My first T build.
- Thread starter smokeyco75
- Start date
baddawgcustoms
Active Member
I think He meant RPM body (site sponsor). It's the body with 10" stretch. I have the same one and the extra room is awesome!
smokeyco75
Member
Yes it is an RPM stretched body. I am very happy with it.
smokeyco75
Member
Somebody asked me how I made the lift bars so hear is what I did.
The material is 2x3x3/16 tube steel. I built them to fit the existing radius rod mounts on the frame. I started by cutting the taper on the front how I wanted it which ended up being 12 inches back and starting one inch down from the edge to leave enough room for the hiem. I placed a 4 inch long piece of 1 inch dom in the tube and tack welded it in place with one inch sticking out of the end. Then with the rear axle where I wanted it I measured where I needed to make my 30 degree cut in order for the kick up to meet with the rear end housing. I then cut the kick up to 6 inches and tack welded it to the arm after beveling the weld joint for good weld penetration. Next I made the brackets for the axle from 3x3/16 flat bar. I measured and marked for the holes to where the bottom hole would be through the horizontal part of the arm and the top hole would be in the kick up. I then transferred this layout to the lift bar and drilled one inch holes using a hole saw on a drill press and inserted 3/4 inch black iron pipe and tack welded them in place. I inserted 5/8 heater hose in the pipe to act as bushings which accept 1/2 inch bolts perfectly. Once I had everything mocked up again and verified everything was right I took the lift bars back off and welded everything solid. On the dom i ran a bead on either side and then used a small piece of flat bar and welded that to the dom as well as the tube. Sorry I don't have a pic of that. I then drilled four 2 inch holes through them. I then used 2 inch exhaust pipe to weld in the holes and 1/8 inch flat bar to cap off the rest of the tube. The finished product looks good and is plenty strong enough for my big block chevy. I would break the rear end before I hurt these lift bars.
I should give credit where credit is due. My High school shop teacher and long time friend Meangreen built a pair of these for his model A. His design is what inspired mine. Although ours are noticeably different in looks the design is very similar. If I missed anything or you folks have any questions feel free to ask.
The material is 2x3x3/16 tube steel. I built them to fit the existing radius rod mounts on the frame. I started by cutting the taper on the front how I wanted it which ended up being 12 inches back and starting one inch down from the edge to leave enough room for the hiem. I placed a 4 inch long piece of 1 inch dom in the tube and tack welded it in place with one inch sticking out of the end. Then with the rear axle where I wanted it I measured where I needed to make my 30 degree cut in order for the kick up to meet with the rear end housing. I then cut the kick up to 6 inches and tack welded it to the arm after beveling the weld joint for good weld penetration. Next I made the brackets for the axle from 3x3/16 flat bar. I measured and marked for the holes to where the bottom hole would be through the horizontal part of the arm and the top hole would be in the kick up. I then transferred this layout to the lift bar and drilled one inch holes using a hole saw on a drill press and inserted 3/4 inch black iron pipe and tack welded them in place. I inserted 5/8 heater hose in the pipe to act as bushings which accept 1/2 inch bolts perfectly. Once I had everything mocked up again and verified everything was right I took the lift bars back off and welded everything solid. On the dom i ran a bead on either side and then used a small piece of flat bar and welded that to the dom as well as the tube. Sorry I don't have a pic of that. I then drilled four 2 inch holes through them. I then used 2 inch exhaust pipe to weld in the holes and 1/8 inch flat bar to cap off the rest of the tube. The finished product looks good and is plenty strong enough for my big block chevy. I would break the rear end before I hurt these lift bars.
I should give credit where credit is due. My High school shop teacher and long time friend Meangreen built a pair of these for his model A. His design is what inspired mine. Although ours are noticeably different in looks the design is very similar. If I missed anything or you folks have any questions feel free to ask.
Last edited:
smokeyco75
Member
Sorry folks for not updating in a while. I haven't had a chance to do any work on the hot rod lately. Trying to stay on top of bills and my wife has had some health setbacks recently. Still trying to squirrel away cash to put into this beast but it appears I won't be able to get anything done until after Christmas. Plans will probably change and I will be fabricating more parts I had planned on buying and the salvage yards will be getting more of my money. It is what it is. Right now though my Wife's health is my biggest concern. So trips to the doctor will be replacing build days for a while.
meangreen
Active Member
We all do what we have to do, Smokey, and family comes first.
Hang in there and don't get discouraged. As for using salvage yard parts... that's the "old school" way. My roadster has parts from 12 different vehicles not counting the fiberglass body and home-built frame. The only aftermarket hot rod parts are the lights, seats, gauges, and steering wheel. Everything else was from the salvage yard or fabricated by me. my coupe is even worse; it has parts from 32 different vehicles! Just chalk it up as a great learning experience.
Hang in there and don't get discouraged. As for using salvage yard parts... that's the "old school" way. My roadster has parts from 12 different vehicles not counting the fiberglass body and home-built frame. The only aftermarket hot rod parts are the lights, seats, gauges, and steering wheel. Everything else was from the salvage yard or fabricated by me. my coupe is even worse; it has parts from 32 different vehicles! Just chalk it up as a great learning experience.
smokeyco75
Member
Quick update. I will be picking up an Econo line front axle and spindles from Meangrean this weekend. Progress is slow but I am a patient one. I saw a thread on using camaro rotors and such so I will be going that route. Calipers brackets from Ron soon too.
baddawgcustoms
Active Member
If you need a radiator let me know. I have one just like bobs66440 used on his. 3 row aluminum for chevy. You can look on his build thread to see what it looks like.
smokeyco75
Member
I wonder if it would keep a big block chevy cool?
baddawgcustoms
Active Member
Unless you're building serious HP I don't see any reason why not, it's pretty big. I'll inbox you with the site I got it from this weekend and let you look at it. It hangs about 1 1/2" below the frame, and since my frame is down to 4" from the ground it just won't work I found a shorter one just haven't got it in yet.
smokeyco75
Member
Well here is my Econoline front axle I picked up from Meangreen. Can't wait to get it on the car!
smokeyco75
Member
I'll probably be making most of the suspension and steering parts myself. There is plenty of information on this site to get it done. Looking forward to the challenge.
smokeyco75
Member
I may have to get arms too. Depends on how I get things fit up. Going to try to use the ones that are on it and bend the steering arm up to where I need it. Although I am using the traditional single leaf spring it will not attach to the bat wings as seen with most builds. I will be making separate brackets that will weld to the axle inboard from the batwings. This will allow me to weld the batwings to the same place that the leaf springs attached and won't affect my turning radius. Then I will build a bracket on to the batwings for my Pinto shocks. I saw a setup very similar to this on Meangreen's son's model a sedan. It uses a trailer spring and shackles and a custom bracket welded to the Econoline axle. It seems to work quite well and is significantly cheaper than the speed shop parts. Besides parts being as close as your local trailer shop lol.
Trailer springs are inherently stiff. I removed two leafs from mine. The longer the spring, the better the ride and should be attached to the bat wings to keep the axle from moving side ways too much without using a pan hard bar. Will only move as far as the shackles are long and pivot. Good luck--- for car designing is a bitch and best left to the engineers or the tried and true ways of the past. Only if Ted Brown would come back and tell it like it is on these little cars would we all have a better understanding of what works and doesn't.
Go ahead and cut the original arms off and get the bolt on ones. You would need to get the originals magnufluxed after heating and bending. SAFE is far better than looks or money for it might be me you meet coming down the road when the steering arm breaks off.
Go ahead and cut the original arms off and get the bolt on ones. You would need to get the originals magnufluxed after heating and bending. SAFE is far better than looks or money for it might be me you meet coming down the road when the steering arm breaks off.
smokeyco75
Member
The wife goes into surgery Tuesday to have her thyroid removed. With taking care of her and Christmas fast approaching I won't be doing any work on the car until next year. She gets more nervous the closer to Tuesday it gets. Until everything is back to normal I'll be watching everyone else's builds
Similar threads
