Thread: PLEASE! I need help with my first rod

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Couldn't agree more with all of that advise. I gave alot of thought to these spindles as I was working on the T the other day. I'm pretty convinced someone had the idea they could end up with a MMII disc brake setup, and took a MMII spindle and hacked off part of it and modified it so that it would fit early Ford kingpins. Sort of ingenius, but dangerous as hell.

Spindles just aren't something you build, or modify this heavily. The geometry has to be whacky, and I wonder how they got bronze bushings in there to take the early Ford kingpins??

When he gets these off, I really hope he takes detailed pix from every angle and posts them here. I am really curious, about how they did these. The way they bolted the steering arm on with one bolt speaks volumes about the workmanship and safety, and on that alone I would toss the spindles into the dumpster.

Don

Looks like I was turned around, it's the driverside kingpin that's hacked...that's even worse.

Wow, i've really missed reading "chit" like this! Didn't Brian have a thread on fiberglassing???? Yes, i'm sure he did it on part of his interior...oh, yeah, it was upholstry panels...interesting tho

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...t=13753/COLOR]

You all have been a great help. After a short break from the project, I cleaned things up a little and made it a little more photo-ready. I'll remove a front wheel later today and snap some more pics for you guys to make fun of... errrr, I mean constructively ciriticize... And by the looks of some of the components on my ride, you folks just might be saving my life.
Heres a couple of the motor and my "high-class top-knoch workshop"... any details about what I have here would be greatly apreciated.

Originally Posted by DennyW

You need to change that alternator belt for sure. See how it is sunk down in the pulleys ?

not sure what you mean exactly by "sunk down", I just replaced the Alt belt about 3 miles ogo. However, I was thinking of trying to relocate the alt somewhere lower, but as is, it is snug, and seems to run and charge perfectly... thanks for the input DennyW!

Hope you didn't feel we were making fun of you or your car. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, personally, I am impressed that you were smart enough to realize there were some issues like these, and coming forward to ask questions.

If we come across as dumping on your car, it is just friendly jabbing. Like we said originally, it really looks like a decent car, and we would all probably not mind owning it. Especially at the price you paid,

The few things we see, like the spindles, are intriqing to us, because of how the builder did it. Ingenious, but misguided.

Post those pix when the wheel comes off. I'm dying to see how he did the upper portion of the spindle and got the bushings to fit the proper size for the ford kingpins.

Don

Originally Posted by DennyW

Heres a little drawing I made up for you.

excellent! Thank you Sir. Guess it's time to up-size the belt...

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Hope you didn't feel we were making fun of you or your car.

lol, not at all Don. That's what my mailman is for...

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Post those pix when the wheel comes off. I'm dying to see how he did the upper portion of the spindle and got the bushings to fit the proper size for the ford kingpins.

Don

will do, thanks again for all the support here.

Now, I am by no means an expert here, but after a close inspection of the spindles, if they were modified by some hammer mechanic, I certainly cannot tell. (but thats not saying much.) take a look.

well, I guess I have to remove the brakes as well??? grrrr.

first one is of my fancy new brakes...
second is from above... duh.
close-ups of the rest. Sorry about all the new dust, it's a barn. and yes, it's dust not rust.

After looking at the pictures, I'm STILL not sure what you have here. I know one thing though, these are homemade spindles for sure, even though it is tough to see where they were welded up. Also, there is no bearing under the axle for it to ride on, so that in itself is enough to make me feel it has to go.

That, tied in with the very questionable steering arm held by one bolt, makes it a no brainer for me. I would get in touch with someone like Total Performance and tell them you have an axle that uses early Ford spindles, and you want to buy a set of spindles to mate this axle to MMII rotors and brakes. They should be able to fix you up.

My opinion, these spindles are the most important change to make, before you do anything else to the car.


Don

I agree with Itoldyouso. I can't believe someone would spend the time and money to build that T, which otherwise looks good, but cheap out when it comes to spindles. Get a new set of spindles made for that axle. You need to measure the kingpin boss cuz they will want to know what size it is. You will find that the cost to do this right is small stuff compared to the cost of those Wilwoods. What did you decide on the master cylinder?

Here ya go.

Okay, posted this to the wrong thread at first, but it might still be useful here as well.

I KNEW you would have one of these drawings, Bob.

Thanks, Don

You need to measure the kingpin boss cuz they will want to know what size it is. You will find that the cost to do this right is small stuff compared to the cost of those Wilwoods. What did you decide on the master cylinder?



Aster has hit on another very important point. We are assuming this axle is set up for early (37-48) Ford spindles, because the kingpins look like those to us. But, being that the spindles have been modified so heavily, they may have also modified the ends of the axles to accomodate that change. Maybe they machined down the height of the boss on the end, or bored the kingpin hole larger.

So that you have a good starting point, I'll measure both dimensions on mine over the weekend, and post those numbers so you can compare. Hopefully, he just built spindles and left the axle alone.


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

So that you have a good starting point, I'll measure both dimensions on mine over the weekend, and post those numbers so you can compare. Hopefully, he just built spindles and left the axle alone.


Don

any word on this Don? I'm getting the joneses again to work on it...

Oooooops. Forgot all about you. I will probably go to the shop tonight after work. I'll do it then.


Sorry,


Don