BUNGKING EXTRAS

Now that all of the suspension was set up it was time to move on to getting the motor and trans put in place.  With driveability and reliability being of high priority what we chose was all brand new rebuilds for both the motor and trans.  For the motor a new 347ci crate motor based off of the 302 block of the small block Ford, this one is rated at a little over 400 HP so it should get the job done.  It is backed with a built AOD trans, a 4 speed automatic this will keep the rpm’s low on those long freeway trips.  Once the two were coupled together they were moched up in place keeping them centered in the chassis and as far froward as possible to the radiator to be able to keep as much firewall and leg room as possible.  

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Once the proper angle was achieved and everything measured out it was time to fill the gaps from the motor to the  chassis.  Some older style rubber motor mounts were used, I was making them from scratch and liked the look and function of these hockey puck style ones.  I made up some upper plates and gussets and tacked them onto the frame rails and then moved on to the trans.  I wanted there to be a trans drop out just in case for any reason in the future the tranny had to come out by itself.  So I made up a drop out and mounted it to the transmission and then started to work out from there, first installing the lower cross bar to tie it into the frame rails to locate it.  To add some support to both the trans mount as well as the rest of the chassis I then made up a tube crossmember.  This will help the rigidity of the chassis and reduce any flexing or twist experienced under harsh driving conditions.  Note the crossmember ties into the chassis in very close proximity to both of the mounts of the rear 4 link as well as the front hairpins.

The chassis is just about ready to set the body back on to moch up all of the sheet metal, steering, brakes, firewall and I’m sure a few others…..

Now that the frame had already been boxed and all of the new crossmembers installed, it was time to get both of the axles mocked up in place.  I started with the front axle, it is a 4″ drop axle by Superbell complete with their disc brake set up and a mono leaf front spring.  I mocked up the chassis at ride height and set the caster angle of the axle to 7 degrees and checked for the size of tab that would be needed for the hairpin mounts.  These ended up being about 2.5″ below the chassis to the center of the hole.  I made up some 1/4″ thick steel tabs on my CNC plasma and also added some drilled gussets for extra strength and good looks.  I then cut out a new tab for the panhard bar and tacked it in place as well.

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Then it was time to tackle the rear suspension, I decided to go with a triangulated 4 link in the rear for its design lends itself to a lot of clearance under the chassis for exhaust and anything else you have down there, and their simple clean look.  I wasn’t happy with the quality or the price of some of the kits so I decided to make my own knowing that most the time I seem to buy a kit from someone else I end up modifying it so much it doesn’t really make sense.  I picked up some urethane front bushings and tube nuts to make up the 4 bars, these are relatively cheep and can be found usually for less than $10 each.  I mocked up our Currie 9″ housing in place at ride height and tacked some braces in place so it was locked onto the chassis so that when I was setting up all of the 4 bar tabs I didn’t bump it out of place and have to spend a bunch of time measuring and adjusting it back into place.

I then made up all of the tabs and brackets with the CNC plasma again, first welding the assemblies together and metalfinishing the welds before tacking them in place on the chassis.  Once all of the brackets were made up I tacked them all in place on the chassis and the axle making sure everything stayed in line and straight.  I then made up some bungs to insert into the chassis for the upper shock mounts, I will be using a coilover set up in the rear.  Once everything was tacked in place it all came apart and got fully welded and installed back in place.  Now We have a pretty complete rolling chassis minus some brake lines and a steering box but I wanted to mount up the motor and trans first and hopefully  next weekend I can get that accomplished!   

After all of the tear down I sent out the chassis itself out to the media blaster to remove any rust or 80 year old debris for prep for modification.  As expected it came back in great shape no signs of cancer, hits or repairs.  So it was time to get down to business, I had to replace the rear crossmember with a new frame section to give some more axle clearance.  There is a 3″ kick up at the axle center line, the new section of the chassis was made from 2″ x 3″ x .120″ wall steel rectangular tube.  It took many miter cuts and some calculating but 11 pieces later and the rear section was ready to be grafted on. To help spread the load of the new frame section, plates were plug welded in place on the inside of the chassis tubing, this could also be done on the outside as well for strength but I wanted to keep it all hidden.  Some of the welds in these pics still need to be dressed and metal finished but there is still some more modifying to do in those areas so I will take care of all of it at one time later.

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The factory front crossmember was then removed to give way for a 32 style one, this will help lower the front of the car an extra inch because of it’s 1″ higher spring mount.  This crossmember also has a 7 degree pitch already built into it as well keeping the suspension bind to a minimum when running the higher degree of castor angle needed to keep the light car going down the road straight and not twitchy at high speed.  I then boxed in everything in between the crossmembers, a 3/16″ mild steel plate was welded to the inside of the channel of the frame creating a much more stable structure.  A temporary center crossmember was then added to keep everything in line, a more permanent and substantial one will be added once I mount the motor and trans in place.

So after a day of fooling around it was time to get down to business, the end product we are trying to achieve was not a bone stock restoration, but a full fendered chopped hot rod with all late model running gear.  So the time came to strip the car down, luckily dad was still in town to lend a hand a help be a part of the project.  After a long day of carefully tearing the car down and bagging and labeling parts for the future there wasnt much left of it.  In a day we turned a perfectly good car into a pile of parts but like most projects it has to look worse before it has a chance to look better. 

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I am going to be reusing the factory chassis so after teardown it was off to the sandblaster along with a batch of other parts.  When the chassis comes back it will get a bunch of modifications to run an updated suspension and handle the torque of the stroker small block ford we have waiting to be installed in it.

My dad has always dreamed of having a hot rod of his own.  I can remember the trips to the local car shows and weekends at Hot August nights in Reno NV from when I was a kid.  He always gravitated to the early 30′s hot rods usually painted bright red, I’m not sure why that era or style, not sure if he even knows either but those were the car for him.  He has never had a hot rod of his own and has only a few times had a chance to take a ride in one.  Being the owner of a Custom Fab shop for many years we figured it was time to make his dream come true.  After years of looking for the right donor for the project I finally found one that would suit our needs.  What I found was a 1930 Ford Model A 5  Window coupe.

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The car was in untouched condition for the most part.  The drivetrain was left completely stock, along with most of the rest of the car.  As the story goes the car came from a barn in Oregon and was in the same family from purchase new till around 1999.  The car changed hands twice after and we are now the fourth owner of the 81 year old car.  The Model A was still in driving condition so I had to have dad come out for a ride.  He flew out a week after I received the car for  the weekend to get behind the wheel of this time capsule before we tore it down.  There arent many people who have had the chance to get to drive a bone stock car from the 30′s, and by the end of the weekend there wasnt much left in tact so it was good that he came hen he did.