My 28 Ford

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

My 28 Ford

admin · Jul 28, 2016

Those casters should last a while.. Looks like they are hanging from the ceiling. smile

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

admin wrote:
Those casters should last a while.. Looks like they are hanging from the ceiling.

The frame is hanging from the ceiling. I have to lower it down to start installing all the suspension parts.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

This is the axle housing that has been shortened by 5 inches. The 1 1/2" brass shaft through the centre is located with 4 aluminum bushings prior to it being welded.

Axle%20Housing%201.jpg

This next picture shows the chamfer on the shaft to get good weld penetration.

Axle%20Housing%202%20-%20Copy.jpg

This is an end view of the line up shaft.

Axle%20Housing%203_2.jpg

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

Welding the ends on the housing generally moves the alignment a bit so I had to put it on the jig to move the tube about 0.005"

Axle%20Housing%205_2.jpg

After tweeking the shaft alignment, the end bushing slide in freely.

Axle%20Housing%206_2.jpg

The alignment fixture is a little crude but it gets the job done.

Axle%20Housing%207_2.jpg

This housing has now been shortened by 5 inches and its time to order new axle shafts.

58chev · Etobicoke On Rod-side Member

Looking good Bruce.

How long has this project sat in your garage? biggrin I know when I was there a few years ago it had been sitting a while.

I need to get some UMPH so I can start on mine.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

58chev wrote:
Looking good Bruce.
How long has this project sat in your garage? I know when I was there a few years ago it had been sitting a while.
I need to get some UMPH so I can start on mine.

Thanks, I bought it in 1999 and I was going to restore it to original. I spent a few years gathering parts at flea markets until I decided a couple of years ago to Hot Rod it after seeing the job my son did on his 31 Ford. Currently I have put other commitments on the back burner and now I'm starting to get at it. Reading some of the stories on this site helps with the motivation to get going on it. I've removed quite a bit of fine used high quality car parts since you were here and I can now walk around the garage without killing myself.

I hope you get back to your 58 Chev soon.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

I've finally finished machining the transmission adapter. I started out with a 3/4" thick plate of aluminum so I could machine a shoulder to fit inside a truck bell housing that will register the centre of the adapter. The transmission bearing collar will fit inside the adapter to align the input shaft to the crankshaft centre line. The adapter is 1/2" thick to space the transmission back 1/2" because the 5 speed S10 transmission is too long.

Trans%20adapter_1.jpg

bmw2002e3 · St.Marys On Member

Wow. This is mind boggling work. Beautiful.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

bmw2002e3 wrote:
Wow. This is mind boggling work. Beautiful.

Thanks very much and I really appreciate your comments.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

This is a followup picture of the spacer attached to the bellhousing.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

I finally have the frame sitting on the ground with the wheeled brackets attached. The dust on the frame is an indication of how long it has been hanging in my garage.

Frame%20stand.jpg

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

The following pictures show the brackets I made to support the engine while I make up some engine mounts. They have adjustable feet on them so I can level the engine and find the best place to mount the engine to the frame. I forget where I found the idea to build the engine supports but it was somewhere on the internet.

Engine%20support%202.jpg

Engine%20support%201.jpg

Engine%20support%203.jpg

123pugsy · Tin basher Metal shaping guy

That's a pretty slick method to dial in the engine location.

cheyenne · Vienna ON Rod-Side Member Classic plane Restorations

Good stuff Bruce !! Thanks for sharing.

toomuchjunk · Aug 23, 2016

Thanks for posting Bruce. This is a good example of the amount of work involved in building a car. (and some people don't appreciate it)
TMJ

henrystoys · Carleton Place On Rod-Side Member

As a retired machinist I can appricate the work you have done on this build. Keep us updated.

admin · Aug 23, 2016

Thats pretty cool, I often find as rodder people we some times spend more time making widgets and gadgets to help us as we build our car . I have seen a lot of pretty slick and creative stuff made up by guys.. Thanks for posting Bruce..

Beans · Courtice On Rod-Side Member Pin Striper

tha'ts really cool!

Mytfine · Sault Ste Marie On Rod-side Member "Towing"

Great idea

Will definitely have to make a set for my next build.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

Thanks everyone for the nice comments as they are very much appreciated. I was hoping that some would find this interesting to see.

58chev · Etobicoke On Rod-side Member

Bruce,
ThanX for the updates. I really like your engine jig.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

The latest addition to the project are the engine mounts. Thanks to all the information on the internet, I was able to build a set of engine mounts. They are just tack welded for now until I'm sure they won't need to be modified. Hopefully I can get my son to finish welding them because his eyes are much better than mine. It's an old age thing.

Engine%20mount%201.jpg

Engine%20mount%202.jpg

Engine%20mount%203.jpg

I also finished the engine mount frame brackets and once I'm sure the engine is in place, I can weld them to the frame. The big white lump in the second picture is the poly urethane that I'll use to make the engine mount bracket bushings.

Engine%20frame%20bracket.jpg

Bushing%20material.jpg

The next 2 pictures show the engine located in the frame and it will just need some minor tweaking to get it in line. The crankshaft centre line is where the original Model A engine was located and everything appears to be where it should be. The second picture shows the transmission installed and the cross member had to be altered to locate the transmission tail shaft.

Engine%20location%202.jpg

Engine%20location%201.jpg

-- Edited by Bruce Rossiter on Thursday 1st of September 2016 12:04:46 AM

fatstax · Cobourg On member

Bruce Rossiter wrote:
Welding the ends on the housing generally moves the alignment a bit so I had to put it on the jig to move the tube about 0.005"

After tweeking the shaft alignment, the end bushing slide in freely.

The alignment fixture is a little crude but it gets the job done.

This housing has now been shortened by 5 inches and its time to order new axle shafts.

TIG?

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

The housing ends were mig welded.

fatstax · Cobourg On member

just kidding, im not a fan of mig welding tig would have been better. at least you are using a power fist product.

admin · Sep 1, 2016

Great workmanship and thank you for the pictorial Bruce.. smile

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

admin wrote:
Great workmanship and thank you for the pictorial Bruce..

Thank you for providing this web site for us to post our project. Hopefully the pictures will help someone else with their project.

BamBam · Wellesley, on Member

Nice work, I was suprised that you would worry about .005". I would think the axle housing prone to a small amount of inherent flexing and have some tolerance engineered into it. Thats pretty damn good considering how much the material can move from the heat of welding. Obviously people have been shortening and welding rear members for ages but I'm curious as to how difficult welding the axle tubes is? Are they a cast iron or steel, alloy?

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

BamBam wrote:
Nice work, I was suprised that you would worry about .005". I would think the axle housing prone to a small amount of inherent flexing and have some tolerance engineered into it. Thats pretty damn good considering how much the material can move from the heat of welding. Obviously people have been shortening and welding rear members for ages but I'm curious as to how difficult welding the axle tubes is? Are they a cast iron or steel, alloy?

Worrying about 0.005" is just part of my paranoid behaviour and you are right it is probably overkill because of the flexing and built in tolerance.

The axle tubes are steel and the housing ends are forged steel so they weld up fine. I did make sure when I ordered the axle ends that were forged as some of them advertise as cast iron. I would have used the old housing ends but when I was removing the cut off part of the old axle tube, I noticed the housing end was wobbling in the lathe. I can't take credit for the actual weld because I had my son weld them for me because he can see better than I can. He did weld them in sections to disperse the heat in order to reduce the warping and the pictures don't do justice to the welds he did. He is much better at it then I am.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

I finally finished making the poly urethane bushing for the engine mounts but I don't want to install them until I finish welding the engine mount.

Engine%20mount%20bushing%201.jpg

Engine%20mount%20bushing%202.jpg

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

This is the transmission cross member and poly urethane bushings that I finished today.

Trans%20mount%20%20bushing%203.jpg

Trans%20mount%20%20bushing%201.jpg

Rumblegutz · Haldimand On Member

I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing the talents of fabricators in the process. Wish I had those skills, among others.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

Rumblegutz wrote:
I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing the talents of fabricators in the process. Wish I had those skills, among others.

I also get enjoyment out of reading other people's projects.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

Here's a picture of the engine mount frame bracket set in place and ready to weld to the frame. I'll be looking to support the bracket in the frame in order to strengthen it.

Engine%20mount%20bushing%20%203.jpg

I was also able to put the transmission cross member in place so I can weld the brackets to the main frame cross member. The following pictures show the main brackets and the space I left between the cross member and the transmission to provide a gap for later adjustment. Transmission%20mount%204.jpg

Transmission%20mount%205.jpg

123pugsy · Tin basher Metal shaping guy

Very nice fabricating Bruce.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

123pugsy wrote:
Very nice fabricating Bruce.

Thank you and I enjoyed your 41 Chrysler build on another site. Your metal work is impressive.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

I was having a bit of trouble holding the axle housing in place while I was trying to line up the linkage for the 4 link bars and frame bracket. I welded a 1/2" nut to the top of the axle housing and used some threaded rod through the rear frame so now I can adjust the location and height of the axle housing easily. The next 2 pictures show the welded nut and the threaded rod making this a one man operation.

Rear%20axle%20support%202%201.jpg

Rear%20axle%20support%202%202.jpg

The next part that needed to be held in place to align the 4 link bars was the frame bracket. I welded a bracket onto the 4 link frame bracket with a lock bolt so I can position it onto the frame and tighten the bolt to secure it to the frame rail.

4%20link%20bracket%20clamp.jpg

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

More updates coming soon. I've been busy with the end of year races, a blocked basement drain, and a cold.

51 Styline · Niagara Falls Member

Nice work Bruce. Attention to detail and pride of workmanship are very evident. Wish I had a fraction of your skills and patience.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

51 Styline wrote:
Nice work Bruce. Attention to detail and pride of workmanship are very evident. Wish I had a fraction of your skills and patience.

Thank you for your kind words as they are very much appreciated. I have to be very careful while I'm working because I sometimes want to rush to finish and that's when I screw up.

rochie · London On, ELTA Member

Bruce,

Nice work and crafty ideas but, I have to ask, how much room do you have in front of the balancer? Compared to my roadster it looks really close and I had a short pump and mechanical fan on mine. I also had to cut the firewall some for the distributor

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

Hi Rochie,

The front of the engine has been a concern of mine also. The balancer in my picture is just barely sitting on the crankshaft and is not in its fully seated position. I also plan to remove the complete area below the balancer for clearance because the part where the original motor mount attached to is in the way.

I'm also in the process of repairing the sub frame extensions on my firewall so I can test fit it. I'm sure I will have to remove some of the firewall for clearance if I use an HEI ignition.

I really appreciate your feedback and I look forward to any further information you can give me.

rochie · London On, ELTA Member

You have to keep in mind "if you take an inch…you WILL give it somewhere else". There's only so much room in there. I stretched the body 1.5 inches right behind the door in the quarter panel to give me a little more leg room (I'm 6'2"). I could have used more and nobody would have noticed. I SHOULD have stretched the frame a couples of inches instead of cutting into the firewall. As it was I needed a 2" recess to clear the points distributor body (Pertronix inside). If you're running no hood anything can be done. Running a hood with a stretched frame is ok if not too much stretched. Too much and it throws the proportions out of whack.
Oh, I built my own front crossmember out of heavy wall 2 x 2 sq. tube just to get that little extra lowering for free.
Bruce before you do anything permanent mount the body so you get a better picture of where the interferences will be, i.e., steering tierod, cross steer or side steer, balancer to crossmember, Distributor to firewall etc., etc.

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

rochie wrote:
You have to keep in mind "if you take an inch…you WILL give it somewhere else". There's only so much room in there. I stretched the body 1.5 inches right behind the door in the quarter panel to give me a little more leg room (I'm 6'2"). I could have used more and nobody would have noticed. I SHOULD have stretched the frame a couples of inches instead of cutting into the firewall. As it was I needed a 2" recess to clear the points distributor body (Pertronix inside). If you're running no hood anything can be done. Running a hood with a stretched frame is ok if not too much stretched. Too much and it throws the proportions out of whack.
Oh, I built my own front crossmember out of heavy wall 2 x 2 sq. tube just to get that little extra lowering for free.
Bruce before you do anything permanent mount the body so you get a better picture of where the interferences will be, i.e., steering tierod, cross steer or side steer, balancer to crossmember, Distributor to firewall etc., etc.

Thanks again for the information. If I recall, my son had to indent his firewall about 4 inches to get clearance for the distributor. I'm moving very slowly with the firewall repair so I can be sure I'll have enough clearance. I won't be using a hood so it will be possible to gain a bit of room by moving the rad forward if necessary.

rochie · London On, ELTA Member

You can also move the crossmember forward as well if you're running fenderless. But be sure you mount the body and check everything or you'll be going back. Don't ask how I know OK?

58chev · Etobicoke On Rod-side Member

Bruce,
It's been a year+, any progress? biggrin

Bruce Rossiter · Toronto On Member

I guess I've neglected my Model A project long enough and after a long decision, I decided to back away from racing and spend some time doing what needs to be done on my hobby. To break in slowly in the garage, I made a stand for my bead roller. The stand holds all the adapters and allen keys. I modified the bead roller with a handle to adjust the depth and made a spring loaded device to return the upper die. I did make a guide based on the Eastwood design and I'll post a picture after I paint it.

The attached pictures show the stand and the upgrades that I made.

Currently I'm working on a stand for my shrinker stretcher.

DSCN0764 - 2.JPG

There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.

There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.

There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.