Category: dear welder series

Paul Horton’s replies to actual tech emails.

Dear Welder Series… 1957 F100 Mustang II

Dear Welder Series…
I’m building a 1957 F100, and would like to use some of your products, but I have a few questions.

I want to use your mustang 2 crossmember with coil overs, but I’m wanting to set the ride height of the truck pretty low, so clearance for wheels in turning becomes a concern. Would I be better off using your middle width m2 crossmember, and modify my frame, to pull the wheels in a bit? I also don’t have the wheels I’m planning to use, as I’m not quite sure what to order on backspacing. Any suggestions for that?

Thanks,
Shane

Dear Shane…
Hi, Shane. Thanks for asking but I’m not sure that I’ll be much help. Back when we built customer projects, we used 60-1/2” kits and 7” wide wheels. There was always lots of clearance.

Because you don’t have the wheels/tires, I’d suggest working on other areas of the project until you have had time to check out more vehicles at events to see what’s been used and how that was managed.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… Model A front axle question

Dear Welder Series…
Hello,
I just wanted to thank you for your catalog.
I am going to attempt at 64 years old to build my first hot rod on a fixed income(retired).
It’s a Model A full fendered and my question is can I use a stock 48 Ford axle (48′) with your flat front cross member,a reverse eye spring and 500 or 560-15 front tire and A)get the required drop or stance and B) will the front tires stick out too far into the fender as the 48 axle is 1 inch wider on each side.
Again many thanks,
Bryan

Dear Bryan…
Good questions. I’ve been sitting looking at your email for a few minutes trying to decide how to answer them. And it comes down to: “It depends…”

It depends on the stance you want. A starting point might be to put the axle and wheels/tires that will be used under the car with no spring mounted. Use a short (4” long?) 2×4 on edge, running front-to-rear, on top of the axle and under the stock front crossmember. This mock-up will be about as close to a low spring arch as you can get. If you are ok with the tire width and fender clearance at this height you can consider going lower.

The flat crossmember will let you lower the front a maximum of 2” compared to the stock crossmember. The stock Model A rad bottom tank drops down into the stock crossmember area. The rad shell hides the upper and lower tanks and the side straps. Our flat crossmember will use up the space that the lower tank wants, so a custom rad would be required. The rad shell would not hide the bottom tank. This is something to consider.  

I hope this gives you some help with your build. Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series…
Thank you very much for your info Paul.
You have provided me some tips that I never knew in spite of reading hot rod magazines for 50 years.
Take care,
Bryan

Dear Welder Series… 1949 International kb1 Mustang II

Dear Welder Series…
I have a 1949 international kb1. I would like to use coil springs and the mustang 2. I think it would take the 60 inch track. Is this correct? What would be the total cost shipped to Winnipeg? Do you offer welding of the basic member? Thanks

Dear Paul,
Paul, There are 2 frames for KB1’s, according to my info, 28” and 30” outside width. With either of these frames, I’d widen the frame outside dimension by adding tubing so the 60” kit has more frame surface to weld to. Read through the installation sheets here and I think you’ll see what I mean. (30” frame outside doesn’t give any surface on top of the frame for the upper tower to weld to in the 60″ kit.)

Here is a link to the web store page for the Mustang II:

There are other parts there that you might need, too, and some videos.

The 60-1/2” kit, welded, including freight and sales tax would total C$346.50.  (That’s Canadian Dollars…)

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts for your project.
Paul Horton

 

Dear Welder Series… coil over specs?

Dear Welder Series…
I just purchased a 1950 Chevy 3100 truck where the seller installed WS21906 in the front and WS318500 in the rear of the original frame. I was hoping you could suggested an affordable set of coil overs that would work with this setup. Unfortunately I have no idea as to what I should be looking for in terms of the stroke, lengths, dampening, etc.. Thank you.

Yuchol

Dear Yuchol…
Congratulations on your new project! These are great looking trucks.

I suggest blocking the truck at ride height to establish coil-over ride height.

If the upper mounts for the front shocks have been installed, the ride height for the coil-overs will be the center-to-center distance between the mounting holes on the lower arms and the brackets. If the frame plates have not been installed, click here for the manual…pages 2 and 13 will help.

If the rear crossmember has been installed to mount the top of the coil-overs, the truck’s ride height you have chosen with the mock-up will give you the coil-over ride height. If there isn’t yet a place to mount the top of the coil-over, please consider the crossmember

 

The coil-over mounting angle is discussed here. The coil-over ride height can be determined when you mock up the crossmember and mounting points.

Regarding the coil-over stroke, generally longer is better as it will offer more suspension travel. Other factors or interference points also come into play. Viking, RideTech and other North American companies make quality coil-overs.

I hope this helps with your decisions.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series…
Thank you so much!

Yuchol

Dear Welder Series… thru frame tie rod end mount on the rear?

Dear Welder Series…
I have a question concerning your thru frame hair pin mounts. Have you ever seen them used on rear radius rods with a single front mount?

Dear Steve…
Hi, Steve.  I haven’t seen them used in that type of rear suspension.  But I believe our through-frame mount would be stronger than any other tie rod end mount.  The amount of support for the tapered stud, from the large area of the tapered stud to the button head is 2”, so actually wider than for any tapered hole bracket.

I hope this answers your question, but please expand on it if I missed your point.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… What Steel Should I Use?

Dear Welder Series…
Hello,
I have a 1957 Chevy Pickup that I need to get running before another baby comes in June 2018. One of the things I need to do is put a new chassis under it. Someone did a Camaro front clip on it before I bought it, and after doing some research and talking to people about it, and taking multiple measurements, I do not feel confident in how the clip was done. I actually have a brand new (covered in dust) Mustang II kit from a local company in Ontario, California sitting in the shed, problem is I need new rails to attach it too.

What type of steel would you recommend for making new rails out of? I have read a lot of resources that say “mild steel” but I am looking for more specifics like A-36 plate or A1011 Grade XX pickled and oiled, or perhaps some other awesome stuff I don’t even know about.

I know it is probably a dumb question because in essence, helping me does nothing or very little for you. Regardless, I appreciate it and hope you will consider getting back to me.

Thank you,
David

Dear David…
Hi, David.
The tubing for this is called Hollow Structural Section (HSS tubing). Specific info is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_structural_section. 2×5, 1/8” or 3/16″ wall will work well.

We suggest a 60” track width for the ’57 Chev pickup. You might want to confirm that the kit you have is going to give you that track width. If the lower control arms are stock length, the crossmember pivot holes should be 26-1/4” center-to-center.
I hope this info helps. Thanks for thinking of Welder Series.
Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series…four bar bars – do they need jam nuts?

Dear Welder Series…
I have a couple questions about your 4 link kit. With the adjuster just on one end, wouldn’t it be best to just forget the jam nut? With a rubber boot to keep the dirt out, wouldn’t this let the bar “twist” and prevent binding? I’d have thought that the nut would work loose anyway as the adjuster attempted to loosen or tighten when you go over a bump with one wheel.

Also, I assume your adjusters and bars are a mild steel. How do I stop them from rusting after welding? Do you recommend plating? I would paint the bars etc but I’m unsure about the threaded portions.

Thanks
Miles

Dear Miles…
Hi, Miles. For street use, the bushings have enough elasticity to absorb the twist and not loosen the jam nuts. Even lubricated, it’s likely that the threads in the mild steel bars and adjuster studs would wear and either fail or have to be replaced periodically.

Thread the adjusters into the bars without the jam nuts to keep the threads clean, or just mask off the portion of the thread that will go into the bar.

Thanks for your interest in Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… 1953 Buick Mustang II?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi! I’m building a 53 Buick Special in Memphis and was looking for some info on Mustang 2 IFS. I’d like to build my own setup but not really sure where to begin! Any info would be greatly appreciated and any parts to get me going I would definitely purchase! Thanks for your time!

Dear Mustang II In Memphis…
Thanks for looking at the Welder Series site and asking about our parts for your project.  

The easiest way (and it’s not easy…) is to cut off the stock frame at the firewall and use rectangular tubing as new front frame rails. The Mustang II crossmember and towers will mount to them. It will be necessary to fab mounts to support the rad (cradle) and front end sheet metal. There are several pictures on our website where builders have done this. See them at:

We want to help you enjoy this build.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… center section for 67-72 C10?

Dear Welder Series…
Any idea whether the center section will work with a 67-72 C10, and do any of the trans mounts fit a 4L80E?

Thanks,
Russ

Dear Russ…
Thanks for this note, Russell.  

Could you give me your frame’s outside and inside widths (driver’s side to passenger’s side) at the transmission insulator?  

…and the frame rail channel height at that point? (The actual frame size, not the height from the ground.)

I’ll see how the center section looks in those dimensions and get back to you.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series…
Thanks Paul,

I’ve got the following:

Outside frame rail width:  34-1/8″
Inside frame rail top:  29.5″
Inside frame rail bottom:  29″
Frame rail height:  6″

Dear Russ…
The center section will be snug but fine if the rails are boxed corner-to-corner off of the upper flange. If the plates are “step boxed” it will give extra space for a frame mounted booster.

This is based on how the curved lower tubes transition to the boxing plates.

I hope this info helps with your planning.

Paul

Dear Welder Series… Sway Bar Install – 32 Ford

Dear Welder Series…
Attached are pictures of my plan for the Welder Series rear sway bar kit that I am installing on my ’32 Ford project. At this time it is tacked in place and I think it will work as I hope. I still need to tweak the positioning. I ran the bar through the square tube crossmember and the arms ended up directly over the rear axle. Also you can see the Welder Series exhaust hangers near the transmission tail housing and one behind the pipe passing over the rear axle. These are the parts that I recently ordered from you.

The bar runs through the square tube crossmember.
Our exhaust hangers were used as well.

New Testimonials

Over the weekend, I received a few emails from some happy customers, which is always nice!

Regarding our sway bar kit:

Just a note to advise that the Welders Series universal swaybar kit I installed some months back , may well have saved our lives .

We were traveling on Saturday , cty rd 10 , outside of Hanover , coming back to our motel  from the Jamup show , 60 mph , when an unknown vehicle turned  left in front of us    “right now “,,,,, quick reaction hard crank to left ,brakes on hard ,  missed them , then hard crank to the right , missed the oncoming pickup truck ,,,,,, all over in the blink of an eye ,,,, NO QUESTION  that the rear sway-bar kept body roll to a minimum , and allowed us to retain control ,,,,this would have been a major bodily injury , or fatality for Barb or I ,,,,,,,,and on my 75th birthday ,,,,, one can only thank God for his mercy’s ,,,and Horton folks for quality products … jp

And this note regarding a set of Buick “baby” nailhead engine mounts:

Paul,

Thanks so much for building the engine mounts for my 322 Buick engine. I received them last week, and they look great, the bolts align perfectly. I don’t have them bolted to the engine yet, because it is still in the run stand. (having some cam and lifter problems) When I get it out of the stand and ready to go into the chassis I will take some photos. I hope you can market these to some other folks, they are getting to be popular for rods.

Larry

…and this complementary note:

Good Morning!

                I received my order in good condition on Thursday 18 Aug 16. It was opened and inspected today (19 Aug) and I discovered 3 (!) catalogs with a date of 14 Jun 16. 1st reaction was: “Well now! Wonder what’s up with this??”  Reading the information gave the answer; One copy will go in a binder of some sort and the others will go to friends. Thank you.

                I placed an order for a couple small pieces that looked good to finish an engine swap in my IHC S-120 4×4 pickup: I needed to adapt a Speedway 8” drop engine swap crossmember for use as a transmission mount  instead. The tranny mount and the reinforcement tabs I received look like they will be more than adequate for this. I’ll know more by Wednesday 24 Aug 16; if I have issues, I’ll let you know.  

                I appreciate that you have the various pieces of your kits pictured within the catalog. One of the issues with the above mentioned pickup, is that the power steering that was added by a previous owner can’t be added easily to the Chevy 250-6 (that’s going in) without a rather expensive aftermarket  NOS bracket, and then I’d need to tweak that to suit. The PO made a pretty good bracket to mount the steering pump to the right side of the original IHC engine, and to move it to the other side of the Chevy engine with the NOS bracket would involve considerable work.  Having the kit bits pictured in very nearly actual size has made it possible to match several of the frame bracket bits to the available accessory mounts on the front right of the Chevy engine.   I hadn’t expected the boon of having pictures to match to the necessary accessory bolt holes, but I thank you for the forethought to include pictures in your catalog!!  Treat others as you would like to be treated, indeed!

                My guess is, at some point one of you said, probably in passing, “It sure would’ve been nice to have a picture of this piece before I bought it! Now I have to either eat this or send it back! Man! What a hassle!” And one thing led to another…

                 I thank you very much indeed for the pieces I have; more are likely to be ordered as I find things, that need your kit bits to fix, on the old Binder.

                                 Mike

Thanks very much for taking the time to write. We’ve always had great customers, and will continue to look after you as we would like to be looked after.

Worth Repeating

I honestly can’t remember if I posted these pictures yet, but I was going through flagged emails tonight and I know exactly why this one was flagged.

D&D Rod & Custom in Church Hill TN do really, really clean work. They narrowed one of our Mustang II crossmember kits for this 1950 Mercedes frame, and used an assortment of other Welder Series pieces. I like the little tab on the engine mount plate which mounts the lower tab of the alternator. Also, check out their frame table… see the two pieces of C channel welded back to back with a few spacers between them? From what I can gather, a bolt slides in the space between the channels, and tightens on a plate top and bottom. Simple way to adjust the width of the uprights! Clever fellas.

Excellent work, guys!
Welder Series four link.
Narrowed Mustang II coil spring kit.
Clean and simple engine mount with alternator tab built in.

Dear Welder Series… stock Mustang II control arms?

Dear Welder Series…
Bought a mustang 2 crossmember kit that takes coil overs last year from your website… Wondering if the mustang 2 stock control arms ( upper and lower) will work….

Dear James…
They will, but it might be hard to find coil-overs that will fit the lower arms, the upper mounts and clear the stamped upper arms.  

The lower arms require a coil-over with a fairly high lower spring seat to clear the stamping. The lower coil-over mount will need some spacers to make up the inside dimension of the arm. The hole in the stock lower arm takes a 7/16” bolt, so it would have to be opened up to the size of the coil-over lower hole.

Our coil-over kit upper mounts are for conventional-style coil-overs that have an “eye” top mount. When you order coil-overs for the stock lower arms, the person filling that order will think you need a coil-over with an upper mount like the stock MII shock, which can be thought of as a threaded extension of the shock shaft. The hardware in our kit is 1/2”, so you should be sure the coil-over upper is for a 1/2” bolt.

The stamped stock uppers are bulkier than tubular ones around the ball joint and I’m not certain that they will clear the coil-over spring when the ball joint is in a low position (as when the frame goes up).

Seemed like a simple question but there is a more involved answer. I hope this helps.

Paul

Dear Paul…
Ok thanks for the fast reply. So I guess I should use tubular control arms… Should I use narrowed ones or the regular ones? As for coil overs what do you recommend to use or brand to go for? And lastly for power rack and pinion, can I use a 78 mustang 2 or is there one you recommend to use with your crossmember?

If I would’ve gotten the other crossmember instead of the coilover ones…  The stock control arms would’ve worked?

Please email me back on to what control arms, power rack, and coil overs i should use for my truck…  

Lastly, I’m driving to Ontario in a few months for a few weeks and visit the folks, I was wondering if I can drop by your shop and drop off a running board bracket to be remanufactured ( I would need 6) and I’m planning to buy a 4 link but don’t exactly know where to start. Would you be able to give me quotes for the bracket?

Thanks a million Paul.

Dear James…
James, the tube arms are more money, but maybe not much more when you add the strut rods, bushing, and gussets. The ride with the tube A-arms will be much smoother. I’ve had both on our ’40 Ford and was amazed at the improvement from a good ride to a great ride. Stock or narrowed arms depend on the brake kit. 

I don’t think it matters whose North American made control arms you use. The ’78 power rack you ask about will be fine. If you have to source one, it will be easier to find a ’79 and newer Fox body power rack. Regarding coil-overs, I suggest you check with Canadian street rod shops to see what their policy is regarding spring exchange, if required. It will be easier to change springs when dealing with a Canadian company rather than with US and Canada Customs. I realize these are general answers but there are several good companies making and/or selling those parts.

I hope this helps, too. Thanks for asking me.

Paul

Dear Paul…
Thank you for the info good Sir! I will swing by your shop soon enough and planning to pick your brains more than I already have! Thank you again

Dear James…
I realize I did’t answer about the running board bracket. I’d need the bracket for a few days while I do a CAD drawing. Then I can quote it.

I’m not at the shop all day, every day anymore. If I know when you plan to come, I’ll be sure to be there or see if another time would suit.

Paul

Dear Welder Series… 1950 Chev Pickup Mustang II?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi! I have a 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup. I decided that I want to run with the mustang II ifs. I won’t be able to buy everything all at once, so I want to start with the crossmember. I want to run bags, so it will sit on the ground. Can you tell me what crossmember is best? Thank you.

Dear Juan…
If you are planning to use conventional bags, use this version: 

 

The airbag people have mounting brackets to fit in the upper towers.

If you plan to use ShockWaves, use this version:

 

If you click on the product you can view some pictures of airbags being used with this crossmember.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts for your pickup, Juan.

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… four link frame brackets on the outside?

Dear Welder Series… 
We are a local community college automotive collision repair program, we are building a 1968 C10, and would like to install a rear four link suspension. But we are looking to install it on the outside of the frame rails, to make room a fuel tank. Could you help?

Octavio

Dear Octavio…
Octavio, I just now left a message on your voicemail but want to confirm by email.

The rear 4-link can be installed outside the frame rails if you have 4″ clearance between the frame and the tire. One thing to be aware of is that the frame will likely have to be notched for coil-over clearance if the coil-overs are to be mounted at an angle.

We offer a 10% discount to schools using our parts in their projects.

Thanks for looking at Welder Series parts.

Paul Horton