Alrighty, moving right along. The front suspension is in place so now it’s time to join the front rails to the side rails. My frame rail/industrial pipe bender is in the shop getting fixed,
so the best way to join these will be the form the connectors using plate stock and cut them to fit. How do you do that? I used the same technique I used forming the body panels; paper cut outs. Worked grea! Of course everything has to be level, plum, true, square, then checked again, and again……annnnnd again. When I felt comfortable that everything was where it was supposed to be, the Lincoln Mig 225 set on D and a speed of 7 laid down a few tack welds to hold everything in place.
The small triangles are the lower radiator mounts.
One part of the suspension that I am still on the fence on is the steering. I don’t like the way the rack and pinion looks up front. Yet, the 507 does have the drag link in front versus behind. My initial plans were to switch out that system to a manual box of some kind and use the linkage to match. I haven’t welded the rack mounts on yet since I was sent the wrong end tie rod end links in my kit. This manual rack is centered and with a 60” track width does requires longer rods. I esplained’ this to the dude on the phone where I bought my kit and he says, “No, you need a rack extension, not longer tie rods.” To which I replied, “No, I need longer tie rod ends on both sides. The problem you are referring to is a result of an offset rack and improper steering Ackerman. My rack is centered which does not change the pivot points thus keeps the Ackerman angle intact. I need longer rod ends to reach the spindles.” So this goes on and on until a conference call happens with the tech who builds the kit and he says, “You need longer tie rod ends”. Ah, customer service. The next domino in the decline of societal values. Anyway, I have the right parts so now I just have to decide what I want to do. I’ll probably just use the rack for now and alter the lower fascia to hide the thing. Easy enough to do!
For the rear I decided 4-link was the best way to go since I didn’t want to see any goofy leafs springs and a drop in Jag rear was just way too overboard for this. So just throw the rear in and weld up for bars to hold it in, right?
Whoa, hold on Potsie. First you have to figure out the CG height of the car, lateral constraint points,
set the angle of the smaller top bars correctly both on the horizontal and lateral, verify percentage of length between the top bars and lower bars, cross measure for squarity (squarity?) and verify track by cross triangulating the measurement on the diagonal calculating an instant center (IC) that results in correct anti-squat.
See? Easy! Besides a few SuperDaveisms, believe it or not, all those terms are things one has to think about installing a 4-link set up. Yeah, I had no idea either. I’m pretty sure this was why Shawn said, “Call Art Morrison.” Time to learn more stuff!!!!
So step one was to assemble the Currie 9” sporting 3.70s and a posi with 11” drum brakes. After that was assembled and positioned, I then bolted up the wheels. Then the problems started.
My 5 on 5.5” bolt pattern has thrown everyone whomst I chat with for a loop. This is the old big Ford pattern but it Instantly gets changed in everyone’s head to the more common Ford or Chevy 5 on 4.5/4.75. And that’s what happened here. Sent a message to Currie who got the word from the front end people, and the following conversation ensued:
Currie: [rrriing…..rrrrring……rrrrrrrrriiiiing] “Currie Enterprises, Get your Rear in General and start here! This is Stan, can I help you?”
Me: “Yeah, hi Stan. I ordered a 9” rear for my project and it looks like I was sent the wrong bolt pattern axles and drums. It’s supposed to be a five on…”
Currie: “May I have the order number?”
Me: “…five and a half and…oh, yeah, Order is 543875JMFC”
Currie: “Yes, what is the problem?”
Me: “Yeah, as I was saying, I received the wrong bolt pattern axles and….
Currie: “You ordered a 5 on 5.5” bolt pattern.”
Me: “I know, that’s what I’m trying to tell you, the axles you sent are wrong”
Currie: “Those aren’t wrong, that’s what you ordered.”
Me: “I know that’s what I ordered, you sent the wrong ones to me!”
Currie: “Why would we send you the wrong axles?”
Me: “Why would I call you to discuss my axles if they were the right ones? Do you think I just wanted to compliment you on how nice they were since I have nothing better to do?”
So, after this “Who’s on First” round about, I finally have the right axles and drums coming this way. But in all seriousness, they were excellent to deal with unlike the front end people. It really was just a matter of a quick email with a photo and him saying, “What the….those ain’t right! We’ll ship the right ones out to you tomorrow with a prepaid label for the return.” Now that’s how you do it!
Despite the set back, I’m continuing with the mock up and things are going well. More to come with details on how to set up a 4-link, why the links are positioned the way they are, and the decline of customer service.
Cheers
Dave