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Old 04-16-2018, 10:05 PM   #1
Al 29Tudor
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Default C clamps along cowl flange

Hi All,
A club member asked about the five C clamps that Les Andrews mentions are required along each cowl flange on the 1928-29 coupe.
Does everyone use them and why not use nuts, bolts and washers?
Do they provide some flex for parts to move a little while driving.
Thanks,
Al
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Old 04-17-2018, 08:43 AM   #2
wrndln
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

This topic was covered quite recently. The 5 clamps on each side of a 28/29 cowl/gas tank were used to "clamp" the flange of the gas tank to the cowl panel, tightly, thus closing any gap between the two. If you don't care about any gap, I guess you could use just bolts and nuts, but it wouldn't be as Ford assembled it.
Rusty Nelson
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Old 04-18-2018, 06:02 AM   #3
Al 29Tudor
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

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Originally Posted by wrndln View Post
This topic was covered quite recently. The 5 clamps on each side of a 28/29 cowl/gas tank were used to "clamp" the flange of the gas tank to the cowl panel, tightly, thus closing any gap between the two. If you don't care about any gap, I guess you could use just bolts and nuts, but it wouldn't be as Ford assembled it.
Rusty Nelson




Rusty,
Thank you for your reply. I'll look for the recent posting on the C clamps you mentioned.
Al
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Old 04-18-2018, 11:40 AM   #4
hardtimes
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

Quote:
Originally Posted by Al 29Tudor View Post
Hi All,
A club member asked about the five C clamps that Les Andrews mentions are required along each cowl flange on the 1928-29 coupe.
Does everyone use them and why not use nuts, bolts and washers?
Do they provide some flex for parts to move a little while driving.
Thanks,
Al


'does everyone use them' ?
Hey Al,
No, I did not use them 17 yrs ago when assembling my '30 roadster.
I bought new set than thought about these parts and idea of what they were for and why.
I decided to not use them and there has never been any problem that I can discern. Your car, your call on what you should do with it, IMV.
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Old 04-18-2018, 11:44 AM   #5
figment
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

How would you use bolts nuts and washers as there are no holes through the edge of the gas tank . Would you drill the tank for bolts instead of the original clamps? What about potential leaks?
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Old 04-18-2018, 01:21 PM   #6
BILL WILLIAMSON
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

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Those are CUTEY, little "C" clamps. "Maybe" they could be used for clamping multiple sheet metal parts, for PRECISE drilling, in a drill press. OR for clamping your eye lids together, whin you can't SLEEP!--LOL
REMEMBER, the one with the MOST tools, wins "something"?????
Bill Newtoolboxtool
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Old 04-18-2018, 03:40 PM   #7
SeaSlugs
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

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Originally Posted by figment View Post
How would you use bolts nuts and washers as there are no holes through the edge of the gas tank . Would you drill the tank for bolts instead of the original clamps? What about potential leaks?
28/29 does have holes. 30/31 uses flat clamp like things. Parts supplier catalogs show the 2.

I thought they used clamps so it could shift ever so slightly if going over very rough roads of the era. You dont want the stresses going to the fuel tank sheetmetal seams.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:42 PM   #8
Al 29Tudor
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

It looks to me like they would clamp over a longer distance compared to point contact loose hardware would offer. Maybe keep the flange flatter. Just wondering..
Thanks for your input.
Al
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Old 04-21-2018, 03:51 AM   #9
pooch
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Default Re: C clamps along cowl flange

For the engineering of both the clamps and the steering column attached to the tank and the flexible chassis, the method has worked remarkably well for a quickly updated Model T..
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