Right time and place. Score!
- Thread starter Mart
- Start date
Go the 'Bludegeon', I love the term for it's application.
Another one I liked; in the Forge when we had to service the machinery, some very big nuts had to be loosened with a 'Flogging Spanner' which was hit with a sledge hammer. Pretty scary for the apprentice boy trying to keep the spanner to the nut, while some brute swung that hammer big time.
VeryTangled
Well-known member
Hello Everyone,
Mart, any chance we can get a picture of the gauges in action? I'm not getting it as to how they are used.
Very nice pickup, especially for the price you paid! It was almost more for the mirror than the gauges.
Thanks for the thread, I'm learning again.
-VT/JeffH
Mart, any chance we can get a picture of the gauges in action? I'm not getting it as to how they are used.
Very nice pickup, especially for the price you paid! It was almost more for the mirror than the gauges.
Thanks for the thread, I'm learning again.
-VT/JeffH
Mart
Well-known member
Ok here goes nuthin'
You get the secondary side of the gauges to start off with. There are a series of slots on each upward casting. You select the slot that is the nearest in height to the centre of the wheel height.
Slots in casting:
Gauge bar in slot that most closely approximates hub height (It's a toss up between this slot and the next one up, but this one is close enough)
You then set all the guage bars at that height and adjust them so they touch the wheel, tyre or wherever you want to take the measurement.
I used the edge of the rim, because the trim rings stopped me using the side of the rim
You then bring the two sides of the gauges together and set up the gauge bars on the other side to match the first side.
With the two sides of the gauge touching together you set the optical scale to zero. This is very difficult to photograph, but easier when you look down therough the little spyhole.
You move the pointer to align the vertical line with the triangular pointer whick is reflected back by the mirror.
The gauges feature an old fashioned dial calculator. You set the dial to match the diameter of the wheel.
You then use the other side of the dial to convert the desired toe in into degrees and minutes which the gauge uses.
So if you want 1/8" toe in, you want just over 15 minutes.
The gauges are now calibrated to each other at a zero setting. So make sure the pointer points to zero on the scale. Move the scale to align with the pointer if necessary. This is a home made pointer, the proper job part features a magnifying lens.
Then you take the gauges to the car and position them against the wheels. The car should be rolled forwards into position.
You then sight down the eyepiece and move the pointer until the triangle aligns with the line. (Even more difficult to photograph as the image is further away due to the distance between the gauges.)
Now for the moment of truth: Read out the alignment in minutes from the gauge plate.
Now here's the moment of truth. Ok, it's miles out. I'm reading 50 minutes, which if you read it back through the calculator that' over 3/8" toe in. I should be shooting for about 15 minutes or just above which equates to 1/8" or so.
Time to get out and get under and make an adjustment!
(Actually I muffed the reading I shuffled the steering as the wheels were not straight. That nullifies the test. I should have rolled the car out and back in again with the wheels straight.)
I used them for real last night and once the initial setup is done they are quick and easy and accurate to use.
Mart.
You get the secondary side of the gauges to start off with. There are a series of slots on each upward casting. You select the slot that is the nearest in height to the centre of the wheel height.
Slots in casting:
Gauge bar in slot that most closely approximates hub height (It's a toss up between this slot and the next one up, but this one is close enough)
You then set all the guage bars at that height and adjust them so they touch the wheel, tyre or wherever you want to take the measurement.
I used the edge of the rim, because the trim rings stopped me using the side of the rim
You then bring the two sides of the gauges together and set up the gauge bars on the other side to match the first side.
With the two sides of the gauge touching together you set the optical scale to zero. This is very difficult to photograph, but easier when you look down therough the little spyhole.
You move the pointer to align the vertical line with the triangular pointer whick is reflected back by the mirror.
The gauges feature an old fashioned dial calculator. You set the dial to match the diameter of the wheel.
You then use the other side of the dial to convert the desired toe in into degrees and minutes which the gauge uses.
So if you want 1/8" toe in, you want just over 15 minutes.
The gauges are now calibrated to each other at a zero setting. So make sure the pointer points to zero on the scale. Move the scale to align with the pointer if necessary. This is a home made pointer, the proper job part features a magnifying lens.
Then you take the gauges to the car and position them against the wheels. The car should be rolled forwards into position.
You then sight down the eyepiece and move the pointer until the triangle aligns with the line. (Even more difficult to photograph as the image is further away due to the distance between the gauges.)
Now for the moment of truth: Read out the alignment in minutes from the gauge plate.
Now here's the moment of truth. Ok, it's miles out. I'm reading 50 minutes, which if you read it back through the calculator that' over 3/8" toe in. I should be shooting for about 15 minutes or just above which equates to 1/8" or so.
Time to get out and get under and make an adjustment!
(Actually I muffed the reading I shuffled the steering as the wheels were not straight. That nullifies the test. I should have rolled the car out and back in again with the wheels straight.)
I used them for real last night and once the initial setup is done they are quick and easy and accurate to use.
Mart.
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Charlville
Senior Member
Very jealous 
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Talkwrench
Well-known member
Kool ol' tools !
Drbrown
Well-known member
I agree with Frank Miller's comment. After I purchased my '47 I took the alignment spec's and manuals to a "mature" alignment fellow at my local Sears Auto Center. He was delighted to get to work on an old-timer. He programmed his computer, washed his hands and went to work with a smile. As he went along he showed the "kids" in the shop how to do it and they all gave thumbs-up as I drove out. Year and a half later now, handling and tire wear continue to indicate he did a good job.
Blownflatheaddeuce
Senior Member
Nice score...goin' hi tech now are we Mart 
Tom Morookian
Well-known member
So I'm cheap. I've had my wooden toe in checker for years. The bottom end has a fixed screw in it. The top end is drilled to let the 1/4 threaded rod slide thru. The nut allows me to adjust the length of the rod.
take the measurement on the front of the wheel ( I put the screw on the rim) and adjust the nut so it hits the wood. Then move it to the rear of the wheel. The nut should be about 1/8 inch from the wood and that's 1/8th toe-in. A bigger version can be used to guesstimate camber.
If you want to do the math, you can calculate degrees based on the rim width.
take the measurement on the front of the wheel ( I put the screw on the rim) and adjust the nut so it hits the wood. Then move it to the rear of the wheel. The nut should be about 1/8 inch from the wood and that's 1/8th toe-in. A bigger version can be used to guesstimate camber.
If you want to do the math, you can calculate degrees based on the rim width.
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41panelmark
Well-known member
Cool find for sure.
Graeme / New Zealand
Well-known member
"Wings" is not really an Aussie word... it's a "Pommy" word or a "Limey" word to you all you Americans.
Wings to us are what we have on "aeroplanes"
GB