Hot Rods Yes it’s still Possible.

I love it. It sits nice, too.

 

Again thank you and still gotta get front disc on and exhuast.

 

Believe it or not the shackles have a little more fore and aft movement. The shouldered bolts /and the welded cross straps along with new bushings etc got ride of all of the slop and crazy sway with out binding up.

 

And it begins.
Stripping the front end down to do ball joints /shocks / bearings and brakes. Got a question. Why would the driver side spindle backing plates bolts only have 2. And the passenger side have 4. Strange.to me. And I don’t remember this on other tri fives. Maybe I just over looked it.

 

I think the 4 bolt ones were from '55 and they went to 2 bolt in '57, although I might have those backwards. I had a shitty spindle on my '57 and replaced it with one from a '55 and ended up with the same thing, now one side has 4 bolts and one side has two, otherwise they were identical. I'm pretty sure the 4 bolt one came from a '55. I'm not sure what '56 had. You probably had one side swapped out sometime earlier in the car's life.

 

Gotcha. Makes sense. I just had never paid attention. With the dual m/c I am installing /I am going to disc front set up I have. Sorry but I like stopping. That just isn’t an option for me. My old 56 and all my old tri 5 trucks would stop decent but they were always a source of constant attention.

 

Ok. When all else fails read the little yellow slip that NAPA put in the ball joint box.
Ball joint on top. Rubber boot on the bottom. NOT whole thing from the top or bolted to bottom. And the rain sent me back in. Oh well at least I didn’t tear up any parts and caught it before I had it all back to get her.

 

Ok so the rain is back. Not complaining it cooled things off.
Also meant I just took my other rear wheels and mounted some 235s on em. When I paint the front narrow steelies( 4 wide) it’s gonna make the look it think. I have a set of 7 inch rallies like the short centers to match what’s on but I am not certain I am going to leave those on. I also have another set of 6 inch steels stock to match these. They were almost dead on balance wise and his machine said they were as good as any he had seen. When it stops raining might get a chance tonight. If not no matter there is always tomorrow

 

Wow those wheels turned out looking great, I'm in the same boat with a set of 16 inch wheels that I'm needing to replace the outer part of the wheels [little crusty] and then have them rechromed. Congratulation on your retirement hope you have more time to work on projects

 

It’s has been. I wondered if my plan for retirement would actually work. 4 pretty simple steps I was given many years ago and I’ll be dang. It worked. I was afraid to wait much longer /fear of the current state of the nation /and decided I wanted to at least build all I could while I could as a free person. I have pretty much got every piece and part to finish this one and the other 3 builds I have going on.
The one thing that as a younger person I took for granite is time. Precious time. 50 Billion won’t buy back 30 seconds ago. There are things I would do a little different ( not much ) but my assumption of time always being on my side. Arrogance as a younger man /and now the humility to know I have been blessed and lucky.
I Graduated in 85. My graduating class had a running bet I wouldn’t make 21. ( and there have been several occasions along the way to make some of them double down on that). I don’t / have never been a drinker /doper. I was stone sober the whole time. Figured if it was that much fun better remember it. Might want to do it again. God has been good to me. Far better than I deserve and I know it.
Same instructions I give to everyone I know. Build all you can when you can as long as you can. You never know.
One day I’ll tell the whole story but most would call it science fiction or an outright lie. Lol

 

Yes, I agree. Our days are numbered - there is no getting them back.

 

Got a little more done. Ball joints /spindle and new shock installed. If rain will give me a little break I’ll get the caliper brackets on as well.

 

Ok. Caliper brackets on. Kinda. I’ve used some kits from this company before but two warnings.
1. The hardware( bolts ) are not shouldered like the originals. And yes the originals will work and they even have a hole for a cotter pin.
2. The spacer they sent for the steering arm leaves much to be desired.
I think I’ll hit the hardware/machine shop and look for a specific washer/spacer that is 1/4 thick and fits the bolt exact. I think I had rather have a set of washers that fit right than a price of pipe/tubbing cut like that.
I am pretty ticky about the small details. It’s never failed me.

 

I don't blame you, that hardware looks pretty sketchy. Hopefully the rest of the parts are better engineered than that.

 

Ok while doing 4 things at once finally got a chance to finish the fronts to match the rear. I think it’s gonna look pretty spot on.

 

Ok. Finally have one side trial assembled and even got some answers. The disc kit actually came with longer front brake hoses and the bolt or weld on tabs. Caliper pins were pretty tight until assembled and evenly tightened up. After ditching the hardware it’s a pretty simple kit. Also I can tell you that my 8 inch wide fronts won’t be going back under 7 will and I’ll Probobly run a 6 other than when or if it goes to the strip I’ll use the front runners then

 

Second side fighting every step. Had to make a thread chaser/tap. Used to do it all the time when I didn’t have many tools. . And the hardware on this disc brake kit sucks.
I am not at the river today so I didn’t have all of my machine shop access that I normally would. Farmers and loggers know this trick by heart. Did I mention the hardware speaks chinesium. Dont give me any grief. My son in law was born there. But by grace of God we converted him early on as a child. Or I wouldn’t have given my blessing

 

Back at it.

 

Finally.

 

Nothin' like havin' to work for it, eh?! Progress is progress, you're almost there.

 

Changing out the chinesium bearings with timken A2 and A6 set respectively. Mississippi bearing in Tupelo has new old stock. These sets were so old /but new / that the boxes were the wax lined black and orange boxes.
With correct preload quiet. The others sounded like a damn train.
I honestly would have taken a good used set of any USA company over what came with the kit. They were awful.

 

Ok. So this is the results. I left the calipers off until I get ready to run brake lines etc. I am not sure I like the way the wheels sit. They are 4 inches from the fender lip. Yes they are 4 wide but I really think the 6 wide will look better. 7 will clear the 8s will not. This kit widened the track 3/4 of an inch according to the instructions.
The factory wheel was a 5 wide X 14 I think. 55-56 were 15s. And I gotta find a set.

 

Will be putting a new roof on shop it looks like. This 6 plus inches of rain for some parts of the county and over 12 in some counties below us literally hammered the shingles.
This was according to the local news only a 1/4 inch before 8am. Lol
Patched for now and gonna get 5 gallons of roof in a can until the roofer does his thing.
Limbs /pine straw didn’t help either. But is what it is.

 

And this is high ground for the area.

 

Brakes on. Pedal feels decent. Disc front drums back. Prop valve leaked but after checking top valve nut it was loose from factory. All good now.
Gravity bled for a few hours /but will pressure bleed as well later. Time for a tire/wheel change.
Relays for the headlights and the install new door rubbers /snubbers /lenses.
Exhaust - optional. I do still like open headers. Loved em as a kid lol. But I do want to hear the radio. ( gotta get one. Lol)

 

Lookin' good Mitch!

 

Getting there. Thanks for the compliments.

 

Ok. Brakes are acceptable. Took it for a short spin today. Didn’t get into 4th was just kinda creeping around the block so to speak. Open headers and all. Was kinda fun annoying one of the neighbors.
Even the Muncie with the 2.52 has a really close ratio. 3:55 rear gear is ok. I am still a 4:11 guy at heart. I like instant whiplash effects. But that pretty much kills anything over 60 mph so I’ll live with it. Still got a ton to do.
This damn heater core and I are fixing to go a round. Tiny leak. And only sometimes. Figure I will need defrost per say.
Still need to do headlight relays. ( they all work perfect but I don’t want to over load switches.)
Little things.
the tires and wheels look decent but
I still think I am going to a wider front wheel and tire. I just don’t think the front runners will survive on the street. I also have to hook up front torsion bar. Don’t know what it came off of but Wes picked a perfect one.

 

Looks good, I kinda like the skinny tires up front. A few longer test drives will determine how they feel though. Should be easy to steer/park at least. The rest of the car looked white before those wheels went on! Front sway bar makes a world of difference on these things, I put an Addco one on the front of my car this spring and I was shocked at the handling difference.

 

These are 5x15L tires. Not rated for much in speed or load. I can get some of those VW radials and as I always do turn the white walls /letters inside.