40plyrod Posted September 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Of course I think it beats lowering it this way. Edited September 21, 2015 by 40plyrod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ194950 Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Of course I think it beats lowering it this way. A Little too low. It will never ride good! DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fstfish66 Posted September 24, 2015 Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 here is a pic of a stock ride height 40 ply,,,sitting next to me 40 dodge, 40 dodge has fat man dropped up rights and new factory spec eaton front coil springs,,it looks killer but is almost to low for the worst roads in america PA,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted September 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2015 I don't know if your's is too low or not, but I do know it looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrwrstory Posted September 26, 2015 Report Share Posted September 26, 2015 I don't know if your's is too low or not, but I do know it looks good. If it looks good, it's not too low! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmartin Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 I don't understand this term "too low"........ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 I don't understand this term "too low"........ My personal understanding is too low is anything below stock height. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 (edited) I see your underlying hint of sarcasm....but it is a valid descriptor. too low would be a term describing the chassis to street clearance and would be a personal interpretation as opposed to a prescribed written standard. If you have to come to an almost stop to traverse a railroad crossing or a speed bump and approach any entrance of a driveway with a curb at an extreme angle..then in my eyes that is too low..imagine crusing at a very low ground clearance and whamo flat tires...your suspension is now on the roadway, there is no effectual steering..a worse case scenario but one that a pre-establish scrub line will prevent...then to the spectators...riding in a lowered car is cool...the reaction and ultimate crash would ultimately be cool to the spectators.. Edited September 27, 2015 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pflaming Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 Wasn't there at one time a law that the frame could not go lower than the rims? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 I did a most similar repair to the trunk lid of my business coupe....they can be saved but it is a process...looks great.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted September 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 I pay very close attention to scrub lines and as such nothing is below the level of 4 flat tires. I chose to statically lower the car as opposed to airbags because although I do tend to like cars lower I don't need to be sitting on the frame in the middle of the road if a bag was to fail. Hot rodding and customizing is always a bit of a compromise (I'm ok with that) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fstfish66 Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 i love the look of a air bagged custom sitting parked dropped,,I considered air bags on the front, and to m y surprise every one that had a bagged car that I talked to said they ride hard,,maybe they too much air I dont know, but it would seem the major benifit would be to have a feeling of riding on AIR,,,I sure wouldnt spend the money to look cool parked,,, my car is dropped almost 3 inches in the front with fat man up rights, new stock factory spec front coils and 2 ish inch drop in the back with posies lowering leaf springs, I for get posies term he calls his springs, sit low enough for me,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathbound Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 Super Sliders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted September 29, 2015 Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 it takes certain amount of suspension travel damped with a set of shocks to equal firm smooth ride...to much either direction you get the steel rail ride of a unsprung railcar and the other way you like a rudderless boat in 6 foot swells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted October 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2015 Back at it again, although home renos have slowed me down a lot and reduced shop activity to early morning before work hours again. Nevertheless I was able to finish modifying the lower A-arms. Because I read somewhere that the A-arms are made of heat treated steel and they don't recommend heating them for repair I figured this also applied to welding the crap out of them which was my first plan so instead I bolted the spring pockets back to the lower side of the A-arms using all grade 8 hardware and also making a 1/4" thick plate to give some added support. That way I used the welder to only tack the plates same as they were from factory and kept the heat from changing the metal. I still don't have a shop manual for this car in my hands (my buddy picked one up for me at a swap meet in Alberta but has yet to send it to me) so the assembly and alignment this time are being done to the specs supplied by Cpt.Fred on his thread linked here. http://p15-d24.com/topic/37781-rebuilding-a-p10-front-end/ There is a ton of good information there especially if you're working on a '40 Plymouth. Thanks Fred. Here's a few pics of the lower A-arm with the extra supporting plates. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ194950 Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Fred Posted October 29, 2015 Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Looking great, as always! Lots of work and thought in those a-arms! Maybe you can just cut the bump stops down a little, or use an extra pair of upper stops instead, since they're smaller... that way you'd gain a little extra travel. Me i stay with my nose bleeding tail dragger stance, just love to follow the nose down the road see where it takes me, hehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted November 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Spent the weekend mostly cleaning up door window mechanism and painting them but also started making the lower bullnose trim piece. I've been watching for one but I think I've only ever seen one for sale and it was way too much money. Obviously this piece didn't survive well on the 40's, so I decided to see if I could make one out of aluminum. I considered making a couple extras to help fund my build but that idea went quickly out the window as I started sending aluminum scrap to "a better place". I tried at first making a buck out of MDF and hammering one out , a process that has worked well for me in the past, but I couldn't keep the peak crisp. I ended up using my sheet metal brake to create the peak and the sides then using my shrinker to create the curve and finally a pair of pliers to fold the edge down. Here's the pic so far. Still more tweaking and finishing to do before it's ready to be polished but I'm pretty happy with the result. 1st pic: 1st attempt. . .rejected 2nd pic: the MDF buck that created the rejected part 3rd pic: End profile of how I bent the part on the brake 4-7 pics: various views of final attempt. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niel Hoback Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Dang, that's pretty cool! nobodies gonna know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted November 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Dang, that's pretty cool! nobodies gonna know. Thanks, I hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmartin Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Excellent work! Looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrwrstory Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Those little projects are very satisfying, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40plyrod Posted November 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 Thanks guys, definitely a satisfying project and I'm pretty happy with the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fstfish66 Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 start calling you the trim doctor,loooks GREAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1952B3b23 Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Looks really nice. I like the tri-carb set up to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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