Welder Series Inc.

Schwartz Inc. Model A Frame

Grant Schwartz of Schwartz Inc. (check out his shop profile on our Shop Profile page) built a killer Model A frame using a bunch of Welder Series parts.

Even at 36″, our universal sway bar wasn’t quite long enough for some applications where customers wanted the bar to go through the frame rails on a wide frame. Since every customer is a part of our New Product Development Team here at Welder Series, we tend to listen to their input.

Click the picture

Introducing… our new 44-46″ universal sway bar! Everything is exactly the same as our 36″ kit, only about ten inches longer. If you aren’t familiar with our universal sway bar, here’s a little video tour:

The universal part of the deal is the width and mounting configuration. The width is adjustable by trimming the unsplined end of the bar to exactly the length you need, and you can mount the outer tube in a number of different ways.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sway Bar Mounting Option

Click to watch the video.

#WS22700

’32 Update: More Miscellaneous Stuff (article 34)

(From the archives)

Well, the body is off and it’s time to start welding up brackets and tabs that were just tacked in place this whole time. The plan is to get the frame powder coated semi gloss black, and since it’s not healthy to weld over powder coat, I’m going to try to get all the brackets mounted before it’s sent out.

It’s a good idea to take a bunch of pictures of everything assembled before you tear it down, so you can see how it all went together.

Remember that e-brake bracket I made a long time ago? I just painted it with Zero Rust flat black paint, and I’m pretty tickled with how it came out. I can’t wait to see it installed!
Since I didn’t mount the seat belts when the seat was mounted the first time, I had to make up some brackets to hold the retractors and the fixed end of the belts. If you’re like me and you have access to hundreds of different shapes of brackets, you tend to use something that’s already made instead of wasting time cutting out a shape (and trying to get the second one to look something like the first one), drilling holes, bending, etc. If you’re like me but don’t have access to hundreds of different brackets, here’s a solution: Welder Series’ Plate Page . Have a look around. I’m sure you’ll find something that will make your frame build a lot easier. These particular brackets are Model A rad mount tabs .

Friends come in to have a look and wonder how taking stuff off helps put it together. I tell them it’s like marriage. Anyways, I spent some time on something very small, but I’m happy with the result.

On the right, you can see the stock bolts that came with the brake kit. While functional, they didn’t do much to enhance the chrome spindles and steering arms and the polished calipers and caliper mounts. Since the caliper mounting bolts are 3/8″ button heads, I thought I’d see what I could do to match the other bolts.

The black bolt is the original one. It’s a flat head allen, with 1/2-20 threads. The stainless bolt is a 3/8-16 button head, but it’s obviously too small for the hole. I machined threaded spacers to sit tight in the 1/2″ hole in the spindle. The threaded cone mimics the taper on the original bolt, so it centers itself and sits flush with the outside of the caliper mounting plate. There’s not much clearance between the plate and the rotor!

I took this photo before I trimmed the excess off the bolt – it’s flush now.

Here’s how the tranny cooler lines/ air conditioning hose clamp came out. The top tube runs headlight wires from the body to the grille shell.
For the ends of the stainless tube, I parted a -6 stainless joiner fitting in half, and tig welded them to the tubes. Leaving some hex on the fittings means I don’t have to twist the tube to tighten the fitting.

We had the one side fixed, and now it’s time to match the passenger side. Cam seems to be pretty happy we’re finally mounting the tail pipes!
The emergency brake lines run right where the hangers would sit straight up. Instead of just moving it off to the side a little bit, we thought it would be better to go all the way. The hanger brackets and flanges are Welder Series parts, by the way.

I think we’re going to keep the tips just as they are for now… milled perfectly square. We’ll see – maybe they will get some turn-downs later.

Dear Welder Series… two Model ‘A’ pedal questions

Dear Welder Series…
I am building a Model A style frame and I am going to use manual brakes on it. Which master cylinder bracket kit and pedal should I use?

Ryan

Dear Ryan…
If you are using an automatic transmission, the WS13704 kit was designed for the Model ‘A’.

It is available ready-to-weld or welded.

Is this the frame that you got the frame curves for?

Thanks for looking at Welder Series, Ryan.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series…
Great products, great videos and product info on YouTube.

Can you recommend which master mounting bracket and pedal to use for a
model A, and is there one available that has both the brake and clutch
pedals?

Thanks Alan

Dear Alan…
Thanks for looking at our parts, Alan. Check out 20281. Any clutch and brake is very crowded in a Model ‘A’. We can swap the offset brake pedal for one with no offset. Then you can bend both pedals symmetrically to go around the steering column.

I hope we can help you with your project.

Paul Horton

’32 Update: reassembly (article 36)

I know, this is a bit out of place. I’m going to start copying the build articles from our website (www.welderseries.com) to the blog so they’re all in one place.

Reassembly

Seems like it’s been a while… sometimes reality is right. We’ve been really cooking at Welder Series which has lent less time to the ’32 as we would like. But being busy is a very good problem! Now that the frame is black, it’s time to start bolting stuff back on. I’m really enjoying looking at the flat black/aluminum/powder coat black contrast. I hope to be able to update this more regularly now that things are moving on the car again.

Another big treat is having Cam back to help with final assembly. He’s helping out over at Lowdown Hotrods and comes by when he’s done there for the day.

Cam attaches the fuel lines to the rail. Cam is so good, he can thread
a bolt in upside-down.

Here’s the brake pedal return spring/brake light switch activator I made.

I know, a mallet and drift in a final assembly picture isn’t a good sign. No paint was harmed in the setup of this photograph.

While putting the aluminum brake line clamps on the tie rod, I discovered that the end mill I used to create the larger hole had shrunk by the time I drilled the third bracket. Two slipped on nicely, but the third wouldn’t cooperate. Here’s how I enlarged the hole just a tiny bit using a rat tail file.

Using a Sharpie, I drew two lines on the inside of the hole.

I gently persuaded the lines to disappear with the file. Having two lines meant that it was more likely that I could keep the file perpendicular to the hole. Working on a black surface was nice because I could see the files as they came off.

I’d say it worked very well! Three or four rounds were necessary because each time you’re just filing enough to remove the marker line, but you know that you’re keeping the hole round.

Brake Pedal Return Spring

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“Canuck” over on the HAMB sent me this information on a possible candidate for a brake pedal return spring. Here are the original dimensions of the spring (the one in the picture has been trimmed): OD = 1.655″, ID = 1.375″, Length = 3.575″, Wire Dia = .135″, 6 coils, Min length when coils bind = 2.768″, Compression = ~~ 22 lb.s/inch compression. Straight spring, no taper. This came off an ’89 Cadillac Fleetwood.

Thanks for keeping me in mind!

If you didn’t see my pedal return setup, here’s a picture:

return spring

Here’s a setup that Lowdown Hotrods made… it looks like they’ve used a tube threaded on to the booster plunger with a jam nut sandwiching an aluminum disc which holds the spring. You can always expect clean work from these guys! Check out their site for a whole bunch of project pictures.

pedal return spring

’32 Update: E-Brake Linkage Revisited (article 42)

As I’m reassembling the car, there are some things that I think I should have explained a little better at the time of the first article. The emergency brake handle mount is a neat little piece, but I don’t think I explained how it attaches to the floor.

e brake linkage
See that little bung at the button end of the ‘canoe’? The bottom of that bung sits on the top surface of the bottom floor panel. Get that? I think you will. I used the Lokar ratchet mechanism and incorporated it into the canoe, which drops the handle into the floor.

e brake linkage
The canoe was made from the outside section of a bent 1-5/8″ tube.

e brake linkage
This is the hole where the canoe sits.

e brake linkage
Below the 2″ thick floor, the linkage fits through a slot in the bottom floor panel. I bent up a linkage rod required to clear the center section tube and threaded it on both ends.

e brake linkage
I drilled and tapped the Lokar brass block so it would work with my threaded linkage rod.

e brake linkage
I used a 3/8″ heim joint (or “rod end”) to support the linkage rod and also to serve double duty as the upper bolt for the transmission mount.

e brake linkage

A little out of place, but an update nonetheless. I put heat shrink on the wires as they exit from the frame rail and tuck in to the grille shell so they won’t stand out like… wires.

Welder Series Inc.

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Schwartz Inc. Model A Frame

Universal Sway Bar, 46″ Long