Technical Tech -32 Engine mounts for a late Flathead

Few of us are putting 32 Fords together just the way Ford did. Most of us swap out the front crossmember for a Model-A one to lower the car and most of us are using later flathead V8s with the front motor mounts intergral with the water pumps.

If we're also sticking with the original K-member this mounts the engine quite low at the front with the water pump feet below the top of the rail and slightly inside the rail too. This makes suitable motor mounts difficult to design, and more importantly difficult to make look stock.

This is my Tech-solution. It uses 100% original Ford steel, just not quite the way Ford originally intended it. I've built several of them now and this is the easiest and best way to build one.

This is a sneak pre-view:

 

You will need:

A good Model-A front crossmember. (If you're fitting it in '32 rails then I find the Model-AA truck front crossmember is deeper and requires less modification to fit the '32 rails. A car crossmember works fine too.)

A 1941-48 Ford front crossmember.

A pair of 1941-48 front bump stops from the same car.

 

Build:

Now first of all modify your Model-A front crossmember to fit your 32 rails.
(See this thread on how to do this:http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=610718&page=2 )

Next up I remove these pieces from the late model front crossmember.

The bump stop cups need their rubber ripped out and the bolts drilling out.

The "S" shaped parts removed from the front crossmember are to be used the extend the valley on our Model-A front crossmember.

 

Once I've got the Model-A front crossmember bolted into the frame I set in my Flathead V8 and transmission and bolt it to the K-member. With the water pumps bolted to the block I can see exactly where my doughnut engine mounts need to be. Namely quite low down and tucked into the rails. (I cheat and use a plastic engine block and empty transmission housing;-)

Now bolt the bump stop cups to the water pumps. (I leave the doughnuts off at this stage as I'm only planning where to weld in the valley extensions.)

I trim back the valley left and right and weld in my 1941-48 "S" shaped extensions as pictured. Afterwards they will not sit on the lower rail flange but will need heating up and bending down.

 

After the "S" shaped pieces are welded in, there's a small triangle needs filling. Use pre-49 steel if at all possible!
Next up I reinstall the engine and transmission, this time with the rubber doughnut engine mounts bolted in between the water pumps and the '41-'48 bump-stop cups. With everything lined up I mark around the cups and then after removing the engine again, I cut the round holes in the new valley extensions - see picture below. The holes are a little smaller than the cups so that the cups actually sit on the valley and the weight of the engine isn't just on welds in shear.

After that the engine goes back in and the cups are tacked welded in place at 12,3,6 and 9 o'clock. Then I pull the whole thing out for welding up and then spend hours blending all the welds in. This makes it look like a factory pressing.

The rear flange of the valley gets trimmed down to the height of the "S" shaped pieces to give it a uniform look.

 

And here's the finished result after riveting in place - looks the dog's bollocks as we say in England. Looks Factory Ford too which it mostly is.
Actually makes the front crossmember into a K-member too, increasing frame rigidity.

 

Sweet

 

Very nice! I like it!

 

GENIUS!! You sir, are one very talented and innovative guy.
Thanks for sharing, you make it look easy.

 

Fantastic job, Edward.

Mart.

 

That came up a treat! Well done sir!

 

Has factory look beauty to it.
Nice work!

 

Edward, you just became "Sir Hot Rodder." Very nice work.

 

Very ingenious thinking… Ford would have loved it.

 

Very nice work and totally original looking - love it!

 

looks nice

 

Verry well done.

 

Verry cool!

 

I love the thinking behind that. Great job!

 

Very clever harvesting of the sections needed. Outstanding results. Congratulations on a job very well done.

 

Pretty stinkin cool! Great idea with outstanding execution!!!

 

Very nice. That looks really good.

 

Don't throw out the u-bolts and spring clip bars either. I'll be posting a tech soon on how to modify them to use on the rear.
I'm a huge fan of the 42-48 Fords. Fords best car ever from a quality point of view. There are still complete wrecks out there to dismantle, and the mechanicals are often very good even if the body is so bad it's falling apart. In fact not many folks know this but it's often the worst looking cars will have the best mechanics in them. An almost usable looking car used from 1948 up until the 1980s will sufer from Cuba Syndrom (looks good but everything mechanical is worn well past usable limts). A rusty wreck which was abandoned in the woods in 1956 and is up to it's axles in leaves will often yield low mileage mechanical components. I use almost everything from a 42-48 rolling chassis. The torque tubes are easier to shorten than some 30s ones, for instance. I have just used a shortened '48 tube on a '36 Banjo.
The front wishbones have the step-down. I'm planning to use them to make a triangulated four-link for a rear axle.
Just about the only part I've never used is the rear crossmember. I keep looking at one and wondering what shapes I can use.
The X-member is great for building rigid 32-34 chassis'. The steering box is usable, or just use the sector shaft to rebuild an F1. You can drop the side-loader gears into a top-loader 78 or 99 box. The 59AB goes without saying,-). A complete set of juice brakes, hubs and spindles. A 42-48 scrap car and a pair of ASC 32 rails and you won't need to be buying much else.


Twitter @edsrodshop

 

Very Clean nice job!!!!


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^^^^^ Good info Ed.

Mart.

 

Very nice, could also work in a Model A frame.
Thanks for sharing!

 

That looks great.....Thanks Edward...

 

I completely agree on the merits of the 42-48 frames. My grandpa and I used a wrecked 1947 parts car and Model A rails to build my T bucket. Looking forward to future tech write ups!

 

Super crafty! Thanks much!