Author: DW

Dear Welder Series… Custom Bars?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi D.W.
I was wondering if the 21 1/4 inch bars would work on my chassis, I need them to be 21 1/2 inches long from C/C were they mount. (See) photo above, they would be 1 inch dia DOM

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Or would I have to get custom made bars, talk too you soon

Dennis

Dear Dennis…
[update: the response to this tech question predated the (mostly) standardized 1-3/4″ wide bushings, so I removed the info to avoid confusion. We can build bars to your specs.]

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… will your triangulated four link lay frame?

Dear Welder Series…
With your triangulated four link does this allow the truck or the vehicle to lay flat on the ground in the rear with the air bags deflated?

Dear Brian…
Hi Brian, thanks for your note. This would depend on where you establish the ride height when you’re setting up the suspension. It will also depend on a few other factors; axle to frame rail clearance, shock travel, and whether or not there is anything else that might get in the way of the vehicle and the ground. So I suppose I should answer your question something like this: “yes, BUT…”.
I hope this helps…
DW Horton

Dear Welder Series… SBC in a Stude?

Dear Welder Series…
I will be putting a chevy v8 350ci in my 1956 Studebaker very soon and will try to use the chevy mount and see if I can use the lower part of the mount and bolt it to the bracket that’s on the Studebaker frame to end up with a bolt on instead of a weld on mount system. What do you think? Has anyone done this?

Dear Dave…
Hi Dave, thanks for your note. I’m not familiar with the Studebaker engine mounts and I haven’t heard of anyone doing this. Maybe someone will see your question and have better information than I can provide?

dw

Small Block Ford in an MGB

Grant Schwartz has sent in some pictures of his 302 installation into a 1974 MGB. He modified the 3/8″ engine block plate and welded a section straight down from the mounting holes.

Parts used:

What’s With the Saran Wrap?

Nobody’s asked this question but I think about it every time I wrap some parts up to ship. I go through a fair amount of plastic stretch wrap. My logic is that it’ll be more difficult for a bundle of parts or plates to slide out of a damaged box than one plate at a time.
So that’s the story of the plastic wrap. No, I didn’t have a deli sandwich for lunch and use the Saran Wrap for your parts.

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Cold Flow

Getting the ’40 ready for the road again, we decided to change the bushings on the coilovers because they hadn’t been done (that we could remember). The first challenge was loosening the lower mounting bolt. It’s not that it wouldn’t turn; it had attached itself quite strongly to the inner tube, and the whole assembly would just spin and spin. We soaked it, we hammered it, we impacted it… nothing was going to break the love that this little 1/2-20 bolt had with the tube it had got to know so well. We gave up being civil and cut the bolt in two.

Once the bolt was free (but severed), we popped the bushings out and here’s the damage:

Urethane bushing cold flow.
After cold flow comes elongation.

Over time (though it would probably be more accurate to speak of “miles”), the bushing had worked itself into the grooves in the Aldan coilovers which are there to give you the option of running spherical bearings instead of bushings. The grooves are for a C clip to hold the bearing in place. No harm done; we just replaced the bushings and will go for another xx,xxx miles. I’m not sure exactly how long these coilovers have been installed, but it’s probably in the 30 000 mile range or more.

Moral of the story: check your bushings. Cold flow happens.

Where We’re Headed (this summer) (not a philosophical post)

No, where are you headed, man?

Once again, we’re going to Syracuse and Louisville this year (with a smattering of other spur of the moment destinations in between). Yup, we’re pretty predictable.

Syracuse is always a bunch of fun… lots of things to do for the whole family, live music through the day, great tech seminars and lots more. Here’s the link for the show if you’re on the fence: http://rightcoastcars.com/syracuse-nationals.php

We really enjoy Louisville too, and this year shouldn’t be any different. I’ve been riding a little BMX bike at the Hot Rod Industry BMX Challenge that Tim and Carrie Strange put on every year… what a blast! Here’s the link to the Louisville show: http://www.nsra-usa.com/Events/default.asp#. You’ll have to scroll over to get to the info for the show. Here are some pictures from BMX Challenges past: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.368982859832912.85490.368921386505726&type=3

Syracuse: July 19-21
Louisville: August 1-4

Also, Paul and Dorothy will be driving the ’40 this year and I’ll take the ’32! The ’40 has been on the road since 1988, but has been parked since 2005.

Hope to see you there!

Dear Welder Series… Do You Make Your Own Stuff?

This isn’t really a Dear Welder Series post, but more of a “Dear Customer…” post.

Some events of late made me think about a few questions people may develop as they browse chassis brackets on the Internet. While I’m certainly not naive to think that there aren’t other companies making similar products, or even that they shouldn’t be, I do want to clarify a few things.

First, if you notice a picture on another site that looks uncannily like a picture of a product on our website, that’s a Welder Series picture. I’ve personally taken every product picture on the site, except the customer-submitted pictures. We keep an up to date list of reputable businesses selling Welder Series product here. If the site isn’t on the list, but they’re using our images, ask where the part comes from. A number of shops buy our products and sell or install them as such. There’s no shame in asking where the part comes from. If they can’t say it’s from Welder Series, but they’re using our image to (mis)represent the product, that doesn’t seem fair to me or you. There are some sites selling genuine Welder Series products, but there are some who aren’t but are still using our images.

Second, with a very small number of exceptions (I’ll list them below), every product sold on our website is a Welder Series product. What does that mean? It means the CAD drawings originated on our computer, the steel is to the best of our ability sourced from Canada or the USA, and it was welded in our shop. If I wouldn’t put it on my car, I won’t send it to you. It’s that simple. I’m pretty picky, too.
Here are the parts that are not manufactured by us:

Rod Ends.
Engine mount insulators
Transmission insulators.
Urethane bushing halves.
Hardware (including weld nuts, Nutserts, bolts, nuts, etc.)
Exhaust grommets.

Every tig weld that leaves here will look like this:

I don’t want to come off sounding like we’re the only place you can buy quality hot rod chassis parts. Of course there are a number of companies producing quality products. What irks me is when our photos are used to misrepresent the quality of another company’s product.

If you have any questions about our products, we’d like to hear from you.

Thanks very much for your time.
DW, Paul, and Dorothy Horton