1926 Dodge Brothers

Motorhead said:

Those headlights look really nice. I need some old headlights, but I can't find any.

It took me quite a while to get these. Every time I found some that I wanted, they either went too high or the auction ended when I couldn’t get on and bid. I wanted something big and these measure 10-1/2” across the face. The lens is slightly over 9-1/2” diameter.


Regarding the rear links, is your instantaneous center behind the rear axle? I really can't tell by looking at the pictures. If that's the case, you will have wheel hop issues.

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If you mean that the attachment points of the 4-links at the axle housing are behind center of the axle, then yes, they are.

SugarRay8 said:

If you mean that the attachment points of the 4-links at the axle housing are behind center of the axle, then yes, they are.

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Nope! Here's a quick MS Paint sketch that I did. It's not an actual physical point, kind of like the center of gravity. It's the intersection of the "extension" of your suspension arms that forms the instantaneous center. By tweaking the position of your instantaneous center, you can setup your suspension to be pro or anti squat and the percentage of it.

For good suspension performance, you definately want your instantaneous center to be infront of the rear axle.

The way i do old headlights that have still have the reflectors is to remove the old sockets and enlarge the hole to accecpt the larger halogen sockets. I just glue them in with silicone sealer.

Motorhead said:

Nope! Here's a quick MS Paint sketch that I did. It's not an actual physical point, kind of like the center of gravity. It's the intersection of the "extension" of your suspension arms that forms the instantaneous center. By tweaking the position of your instantaneous center, you can setup your suspension to be pro or anti squat and the percentage of it.

For good suspension performance, you definately want your instantaneous center to be infront of the rear axle.

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OK, that makes sense. I’ll have to check it out and see when I get back over there, just got hit with more snow and it’s still coming down. A couple inches usually closes this town down, we just got 3” last night on top of the foot we already had. It’s really making progress SLOW.

earthman said:

The way i do old headlights that have still have the reflectors is to remove the old sockets and enlarge the hole to accecpt the larger halogen sockets. I just glue them in with silicone sealer.

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Do you use ones that have the plastic housings? I looked at some H7 halogens, they had a metal base and 2 prongs that would be easy to wire, but then I wasn’t sure if the body should be grounded or not. The guy at the store helping me wasn’t sure either. We ended up in the back of the store looking through old stuff and found some 12V headlights that fit the original sockets. Also found new guts to put into the sockets. So that is what I bought, I’ll see how it all works out. One thing I’ve been trying to keep, not sure if it’s really important, is the attachment arm that came off the original sockets and supports the reflector/socket assembly (see pic) the screw goes through the back of the bucket and the spring holds the reflector/socket assembly against the front of the bucket.

I get the bulbs and the plastic sockets separatly at any auto parts chain. The sockets come with a ground wire. Got any pix of your lites?

Here are the lights I bought; they only have one thing stamped on them: 12V500P
Also shown are the new contacts I purchased, the two round steel plugs with the two holes in them are to hold the contact assembly and keep it from rotating. I hope to get them assembled soon and I’ll post more pics.

We finally got some more done last night. [cl

Quite a while back we picked up a steering box from an International logging truck we had behind the shop. It’s the right configuration and seems to be in really good shape. The truck had a very similar steering wheel and front rim size as our build, so we’re thinking the ratio should work out fine (have no clue what the ratio is). The box is large but has an all aluminum housing, so it’s not too heavy. The output shaft is just shy of 1-1/4” dia. I made an extension shaft & coupling to get the pitman arm outside the cowl.

I used a 1-1/4” diameter shaft and turned each end down to match the diameter of the output shaft (it measured 1.218). Then I cut 3/8” keyways in the shaft and broached the same into the pitman arm. I also made a coupler to mate the output shaft and extension shaft together, same 3/8” keyways.

I made a bracket with a bronze bearing in it to support the end of the extension shaft out by the pitman arm; this bracket will be welded to the cowl. Still have a lot of bracing and finishing up to do on it, but the concept is in place.

In addition we got a brake pedal assembly made and installed the master cylinder.

We also started getting some supports in place so we can put a floor in.

Set the carb and air cleaner on the motor, trying to get some ideas on linkage so we can get the gas pedal assembly made.

Not real sure yet if we’re going to run the old caddy cleaner, but it looks cool for now.

your build is coming along really nice.
Are you going to have enough suspension with those shackles at that angle?
Looks like they are going to bottom out ?

chuckles said:

your build is coming along really nice.
Are you going to have enough suspension with those shackles at that angle?
Looks like they are going to bottom out ?

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Obviously we haven’t actually driven it yet, but we have traveled the front end to check the shocks etc. and it all seems fine. (Just standing on the frame and bouncing it up and down). [S

Guess we’ll know for sure on the first run; can always cut the mounts and make new if we have any issues. There will be a lot of short test runs on his dead end street before any real trips.

I get a funny feeling "downstairs", when I look at your build pics....

MORE PLEASE!!! lol

Looks FANTASTIC!

Happy to see you guys got some real work done after I left last night. Was impressed with your project and can't wait to see it on-the-road. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. I can offer a pep talk now and then if nothing else. I like the way the steering box is set up. I think I'll try somthing like that with my coupe - all under the coul makes a lot of sense. Also, want to consider that WEB design rear suspension.
Jim

Looks like it's coming along great, I like the cowl steering too. On your brake pedal arm, what is the ratio ? That is, how long is the upper arm compared to the lower arm ? Normally you want to shoot for a 6 to 1 ratio, if the lower one is too long, you'll really have high pedal pressure and have to really stand on the pedal, especially with a non-power master.
Not trying to nit-pick, just want you to have a safe ride......

I was thinking the same thing about the brake pedal. It might take two men and a small boy to stop your fine machine.

bell said:

I get a funny feeling "downstairs", when I look at your build pics....

MORE PLEASE!!! lol

Looks FANTASTIC!

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Thanks Bell! We'll try to get more ASAP

Jim Travis said:

Happy to see you guys got some real work done after I left last night. Was impressed with your project and can't wait to see it on-the-road. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. I can offer a pep talk now and then if nothing else. I like the way the steering box is set up. I think I'll try somthing like that with my coupe - all under the coul makes a lot of sense. Also, want to consider that WEB design rear suspension.
Jim

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It was great meeting you Jim, my son and I will have to come out and check out your coupe sometime soon.

zzrodder said:

Looks like it's coming along great, I like the cowl steering too. On your brake pedal arm, what is the ratio ? That is, how long is the upper arm compared to the lower arm ? Normally you want to shoot for a 6 to 1 ratio, if the lower one is too long, you'll really have high pedal pressure and have to really stand on the pedal, especially with a non-power master.
Not trying to nit-pick, just want you to have a safe ride......

Click to expand...

bob w said:

I was thinking the same thing about the brake pedal. It might take two men and a small boy to stop your fine machine.

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Damn, I thought it was hard due to not having any fluid in it. We should be able to shorten the lower arm, doubt I'll get a 6:1, but we'll just have to see. Thank you both for the input.