Running board truss rods

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: Running board truss rods
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Zahorik on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 01:08 pm:

I'm helping a friend with his 1918 touring car. We are working on the rear axle. The first thing that we noticed was that the back truss rod was broken and wired to the car. So, I looked up these parts and found that they are on the expensive side. I figure I can make a simple part like this. The back rod has a couple of simple bends and has 7/16x20 threads on each end. The rod itself is about 7/16" in diameter. I figure, I'll get a length of 7/16" 12L14 steel rod, cut threads on both ends then bend it. Should work. Mike


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 01:51 pm:

Once you try to make a couple of back to back "Z" bends on both ends that are both in the same plane end to end you may see the rods we make as not so expensive ha ha. We also supply the correct nuts for the ends which are limited in supply. Once we run out of those we will no longer be able to supply them with the nuts. We found a box full of them and bought them but those nuts haven't been commonly made since the 50's some time and it takes 8 per set of rods.

http://www.funprojects.com/products/4816.aspx


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 02:57 pm:

The UP side to playing with Model T's is they are inexpensive to buy, own, and restore. I urge anyone who
thinks otherwise to attempt the same with a 56 Packard Caribbean or a 71 Hemi Cuda for a quick reality check.
Not only are cars and parts inexpensive, they are not made of pure unobtainium. Where would a guy turn to
find a Bendix Electrojector modulator for his 1958 Fury AT ANY PRICE ???

The downside to playing with Model T's is the spendthrift followers who take the ease and minimal expense
T hobby for granted.

Whaddya gonna do ? Kids these days ! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 03:35 pm:

Burger, it's off topic, but funny that you mentioned the Bendix Electrojector, Jay Leno is looking for one for one of his Chrysler letter cars, check out his latest video showing the status of several of his ongoing projects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjOfJTloxfM

There is a guy who restored a Bendix Electrojector setup for his 1958 DeSoto Adventurer several years ago, if I could figure out how to contact Jay's garage with the info without creating a Google account I would do it.

For those who aren't familiar with it, the Bendix Electrojector of the late 1950's was a true electronic fuel injection system with dual throttle bodies and sequentially fired injectors in each intake port. The state of the art of electronics at the time just wasn't good enough to make it reliable. Here's a link to a description of the system:

http://www.allpar.com/cars/desoto/electrojector.html


(Message edited by Cudaman on December 25, 2014)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Zahorik on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 03:56 pm:

Well... I figure that I can get the rod for less than $20 and if it turns out to be a waste, so be it. It's always fun to try your hand at making something. I still have all 8 original nuts. They appear to be reusable. I can make a buck to get the bends in the right places and use a rod that is longer than needed. That way I can cut the excess off and it should be symmetrical. We'll see how it turns out. I can always make a purchase if I have to. Mike


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 04:19 pm:

I am well acquainted with the Bendix Electrojector, as I own a 1958 DeSoto Fireflite that was originally
owned/used by the corporation for promotional purposes and have been actively involved with Forward
Look cars for decades.

Tom White restored that Adventurer as an F/I car. He claimed it was a documented original F/I car, but
I never saw any documentation. Regardless, he located the necessary parts and reengineered the external
interference shielding (the original design flaw) and made it work. Wish I could have driven it to see how
the system performed compared to my car.

The car ultimately sold at auction in Florida for $475,000 (yes, boys and girls, that will buy a LOT of Model
T's !!!) and disappeared from my radar about 5 years ago. However, it was well photographed and documented
and much can be seen on the internet of it today.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 05:21 pm:

Mike:

One of the things that makes the darn rods expensive to make is that the steel comes only in nominal lengths of 12 or 16 feet and the rods are a wee bit longer than 4 feet so you can only get 2 out of a 12 foot piece or 3 out of a 16 foot piece but my local source only carries the 12 foot pces and the order for some steel is not big enough to get them to special order 16 foot pces and then deliver it to my shop. I noticed that the first ones I bought many years ago before I started making them didn't fit right or more correctly the running boards and fenders didn't fit right. I got the drawings and researched the parts and found out that the then current repro parts were about 1" to 1-1/4" short and didn't have the correct offset either so I just made them to the drawings and have a lot of scrap rod "drops" from the excessive waste but I do make a lot of jigs and things using those left over rod lengths.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Wells on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 05:46 pm:

My rear one broke, I welded it and it lasted for a while and then broke again as expected. I went to a steel supply place, the kind in the industrial area that has everything and cheap. They had an odds and ends rack with shorter than usual lengths deeply discounted. I bought one and simply used a vice for the bends and then threaded the ends. It looks and works exactly like the original.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Zahorik on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 06:31 pm:

This one broke right at the threads, so I'd have to may a longer replacement piece. But, the other end also has damage, so replacing the entire piece is in order.
John, I deal with Speedy Metals and I can purchase most any piece of metal by the inch.
Mike


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Burger in Spokane on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 08:05 pm:

But are they speedy ? :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Zahorik on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 08:30 pm:

You bet, order and pick up in an hour or so. Mike


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ted Dumas on Thursday, December 25, 2014 - 10:34 pm:

Many free cutting steels are hot short, so you may have to bend them cold.


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