Re: Speedster Kit
 

I did not move my column back, but I did lower it by turning it down a few inches, which in effect moved it back a bit.

Follow my name back my photo page and you will finds scans of the Rootlieb instructions.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Sparky, Picture is worth a bunch.
The progress will be slower than I want.After Our vacation to the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona, and some parts ,will Have to learn how to post pics. I will start a build thread.
My frame is missing key components,brakes, u bolts for the ft suspension, and needs sandblasting. I have brake parts coming, and the blasting should be done by the new year.Engine is missing intake,starter, gen, exhaust, dist. At Daytona I will be looking for parts.
Thanks for the support.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Sounds like the perfect donor for a Speedster!

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Q G thats what I thought. I am in the middle of a 31 a hot rod build,so I really don't need this , BUT I want to.:):)

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Does it matter which 3 spring leaves you take out of the ft?I have 2 broken leaves,second from top, and one of the longer ones in the middle.
Got the f/e out from under,cleaning to install my mech brakes. Will start a build thread in Dec.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

When I wanted to lighten my springs I did a search on the HAMB and found several opinions, but most people seem to agree that you should keep the second one (next to the longest one with the eyes) then alternate the ones you remove, i.e. remove #3, #5, etc. until you get the ride you want. You may have to add spacer blocks so the u-bolts will still keep the pack tight.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

That will work.I know about the spacer blocks.
Where do I get the eye reversed or does the shop just rebend the spring?Going thru my parts I found a rev eye rear spring.
Its setting on saw horses now,r/e, steering removed.
Thanks for all the help.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

The usual way is to re-bend the spring cold. I've never done it but the two methods Ive come across are using a hydraulic press or just a big hammer.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Not sure how well you are going to like just having front brakes driving on the street! :eek:

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;) BTW, tell your friend that I know a way he can save himself a lotta work doing fabrication by telling you to talk to the owner of this car... :D

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Re: Speedster Kit
 

Brent ,that is about what I am going to do.Will be changing from a 30/31 grill and rad to a 28/9 .Ft brake do 85 % of stopping. Just drive something with rear only and you will see. Not closing the door on this though. Does the O/P want to sell his? Is that what you mean by saving my self fab troubles?Give me his contact info. Thanks Brent.
This afternoon I now have the frame upside down on the horses, and cleaning the grease off.
Sparky that is what I thought on the spring, will be using a flattened cross member I have in my stash.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

You may already have the contact info.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I reversed my springs (Front) with an HF "Pipe Bender". I have never bent more than one or two pieces of pipe, but with a few mods it sure is handy at a lot of other things. Take your spring, mark it with a piece of chalk every two inches, start in the center, "bump" it with the press. It take a surprisingly small amount of pressure to affect change. Don't get carried away. I brought the ram to the spring, made contact, and bumped it just one stroke. Release, move to the next mark and repeat. After one pass in each direction (from the center out) the spring was nearly flat.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Do you have any photos or illustration of what how you did this. I may need to try this. How much did it lower your front end?

Re: Speedster Kit
 

The spring eye reversal lowered it maybe an inch and a half. I also took out a couple of leafs and used smaller diameter tires/wheels, so I do not know for sure how much drop the eye reversal was responsible for.

I don't have any pictures doing it, but I do have a few spare leafs and can set it up again, and do another one. I can show you the mods I made to the bender as well that make it perfect for spring work. I will do it this weekend and take some photos.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Thanks, that would be appreciated. Are there any drawbacks with lowering it that way?

Re: Speedster Kit
 

QG , a friend has what you suggestion about the tubing bender and will be doing it the week I am gone.
When I get back another friend will be assisting with pics as we go along.
Had a good conversation with Brent this morning.
Ross it took me a while to figure out about the contact info. LOL:):)

Re: Speedster Kit
 

None that i have seen. The geometry of the front end stays the same. The shackles end up in pretty much the same orientation and the spring length stays within a 1/4 inch as near as i can tell. Some say that any bending or bending of the spring is a compromise but i have not seen it. I learned to do by watching my Grandfather. He used to rebend springs in customers cars when they would wear out or if the customer towed a trailer on their Sedan. I don't recall him doing the same car twice, so i guess it worked.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I do not have a spring in stock with eyes to demonstrate the bending, but I have an arch in stock, so I used that for this demo.

In order of appearance:

The HF Pipe Bender has a few mods to it, the first are the 6 holes in the center, it comes with the 12 outside holes, adding the 6 in the center gives it some additional versatility.

Next I made an end for the ram so it is easier to center the spring on it. Just a piece of roundstock with a hole in the side to sit on the ram. And mark its CL on the top.

Lay your spring on the floor and trace the arch, flip it around to see if it is symmetrical, A springs should be, some others are not. If not, you will need to bump one side more than the other to bring it in, just note it for now, we will fix it later.

Lay a rule beside it, and mark it every two inches.

Lay the spring in the press, start in the center.

Next two steps are real important, by hand, (without the handle in the ram) raise the ram tight to the spring, then insert the handle. You will need to figure out how many pumps to give the ram, I recommend one full pump or one and a half. Go easy until you figure out how much your ram moves.

Set it, start it with your hand, insert handle and pump, release, move the next mark and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. After you get to the end, go back to the center and do it again in the other direction. Then take the spring out and lay it back on your original chalk line and take a look. After a couple of sessions you will be able to feel exactly how much pressure will bend the spring exactly where you want it to go.

This time it took three rounds to reverse the arch, I laid it back on the chalk line, noticed it is off a little on the right side. I flipped it over to make sure the error followed the spring, marked the spring where it had runout, back to the press, and just nudged that area, one and a half pumps each inch on one end, and it dropped right in.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Thanks that was very clear. So the first and last picture are the same arch before the reversing and then after the reversing, right?

What other purposes do you use the pipe bender for other than the obvious?

Re: Speedster Kit
 

awesome

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Good, yes first and last are the same arch, reversed. If you notice on photo 2, I make the chalk marks on the inside of the arch. If you blow up the last photo you see there are no chalk marks on the inside, 'cause they are now on the outside.:)

I have a number of attachments that I have made for the press, I have used it for pressing cartridge type wheel bearings, and straightening any number of items, including every bent tankers bar in the neighborhood. I formed some of the parts for my current speedster with it. Not quite a shop press, but real handy for the $80.00 it cost.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

It does seem that with a few mods that you could make a press out of it.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I am building a speedster based on a Rootlieb kit. I hope to be installing the seat belts soon. Anybody who has built a Rootlieb have any suggestions or ideas. Thanx in advance.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Check these out, I believe these are what I will be using.

http://wescoperformance.stores.yahoo.net/am4point.html

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Where would you attach the shoulder harness in a speedster? I don't think you should connect it to the floor.

I have a pair of universal mount lap belts in mine.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I have a pair of 4" military seatbelts in mine. Heavy duty and look vintage.
http://www.flyboyplus.com/aircraft/seatbelt_21.jpg

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I acquired a couple of those but haven't come up with a good way to attach them to my wood floor. How did you do it?

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Install a piece of Channel or Angle crosswise between the frame rails under the seat?

I really like those Military Belts, era appropriate for sure! But I want a shoulder restraint on the drivers side. That steering wheel is not very forgiving.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Thanx for the replies. I intend to use belts out of a old style bulldozer, nice and wide and adjustable to keep the buckle in the middle of your lap no matter what your 'size'.

Did you cut slots in the wooden base of the seat and bolts them thru the floor? The seats aren't mounted yet--trying to make a plan.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Yep

Re: Speedster Kit
 

I am curious about the discussion of seat belts in speedsters. Do any of you plan to add a roll over protection device to make sure the vehicle does not end up sitting on a well belted driver/passenger?

Re: Speedster Kit
 

While a tip over is certainly possible, I am far more concerned with a quick swerve that topples an unsuspecting passenger over the side. Or a 30 mph bump after being run off the road. Statistically that is a more likely incident.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

We (BangerMatt and I) used 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/4" steel angle bolted with 2 bolts per bracket through the floor of the speedster using VERY large fender washers on the bottom of the wood floow to spread the stress out over a larger area. This then gives a vertical plane to which you can bolt the belts.

I wouldn't advise attaching the belts to the frame. Our thoughts are that if an accident were to occur if the body separated from the frame the occupants would become trapped in between the frame and bodywork. Not a very nice scenario.

We left the bolts holding the belts to the steel angle so they can pivot on the bolts. All hardware is grade 8 with nylon locking nuts. Yeah, I know grade 8 bolts....:rolleyes: Other things will structurally fail before the bolts do.

By the way the wood floor of the speedster is 2 pieces of 3/4 inch plywood sandwiched together using screws and a liberal amount of glue. It is held onto the frame using 8 7/16 elevator bolts.

As someone else pointed out, tipping over is not the conceren, these speedsters have a fairly wide track and are very stable in turns. It's much more of a concern driving in an open vehicle and not wanting to get thrown out.

THAT would be a bad thing............

Oh, and the lean action in the turns is more to avoid mud than it is anything else. :D


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Re: Speedster Kit
 

From my perspective, as this thread has migrated to seat belts, I was answering Farrell from the perspective of "puttin around". If I were to build a Speedster with the intention of the photos above, it would definitely have a roll bar. And a windshield for that female passenger in the last photo! :eek:

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Brent - I completely agree with you that if we WERE racing these a roll bar would definitely be installed along with a 5 point harness. The pictures make it look MUCH faster than the actual speeds. The cars were traveling at about 40 mph and were on the track alone. This event provides track time that is strictly for photo ops and is controlled tightly. The reduced speeds and single vehicle on the track is the only reason passengers are allowed as well.

Besides these old things can't go that fast anyway.....right? :rolleyes:


QGolden - These pics are from 2 years ago. There's an additional windshield there now!

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Ok, I understand now. At least you are much safer and having fun!! Even though we were exhibition racing, those two words were defined separately in most of the driver's eyes!! :D

On half-mile tracks, WE were racing in excess of 60 mph in the straightaways. We were also wheel to wheel in most turns. Many in the group we raced with actually carried a passenger which was known as the riding mechanic. Towards the end, mant including me did not do that because the extra weight slowed us down. AARA has basically fizzled in my view but DAARA is still a very active group that races these. Back in our "glory days", we usually had 4 - 8 speedsters show up for a field. As the bottom 3 pictures will show, we weren't driving 40 mph and we were playing for photo ops. :D

1) A field in Marietta, OH lining up.

2) Me on the outside of Speedy Ed Johnson.

3) 4Banger Dan Price in his RAJO powered Model-T outside me in a Cyclone-headed Model-B powered Dodge.

4) Dreamwerks Engine builder James Rogers 'haulin the mail' in his speedster at Washington Courthouse.


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Re: Speedster Kit
 

Not that I will be racing mine,but those pics get the blood flowing.
This week will be doing some trading,ordering some of the things I need to get going. Will post some pics tomorrow,I hope, with the help of a friend.
I'm learning that the model A is not so simple.
Is there one particular book that I need?I am starting with a bare frame ,bare ft axle, and bare r/e.
Is there a site that shows schedule and racing events? As well as swap meets?

Great Pics, Brent.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

Just as you found in your former drag racing career, there really is not any book that can singly tell you what you need to know. In the case of your speedster, you need to draw out your goals, then begin your build thinking through each step of the way. Be creative and make it your own.

As far as meets go, I think you just missed the Moutrie swap meet which would have been close to you. You were just at the Turkey so maybe you were able to gather some parts there. The one thing that you have as an obstacle is you are wanting to do this on a very limited budget. Most of the stuff (i.e.: bling or speed items) that you buy cost $$, ...so you need to be creative and find items that can be repurposed and with added detail.

Re: Speedster Kit
 

All good advice. I do have a plan of where I want to go, and the parts are starting to get together. While at daytona, I picked up some excellent 17'' wheels and tires, my brakes came in,and will be starting on the assy of the ft end parts. Hope to do some trading for a 28-9 grill and rad this week.
Next will be contacting a source about the eng/trans. The only speed parts I will be looking for will be a track style exhaust. I know the old saying of "speed cost money, how fast do you want to go''.
Getting it running is my main goal, then who knows.
What did you use to make your tank?