The Ford Barn

P.S. · 05-08-2015, 02:47 PM

Finally doing some deep cleaning on the original 29 Fordor I picked up in December. After removing the globbed on coating of dirt and grease from everything under the car, close inspection revealed what you see here, same on both sides of the rear spring.

Supposedly, the car has never been apart. Either something is missing, or the spring perches are toast. Any opinions?

Going to discuss this with the club Model A guru and plan a strategy on this.

Joe K · 05-08-2015, 02:59 PM

Shackle may have worn through the bushing and into the eye of the trumpet housing.

The solution is major - remove the worn segment of the eye by slitting (slotting?) Then weld back up using a copper chill (graphite works I'm told) and re-machine for the bushing.

Unless you have a spare and good shape trumpet sitting around.

Back in my day I found the bushing worn through and started into the eye strap. I put in a new bushing and have run it since (and carried a load in the little pickup) with no problem. But this a matter of how far you want to push the envelope.

JoeK

Tom Wesenberg · 05-08-2015, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P.S.

Finally doing some deep cleaning on the original 29 Fordor I picked up in December. After removing the globbed on coating of dirt and grease from everything under the car, close inspection revealed what you see here, same on both sides of the rear spring.

Supposedly, the car has never been apart. Either something is missing, or the spring perches are toast. Any opinions?

Going to discuss this with the club Model A guru and plan a strategy on this.

Yep, not even for routine maintenance.

You won't need to slit the bushing to remove it, because the wear has already done that.

Weld up the worn part of the perch as suggested, or you might even get by with just JB Weld and a new bushing if the wear is slight.

Of course a good spring spreader is needed for this job.

P.S. · 05-08-2015, 06:05 PM

Good info. Thank you Joe and Tom.

Scary part is...... I have driven the car about 120 miles since it came home. It drives so nice (like REALLY nice), so I never expected to find anything so worn as this. But, it just goes to show how tough a Model A can be. I sure as heck won't be driving it NOW until this gets fixed. I didn't see how bad it was because it was hidden beneath a layer of dried greasedirt.

Tom Endy · 05-08-2015, 07:17 PM

I would advise that you obtain a proper rear spring spreader before you attempt anything. With the frame sitting on jack stands and a floor jack under the banjo, spread the spring and remove the shackles, which appear to be worn. Replace both the shackles and the bushings. Be careful working around a rear spring. They can be lethal.

Tom Endy

Synchro909 · 05-08-2015, 07:18 PM

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Until yesterday, I had a rear shackle looking just like that. I expected to have to remove the bush, fill the wear in the boss and reassemble. I was going to fill the worn part of the boss with an epoxy putty (Kneadit), lightly oil the outside of the new bush before inserting it so that the putty did not stick to it and push it in. I would then have pushed as much putty into the worn area as I could from the ends with a screw driver blade. After checking with an old school mechanic, I'm confident it would have worked but when I took it apart, I found a broken pin. It had broken where it enters the plate with the grease nipple on it and was holding only by the plate and nut on the other end. I amazed that it held at all like that. Anyway, I just replaced the pins and kept driving. The bushes were fine.
You may have the same situation.

Tom Endy · 05-08-2015, 07:52 PM

The perch can be repaired. I take the axle housings to a shop where they insert a bronze rod the size of the perch before the bushing is installed and weld up the void. The weld does not stick to the bronze.

Tom Endy

P.S. · 05-08-2015, 09:20 PM

Excellent. Thank you very much.

Don't worry, I have worked enough with the rear spring on my Tudor to have a healthy respect for the energy contained within.

Luckily, our club has the most amazing Model A guru that goes out of his way to help everyone. I will consult with him before even considering starting on this.

If it ends up that the perches are damaged, then I am going to seek repair of the parts on the car rather than replacing since this is an all original car.

05-08-2015, 02:59 PM	#2
Joe K Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Cow Hampshire Posts: 4,188	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. Shackle may have worn through the bushing and into the eye of the trumpet housing. The solution is major - remove the worn segment of the eye by slitting (slotting?) Then weld back up using a copper chill (graphite works I'm told) and re-machine for the bushing. Unless you have a spare and good shape trumpet sitting around. Back in my day I found the bushing worn through and started into the eye strap. I put in a new bushing and have run it since (and carried a load in the little pickup) with no problem. But this a matter of how far you want to push the envelope. JoeK __________________ Shudda kept the horse.

05-08-2015, 06:05 PM	#4
P.S. Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: California Posts: 1,696	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. Good info. Thank you Joe and Tom. Scary part is...... I have driven the car about 120 miles since it came home. It drives so nice (like REALLY nice), so I never expected to find anything so worn as this. But, it just goes to show how tough a Model A can be. I sure as heck won't be driving it NOW until this gets fixed. I didn't see how bad it was because it was hidden beneath a layer of dried greasedirt.

05-08-2015, 07:17 PM	#5
Tom Endy Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Southern California Posts: 3,131	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. I would advise that you obtain a proper rear spring spreader before you attempt anything. With the frame sitting on jack stands and a floor jack under the banjo, spread the spring and remove the shackles, which appear to be worn. Replace both the shackles and the bushings. Be careful working around a rear spring. They can be lethal. Tom Endy

05-08-2015, 07:18 PM	#6
Synchro909 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 7,496	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Until yesterday, I had a rear shackle looking just like that. I expected to have to remove the bush, fill the wear in the boss and reassemble. I was going to fill the worn part of the boss with an epoxy putty (Kneadit), lightly oil the outside of the new bush before inserting it so that the putty did not stick to it and push it in. I would then have pushed as much putty into the worn area as I could from the ends with a screw driver blade. After checking with an old school mechanic, I'm confident it would have worked but when I took it apart, I found a broken pin. It had broken where it enters the plate with the grease nipple on it and was holding only by the plate and nut on the other end. I amazed that it held at all like that. Anyway, I just replaced the pins and kept driving. The bushes were fine. You may have the same situation. __________________ I'm part of the only ever generation with an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood.

05-08-2015, 07:52 PM	#7
Tom Endy Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Southern California Posts: 3,131	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. The perch can be repaired. I take the axle housings to a shop where they insert a bronze rod the size of the perch before the bushing is installed and weld up the void. The weld does not stick to the bronze. Tom Endy

05-08-2015, 09:20 PM	#8
P.S. Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: California Posts: 1,696	Re: Possible rear spring perch problem. Excellent. Thank you very much. Don't worry, I have worked enough with the rear spring on my Tudor to have a healthy respect for the energy contained within. Luckily, our club has the most amazing Model A guru that goes out of his way to help everyone. I will consult with him before even considering starting on this. If it ends up that the perches are damaged, then I am going to seek repair of the parts on the car rather than replacing since this is an all original car.