Introducing myself and Houdini

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

there have been some veeeeeerrrrry nice tours to Hill Country, and there will be more....you'll be glad you jumped into the A community

Wish you all could experience our Sierra Nevada Mountains, there's some REAL DOOZY climbing tests there! A decent, STOCK Model A will climb them like a MOUNTAIN GOAT
Bill W.

 

[Sunnybrook Farm]

Those were almost a transition into the V8 era with the styling so the 16s look good on it. Getting the right tire on a 16 rim will make a difference. The seat covers look good and will be more comfortable in hot weather!

 

[Mitch//pa]

[FONT=&quot]I like your sense of humor "Houdini"; though it looks to be a nice ride. I cannot tell from the pictures but do not discount a tired front spring. A tired spring will let the links pendulate the axle sideways causing unstable steering geometry within the system.[/FONT]

To expand on what gweilbaker mentioned, usually a tired front spring will cause the drag link to rub the tie Rod....

 

[Rex_A_Lott]

Welcome to the barn, and congrats on a nice looking car!
I like the seat covers, tell the wife she done good. Be glad she enjoys it with you.
As for the steering problems, you may not be able to find "the smoking gun", so to speak. A thousandth or two here and another there and it all adds up by the time it gets to the tire. Just worn parts. Bias ply tires wont track as well as the radials you are used to, no matter what.
Dont overlook the shocks, cars without them, will dance around on a rough road. I thought all Model A's drove that way until I drove a car that had good shocks and a panhard bar on the front. Night and day difference. Not to start a ruckus, its your car and your choice, but you will notice a difference with the panhard bar. Some say its a crutch, and it is, but its a good one, IMHO.
Good Luck with your car, hope you have many good miles in it.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Welcome!!!

 

[Big hammer]

Wecome to the Barn Happy Holidays Your humor will fit in here

 

[Houdini]

Thanks to all of you for the warm and friendly welcome.

To answer some of the questions, as I remember them:
The first thing I did was to check air pressure and put air in. I'm kind of a stickler for checking all my vehicle's air pressure. The 16 inch tires on the car are just bias ply tires and the tread is good, as they were not driven very much, but I don't trust them because of age, so once I get a bit more of my steering issues solved, I'll buy new tires.

As for the body, I don't know if its a Murray or not?

I think the front spring is ok, butr will have some of the local club members look at it when I can.

again, thanks for all the tips. Your very helpful folks.

I've been reading this forum since July and saw that Mitch is Bill's son, or should I say Bill is Mitch's dad? Is there a difference? I don't know, I get mixed up easily.

I did change the radius ball cups back to the original style and already that has made an improvement in the steering. My next step is to replace the king pins and bushings and bearings, after the holidays and see how that effects things.

Frank

 

[Houdini]

Burner31,
Sorry I forgot to respond to your question about the tabs sticking out below the front bumper. Very observant of you.

Yes, they are tow bar attachments. When we retired, we sold our house and stuff and bought a motorhome and fulltimed in it for a few years. The most practical way for us to transport a car was to tow it flat on the ground. That was a modern car and we had no problems towing it around the country.

I kept the towbar when we sold the motorhome. so when we got the A, I wanted a way to transport it, either to participate in a tour that started far enough away from where we live, to make it practical, or for emergencies, where I needed to get the car home.

The tow bar I have is a Blue OX Aventi II. I bought the two brackets and bolted them to a 2 x 2 square steel bar and had 1/2 inch thick steel tabs welded to each end. Holes were drilled into the tabs, such that I could bolt this assembly to the same holes the bumper attached to and a second set of holes were drilled into the tabs just to the side, so the bumper could be attached to the tabs. All grade 8 bolts and 9/16 in diameter as the bumper bolts were.

When I test it, I was cautious and we hooked it up in the driveway and my wife moved the truck slowly and unfortunately, the wheels on the A started to turn sideways, instead of following the truck. At least we were cautious and watching carefully, so stopped immediately. Then walking along side, after straightening the wheels, we moved a bit more and as we entered the street and turned, the A's wheels turned sideways again. We drove around the block, with me sitting in the A and holding the steering wheel just inn case, and it worked fine for that, but at this point, I would never trust it to be towed flat on the ground. I can easily unbolt the tow bar bracket assembly as nothing is modified on the car, but then too, I might keep it on, in case of an emergency. If I had the tow bar with me on a tour, all I would need is someone that has a 2 inch receiver hitch to tow me a short distance to get the car to someplace safe, but I would stay in the car and monitor the steering, keeping my hands on the steering wheel while doing so.

 

[juke joint johnny]

Welcome Houdini Don't overlook what Rex a lot mentioned about shocks
.
Does your car have any?

Often they are left off but make for some very unstable driving !!

Car can wander about and get scary !!

 

[CarlG]

Burner31,
Sorry I forgot to respond to your question about the tabs sticking out below the front bumper. Very observant of you.

Yes, they are tow bar attachments. When we retired, we sold our house and stuff and bought a motorhome and fulltimed in it for a few years. The most practical way for us to transport a car was to tow it flat on the ground. That was a modern car and we had no problems towing it around the country.

I kept the towbar when we sold the motorhome. so when we got the A, I wanted a way to transport it, either to participate in a tour that started far enough away from where we live, to make it practical, or for emergencies, where I needed to get the car home.

The tow bar I have is a Blue OX Aventi II. I bought the two brackets and bolted them to a 2 x 2 square steel bar and had 1/2 inch thick steel tabs welded to each end. Holes were drilled into the tabs, such that I could bolt this assembly to the same holes the bumper attached to and a second set of holes were drilled into the tabs just to the side, so the bumper could be attached to the tabs. All grade 8 bolts and 9/16 in diameter as the bumper bolts were.

When I test it, I was cautious and we hooked it up in the driveway and my wife moved the truck slowly and unfortunately, the wheels on the A started to turn sideways, instead of following the truck. At least we were cautious and watching carefully, so stopped immediately. Then walking along side, after straightening the wheels, we moved a bit more and as we entered the street and turned, the A's wheels turned sideways again. We drove around the block, with me sitting in the A and holding the steering wheel just inn case, and it worked fine for that, but at this point, I would never trust it to be towed flat on the ground. I can easily unbolt the tow bar bracket assembly as nothing is modified on the car, but then too, I might keep it on, in case of an emergency. If I had the tow bar with me on a tour, all I would need is someone that has a 2 inch receiver hitch to tow me a short distance to get the car to someplace safe, but I would stay in the car and monitor the steering, keeping my hands on the steering wheel while doing so.

I have had several examples of towing a model a flat:

When I had my '31 Fordor back when I was a teen ager, we had a towbar that was specifically designed for it. Had no problem with it tracking perfectly.

Fast forward 50 years. When I had to tow my current rig from Fairbanks to Anchorage (400 miles) last year, I borrowed a tow bar from a friend. My Pickup tracked perfectly then as well. Only problem with this one was that it was bolted to the bumper. While there was no problem with the 400 mile trip home, a short tow to the car wash a couple weeks later proved disastrous as the bumper bolts gave way and the unmanned PU wound up crashing into a fence.

This past summer I again towed another friend's '31 SW. It would not track at all, without a co-pilot in the towed vehicle. We were on tour, and while the tow bar was helpful, it did require someone to tend to the towed vehicle.

 

[juke joint johnny]

Oh No Carl!!!

Did you have those Cast Repop clamps or original ones? I hope your truck was OK

 

[Indiana A. Lover]

Houdini Welcome aboard sit down and hang on ,you are about to enter space and time. Not only of sight and sound. the sign post up ahead , You are entering the Barn Zone. Your conductor on this trip will be BILL Listen and learn Don

 

[Al 29Tudor]

Welcome Houdini.
If your toe in is wrong it will contribute to wander.
It should be about I/8th inch to 3/16th of an inch toed in.
AL

 

[CarlG]

Oh No Carl!!!

Did you have those Cast Repop clamps or original ones? I hope your truck was OK

Cast repop clamps. The truck will live. Expensive lesson. It has new steel clamps, and if it ever gets towed again, it will have brackets like Houdini has.

 

[TerryH]

Welcome to the Barn and you certainly got a very nice Model A. The Fordor and Town sedans are very comfortable, roomy cars, and great for touring. I also much prefer the look of the 19" wheels and tires, and have driven mine on several long distance tours. I did notice a big improvement a few years ago, when I replaced the BF Goodrich tires with new Goodyear's......it tracks much better and those grooves on the freeway paving do not cause it to wander as it used to do; I would highly recommend the Goodyear tires. As someone else mentioned, correct toe-in is very important and must be carefully set. But most of all, enjoy your A and welcome!

 

[Mike V. Florida]

When I test it, I was cautious and we hooked it up in the driveway and my wife moved the truck slowly and unfortunately, the wheels on the A started to turn sideways, instead of following the truck. At least we were cautious and watching carefully, so stopped immediately. Then walking along side, after straightening the wheels, we moved a bit more and as we entered the street and turned, the A's wheels turned sideways again. We drove around the block, with me sitting in the A and holding the steering wheel just inn case, and it worked fine for that, but at this point, I would never trust it to be towed flat on the ground.

I remove the drag link when I tow my A with a tow bar.

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Welcome Houdini.
If your toe in is wrong it will contribute to wander.
It should be about I/8th inch to 3/16th of an inch toed in.
AL

One-sixteenth (1/16) inch for toe-in

 

[Houdini]

Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. I did check toe in and it seems to be in spec. Because there is some play in the king pins, that will be my next project and also check the steering linkage balls and replace if necessary and add nylon cups etc. so toe in will get re-adjusted after that.

In answer to the question of having shocks, yes it does, but not sure if they are working or have leaked, so that will be another project.

The front spring looks good and the motor does not sag or touch the brake cross member.

Regarding my setup with tow brackets on the bumper, I took a few pictures of it and thought I would start a separate thread with appropriate key words, so those that do a search in the future on that subject would be able to find it.

 

[SkipShift]

Houdini, my 160B has the Briggs bug stamp on the left lower side by the cowl band.