I am going to start building a T from Spirit. T's have been a favorite of mine since I first heard, and show real ones back in the 60's. I have done allot of different gearhead things in my life, and find that now I have the resources to do it. I can weld, and fix most anything. I have restored a 1966 BSA motorcycle, and I built a two person personal water craft from the very start at one 2x4 for the beginning spar. I should start with the crate engine(have built before) but just want to not make this a many year project. The engine will be here Mon. the 20th Nov. 06, and GearStar tranny later in the week, the t-kit was supposed to be here by yesterday. :drool:
T-Bucket
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welcome to the board :welcome:
Welcome to the site lanceks1. :welcome: Lots of info and opinions here. To get the most out of the site check out the Knowledge Base and use the search function for quick answers to your questions. As well check out the Project Journals for info and inspiration. Glad to have you here and enjoy the site.
Without trying to worry you I think you might want to check with them Monday as they just lost there website and domain name last week. Maybe somebody forgot to make a payment or?
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Without trying to worry you I think you might want to check with them Monday as they just lost there website and domain name last week. Maybe somebody forgot to make a payment or?
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Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote
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Welcome................................................. :welcome:
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507 Posts
The phone number at Spirit Industries still works and is answered as of this time and date. I have dealt with them several times in the past and have not had problems. They should have provided a tracking number to you so you can check the in-transit status of your order. I believe they used to use Watkins Truck Lines for shipping kit orders.
What kit / parts / components did you order?
What kit / parts / components did you order?
Thanks
Thank all you,
The Spirit web as on now, I talked to them last Wed. and the said the person server has fixed it. I will call very first thing Monday. I am always amazed at how much informant one can see on a forum of very giving people. There is always plenty of challenges on any project, thats what I welcome, and with all your help, it will truly be a very satisfying. Thanks again..
Thank all you,
The Spirit web as on now, I talked to them last Wed. and the said the person server has fixed it. I will call very first thing Monday. I am always amazed at how much informant one can see on a forum of very giving people. There is always plenty of challenges on any project, thats what I welcome, and with all your help, it will truly be a very satisfying. Thanks again..
The Kit
I ordered everything except the engine,trans, and wheels in person Oct 20,06 at there new shop. Everyone was very helpfull, and forthcoming that day, so I don't think there is anything to worry about. They have said that they are so busy they are six weeks behind on schedule. They said at that time "two to four weeks" delivery for my order. So next week would be fine, hopefully if that happens. I have much more patience these days, I have waited forty or so years to get this far.. :drool:
I ordered everything except the engine,trans, and wheels in person Oct 20,06 at there new shop. Everyone was very helpfull, and forthcoming that day, so I don't think there is anything to worry about. They have said that they are so busy they are six weeks behind on schedule. They said at that time "two to four weeks" delivery for my order. So next week would be fine, hopefully if that happens. I have much more patience these days, I have waited forty or so years to get this far.. :drool:
Sprit
I have used three Sprit bodies ( I build most everything else) and my son has just ordered another one last last week. These cars are pretty simple to build as it is up to you on how far you what to go. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Randall
I have used three Sprit bodies ( I build most everything else) and my son has just ordered another one last last week. These cars are pretty simple to build as it is up to you on how far you what to go. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Randall
I was looking at your build in your journal this morning. Looks like you are moving along very well and are doing a very nice job.
I did notice something that you might want to check out.
It appears that you have the adjustable pressure regulator installed in your FRONT brake line. See your photo below.
The regulator is usually used to balance the braking force between the front and rear brakes so that the rear brakes do not lock up first. Since the front brakes do most of the braking because of weight transfer, the regulator should be installed in the REAR brake line.
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I did notice something that you might want to check out.
It appears that you have the adjustable pressure regulator installed in your FRONT brake line. See your photo below.
The regulator is usually used to balance the braking force between the front and rear brakes so that the rear brakes do not lock up first. Since the front brakes do most of the braking because of weight transfer, the regulator should be installed in the REAR brake line.
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I've also purchased some products from Spirit. Spirit does not have an assembly manual, but they do offer a CD that has a couple hundred photos of one of their kits being assembled. Their photos do show the proportioning valve installed in the front line. I've always thought that a bit strange, UNLESS you were using the very narrow 'bicycle' type front wheels and tires. This is not the case in Lance's project. I agree that the proportioning valve should be on the rear line. When I plumbed my chassis, I considered putting a proportioning valve on both the front and rear so I could have the option later on of using the narrow tires up front or switch later to something a little more beefy up front (one or the other valve could be partially closed, but not both). Turns out I never used the narrow tires and the rear valve was all I needed for my current setup.
The thing that caught my eye in the photo is the brake actuator push rod. Specifically the bend in it. It sure looks beefy enough so you wouldn't have to worry about a 'collapse' in the bends. However, the offset in the rod will produce a vector that does not allow all of the force at the pedal to be transferred to the booster. Also, assuming that the ends of the rod are parallel to each other with the offset achieved through a kind of lazy 'S' bend, this will produce a side loading of the rod as it enters the booster. This may not be a big deal because of the power assist.
I had the somewhat the same issue with my manual brake setup - the brake push rod from the pedal did not enter the master cylinder exactly in line with the MC's bore. I rigged a trial setup using much the same principle as Lance did, and found that even though the push rod entered the MC at the same angle as the bore, the side loading caused when putting pressure on the rod caused the piston actuating mechanism to not operate smoothly - sometimes you could feel a faint 'catch' in the pedal. I fixed the problem by machining a full span plate shim for the MC mount that changed the mounting angle by the 4 degrees needed to allow the use of a straight push rod entering the MC straight down the bore. My .02.
A great looking project, Lance.
The thing that caught my eye in the photo is the brake actuator push rod. Specifically the bend in it. It sure looks beefy enough so you wouldn't have to worry about a 'collapse' in the bends. However, the offset in the rod will produce a vector that does not allow all of the force at the pedal to be transferred to the booster. Also, assuming that the ends of the rod are parallel to each other with the offset achieved through a kind of lazy 'S' bend, this will produce a side loading of the rod as it enters the booster. This may not be a big deal because of the power assist.
I had the somewhat the same issue with my manual brake setup - the brake push rod from the pedal did not enter the master cylinder exactly in line with the MC's bore. I rigged a trial setup using much the same principle as Lance did, and found that even though the push rod entered the MC at the same angle as the bore, the side loading caused when putting pressure on the rod caused the piston actuating mechanism to not operate smoothly - sometimes you could feel a faint 'catch' in the pedal. I fixed the problem by machining a full span plate shim for the MC mount that changed the mounting angle by the 4 degrees needed to allow the use of a straight push rod entering the MC straight down the bore. My .02.
A great looking project, Lance.
That ol' Proportioning Valve
When I installed the brake lines, I thought the same thing. Turn down the rear brakes to stop the skid. So I re-confirmed with Bob at Spirit after looking at the build CD. He said, and still maintains that" Our cars require that the front brakes be reduced to stop the front end from pushing". I am not an expert on brakes, but I have driven commercially over a million miles, and I do have my opinions. Maybe using 4 wheel discs makes a difference. So far my car seems to stop just fine, I have to go with Spirit, they seem to know a lot about their cars. I can replumb very easily, if necessary. Thank for the tip about push rod angle, I will keep an eye on that.
When I installed the brake lines, I thought the same thing. Turn down the rear brakes to stop the skid. So I re-confirmed with Bob at Spirit after looking at the build CD. He said, and still maintains that" Our cars require that the front brakes be reduced to stop the front end from pushing". I am not an expert on brakes, but I have driven commercially over a million miles, and I do have my opinions. Maybe using 4 wheel discs makes a difference. So far my car seems to stop just fine, I have to go with Spirit, they seem to know a lot about their cars. I can replumb very easily, if necessary. Thank for the tip about push rod angle, I will keep an eye on that.
Thanks for responding.lanceks1 said:When I installed the brake lines, I thought the same thing. Turn down the rear brakes to stop the skid. So I re-confirmed with Bob at Spirit after looking at the build CD. He said, and still maintains that" Our cars require that the front brakes be reduced to stop the front end from pushing". I am not an expert on brakes, but I have driven commercially over a million miles, and I do have my opinions. Maybe using 4 wheel discs makes a difference. So far my car seems to stop just fine, I have to go with Spirit, they seem to know a lot about their cars. I can replumb very easily, if necessary. Thank for the tip about push rod angle, I will keep an eye on that.
I am running 4 wheel disc brakes on my Model 'A' coupe and have the adjustable proportioning valve plumbed into the rear lines. I have not reached the point where I can start and drive the car to test the brakes as of this time.
You stated that your brakes seem to stop fine. This is good. A good test is to apply the brakes on a wet surface from about 35 MPH. This will show whether the rear or front brakes are locking up first. Do not do this on a road with any other traffic on (obviously).
Your wiring looks good! :thumbup:
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Brake testing
When testing your brakes for dynamic front/rear pressure adjustment or just for general function, do NOT use public streets.
Use a parking lot at a local stadium, ball field, shopping center, school during non-business hours. If no non-traffic area is available, another option is the streets of a non-yet occupied subdivision or apartment complex or a nearby paved dead end street in a business area.
Be smart. Don't go doing donuts and skidding around and doing burnouts. They don't want rubber tracks all over the place like some hillbilly honky-tonk.
When testing your brakes for dynamic front/rear pressure adjustment or just for general function, do NOT use public streets.
Use a parking lot at a local stadium, ball field, shopping center, school during non-business hours. If no non-traffic area is available, another option is the streets of a non-yet occupied subdivision or apartment complex or a nearby paved dead end street in a business area.
Be smart. Don't go doing donuts and skidding around and doing burnouts. They don't want rubber tracks all over the place like some hillbilly honky-tonk.
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1 Posts
front brakes
a t-bucket with no front brakes had a drag car long ago with only rear brakes..how about that on a t bucket?
a t-bucket with no front brakes had a drag car long ago with only rear brakes..how about that on a t bucket?
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Hey Dan, this thread is about 10 years old. Don't worry I've answered old ones too. Who knows maybe someone might be helped anyway.
Hey it's nice to have you here.
454 RATTLER
Hey it's nice to have you here.
454 RATTLER
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