was recorded. I may start carrying my micro recorder with me to the races to use during story time. Anyone tried that Dragon voice activated word processor?

 

Hi Bill, been a while since we've talked.

I for one would love to have you give us a short history of the Reichenbach Brothers riight here on this thread. Perhaps in a number of postings and some photos.

I would like to read about their relationship with Pete Neilsen and the Marchese's and the first ever tube framed midgets that were attributed to them and/or the Reichenbach's. Also the similarity of the bodies.

Then about the cars they produced and the hook-up with Reliable Welding and then after Reliable.

Also identify this photo and people that I found in my mess, pavement somewhere. The car does not have the typical Reichenbach front and rear radius rod attachment locations, possibly because of the Falcon header?