New Old Spring and Other Parts

No witty title this time. Just an update on the spring situation, and a showcase of some additional parts for the hot rod.

So my friend turned out to have not only a better '26-'27 Model T rear spring main leaf, but nearly the whole spring (less the top leaf), so I bought it outright rather than trading him my seen-better-days reversed eye (and broken and welded in the middle) heated and bent main leaf.

This one has something I hadn't seen on mine, perhaps because the eyes were reversed: grease cups for the shackle bolts.


I will have to disassemble the whole thing and wire brush at least the main leaf, if not the whole thing, and mix and match the remaining leaves from my current spring to assemble a decent spring pack so the spring won't rest on the axle tubes like it is currently. Then I'll have to find and install another set of shackle bolts the right length to fit in the 2" wide spring.

Next, I neglected to photograph the '20-'25 oval Model T gas tank my friend sealed (with POR-15) and painted (Rustoleum semi-gloss enamel) for me. This was another timesaver job just to get it done, and I appreciate his having done it, because he was very patient to perform the various steps of etching, sealing, drying, etc. Here are the results. You can just barely see the inside, showing the baffle, in the second photo.



Finally, I decided to paint the spark plug wire tubes before mounting them, as they were only primered. Here they are wearing their John Deere Blitz Black paint jobs. The terrible flat lighting doesn't begin to show what a silky satiny black this paint is. I think it's a hard enamel, too (implement paint), so it should be tough enough for most applications on the hot rod. I think I might just use more of this in other places on the car as I really like the look of the finish, popularity or over-exposure of semi-gloss black hot rods aside.



That's it for now. I should be working on and replacing the spring this weekend, as I've got some "garage therapy" time planned; it's been a while since I've been out there. Until then,

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Sunken Spring

Been a while since I've posted, although I've done a few things since the last post.

Main thing was mounting the rear spring and hanging the rear end.

FIrst I took apart the Model T spring (think it's '26-'27) using C-clamps so as not to get hurt.


Then assembled the main leaf onto the top of the rear axle using the Model A spring hangers I previously installed. (Had to install the backing plates and grease baffles, too, otherwise I wouldn't be able to install the brakes once the spring was mounted.) After the main leaf was mounted, I stacked, compressed with C-clamps, and bolted together the remaining leaves. This was easier than stretching the main leaf, but that only took a C-clamp between the spring eye and the spring mount (no pic).



You can see here the spring eye is clearing and the shackle's at a good angle. Looking good so far!


Next, I disassembled and greased the spring, and reassembled it (messy!).



Then, tada! I mounted the rear spring in the rear crossmember. No pics of the install, but I was grateful for my friend to come over and help me install it without getting hurt. After I got it bolted in and sitting on jack stands, I removed the jack stands from under the rear axle, so it was hanging from the spring. I then lifted, twisted, and finagled with the rear axle to be able to snug up the mounting (U-)bolts, to take out any slack.



The spring retainers (just visible in the pictures above) are 1935 (right) and 1941 (left); go figure; they looked the same when I mucked around with them some time ago and modified them to hold the Model T spring (which is narrower than Model A) in the rear crossmember. Oh, well, I can only tell them apart by their part numbers. You do know your early Ford part numbers, right?

So, after tightening up the bolts snugly, I decided to set the axle on jack stands and remove for the first time in over a year the jack stands holding up the frame, so the body and frame would be setting on the rear spring, mounted on the rear axle, sitting on jack stands.

Tada! This was exciting, and then disconcerting, as the body and frame sank down and settled the spring so low that the eyes rested on or just above the axle tubes. You can see how much lower the body is in the photo below when you compare it to an earlier photo. This was unexpected, to say the least. I knew the Model T spring would be more supple, and give a softer rider, but I hadn't expected it would rest on the rear axle.




So...and this process of mocking up is the part of car building my fiance finds hard to understand...I have to disassemble the spring again, and reassemble it with a standard eye spring, if I can find one. Since this is a reversed eye spring (eyes are above the leaf), a standard eye spring will put the eyes below the leaf, which should keep it off the axle tubes.

Thankfully, I contacted my friend who's been helping me with fixing up parts recently, as he has a stash of Model T parts. Turns out he has a standard eye spring in storage, was heading there today, and is willing to trade. Hooray! I'm supposed to get the spring tomorrow and I hope to make the switch this weekend to see if the spring situation improves. Until then,

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