Just curious (cab to body rubber thickness)

pookie55

pookie55

Member
I'm setting the cab-body back on the frame and im curious of the proper thickness of the rubber pads, should they be 1/4 inch thick for all or 1/8 & 1/4 ? On all 8 supports. 6 blocks & 2 front without wood, just rubber.
As of right now I have 1/4 inch on all supports and it seems as though cab sits too high.
I have not put the hood back on as of yet to determine if hood fit is proper for the radiator to the cowl I was hoping I could get this figured out before I went that far


I do have the second edition of " the complete Model A Ford restoration " manual but was unable to locate that information

any help would be appreciated thanks
 
I should have saved an original wood block with the rubber pad attached, just to have a sample, but I recall the rubber being close to 1/8" thick.
 
I would suggest you not go any less than 1/8 inch fabric reinforced material at any one point. From there you can add 1/8 inch increments as needed for proper fit and allignment.
 
I now have six wooden blocks with 1/8 inch rubber pads and both front cowl holes with quarter-inch rubber only.
Still seems to sit too high..


Looks like #2 & 3 Carriage bolt and wood block needs extra 1/8 spacer to be equal

Any idea how much clearance there should be under cab to apron/frame?
I thought I had pics showing clearance but can't find any- what I did find looks like cab sat tight on top of apron

All of the old spacer material was crushed and I still have it for examples but not all blocks had spacer material with them.
 
Neither of my 28 and 29 Model A's have had the body off the frame, and as I recall the gap was about 1/2" over the apron.
 
Thanks Tom as of right now it does look to be about 1/2 inch. Just a guesstimate before the lights went off for the evening
 
I did add one more 1/8 inch rubber material two number two and three bolts and block and now front of cab it's slightly lower than rear Maybe one eighth of an inch to 3/8
 
pookie55 said:
I did add one more 1/8 inch rubber material two number two and three bolts and block and now front of cab it's slightly lower than rear Maybe one eighth of an inch to 3/8
Click to expand...

That sounds about right because I remember my front being a bit closer than the rear. I'll look again tomorrow if I remember.
 
I also used the 1/8" rubber padding at the body mounting blocks and on a panel truck, (2) pick up trucks and a Tudor, they all came out very close to that 1/2" dimension front to rear. Any difference in front to rear heights might indicate a sagging frame. Also in doing some research, I found info that the original fender/ splash apron welting was originally (2) pieces per side, rather than one continuous piece, but did not follow thru on backup info, but on one pickup and a panel truck I did install it that way from what I learned. The piece under the front fender extended 1" to the rear making it look continuous under the splash apron. I also learned that that frame welting did NOT extend to the rear of the frame on commercial vehicles. Only the rubber pads were used. The reason that the JSC indicates that these 'rubber' pads had cloth/thread molded in is that they were made from broken or worn out belting used by the belt driven equipment in the machine shops.
 
Thanks Will & Tom and all others for your insight.
I don't think the frame is warped or bent its very solid looking but who know's

All my pic's show the body sitting right on top of the apron with no clearance.
I believe that's due to the old material being worn-out(flat) & missing.
Only two blocks had rubber & only one front cowl bolt had rubber.

Unfortunately pulling the body just to confirm chassis #'s is a lot of effort & work, It needed to be confirmed. I'm much happier now with #'s in hand.
I really enjoyed the process even though I'm not finished with the hood mounting and alignment, It made me want to pull everything apart and blast & paint it up but this is not the right time for me.(I'm sure it's never the right time to restore one but I'm going to drive her for awhile first)AS-IS.

It opens My eye's to the amount of time & work a full restoration job would be even though I've only scratched the surface when it comes to completely pulling her apart.:):):D
 
Here's 4 pictures I just took of my 28 Phaeton gap. It is snug up front by the cowl, but about 1/2" at the rear. It must be my 20 Tudor that has the 3/8" to 1/2" gap the whole length. My Tudor is too covered with junk to take pictures.
 

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Thanks very much Tom
Appreciate the pics.. I see the Gap you're talking about I believe once I tighten the cowl bolts it should come down pretty close to being no Gap.
 
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