afx Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Thanks, guys. I ordered some p/e frets from Dirt Modeler with the hope that some of the brackets would replace the now-removed molded in axle housing brackets, and it turns out some of the Lenco trans mount brackets were a near perfect fit. Plus, the brackets already have a perfectly sized and centered hole pre-drilled for the mounting bolt, making assembly much easier, too: Nice work Casey. What adhesive did you use to attached the brackets? I would like to try these but with such little bonding surface I am concerned they would snap right off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 What adhesive did you use to attached the brackets? I would like to try these but with such little bonding surface I am concerned they would snap right off. I used superglue with some accelerator, and it seems to be holding up fine. I was a bit concerned about stability, too, but once cured, everything is very solid. I also cut a very shallow groove/slot in the axle housing with a p/e saw blade for each bracket to sit in, so not sure how much, if at all, that helped. I considered epoxy, too, but didn't have any on hand. I guess the risk of breaking off is always present when using something this thin and small, but I wiggled each tab after the superglue was cured and they feel secure enough to proceed to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Very interesting project. You've some excellent work in on it. David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) I finally finished up the front springs' rear shackle mounts, then test fit the leaf spring and shackle on each side. I had to add some shims to make the fit between the springs' rear eyes and the shackle bracket a bit more snug, so we'll see how it looks once there's some primer on everything. I added an initial piece of brass u-channel for bracing, but I still want to beef up the bracing a bit. For now, here's where it's at: The next step is to fine tune the front leaf spring brackets, then on to fitting the front axle. Edited February 4, 2022 by Casey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gino Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 wow , incredible work sir ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petetrucker07 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Springs look great. Nice to see this back on your bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Same here, glad to see it back on the bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 (edited) Well, the rear shackle bracket didn't work out as well as I had hoped they would, so they were removed and the frame rails smoothed in preparation for new brackets...hopefully the third time's the charm. It's kind of a funky area as the the frame rails are closer together at the rear mounts than they are at the front mounts, so some type of offset would be necessary to keep them parallel. After lots of measuring and calculating (yes, math!), I think I came up with a solution, so we'll see how that works out in a few days. The good news is the rear shackles and bolts can still be used, and no offset will be necessary for the shackles. There's enough vertical room to work with, due to the angle of the shackles, so the front and rear leaf spring eyes should remain close to parallel. The frame rails were marked where the leaf's eye lines up, and you can see where I plugged an old hole next to the mark with some styrene tubing and rod. The new rear shackle bracket will cover the plug, and the pivot point will now be below the frame rail, so offset and clearance are no longer a complicating issue. Thanks for the nudge, Joe. Edited March 4, 2018 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chariots of Fire Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 That's some nice work, Casey! I have made brass springs before and it time consuming but very rewarding in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Glad to see you're back on this one, Casey. Extremely interesting project and your construction commentary is very informative. I see that you're using threaded bolts for the shackles. Sorry if I missed this in previous posts; but, what size are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towman1271 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Sometimes walking away makes it go together smoother in the end.. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landman Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercuryman54 Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 Casey, That's some fine work you have going on here!!! You keep building and I'll keep watching!! Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Very nice work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Most Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Nice to see this one back in action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 (edited) On 3/4/2018 at 10:54 AM, SfanGoch said: Glad to see you're back on this one, Casey. Extremely interesting project and your construction commentary is very informative. I see that you're using threaded bolts for the shackles. Sorry if I missed this in previous posts; but, what size are they? .6mm x 4mm: Edited March 5, 2018 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dieselhead Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Man this is cool. I'm loving all the fabrication and problem-solving involved, this is a really unique project! I wish you luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngtiger1 Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Very nice project and great attention to detail ?? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 On 3/5/2018 at 1:13 PM, Dieselhead said: I wish you luck with it. Thanks, I will probably need some at some point. Well, the third try at making the rear shackle brackets didn't work out, but the fourth try did. I probably should've used brass from the start, but hindsight and all. I got some pieces of 1/8" and 1/4" brass strip and various small pieces of tubing together after sketching up a design, then went about cutting, filing, and soldering until I was satisfied with the brackets. Nothing fancy here, but a third hand hold-down is pretty much necessary when working with a hot micro torch and pieces this small, especially it you want accurate positioning when soldering. Here are a few pics of the brackets, from immediately after soldering the piece together to final installation on the frame rails: I will eventually add some rivet detail to "attach" the brackets to the frame rails, but technically they are already permanently attached with superglue. The leaf springs and shackles were test fit once again to check alignment and fit, and while the left (foreground) shackle angle is good, the right side is a bit too vertical, so I will tweak the rear spring eye a bit to flatten the end of the spring out: Glad to be done and past this step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landman Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Lovely craftsmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) Test fitting the front axle to the leaf springs confirmed the slight taper from back-to-front previous measuring foretold, so I'm going to make new front spring brackets to ensure the springs will be truly parallel. New brass brackets will better match the rear brackets and keep things a bit more cohesive overall, plus it will provide a tighter bracket to front spring eye union. The existing plastic brackets were never ideal, so now is the time to improve them. Here's how things look with the axle resting in place: You can see the small gaps between the brackets and sides of the front spring eyes above, and the brackets are overly thick, too, so replacing them should correct both issues. Below is a test fit with the turbine engine and (Allison?) transmission in place, showing the axle just clears the bottom of the engine. Clearance might be even tighter once the axle is fully seated on the springs, but I'll deal with that when I set the final ride height: In the side view of the left leaf spring below you can see how the 4mm bolt barely passes through the bracket, which was also a problem needing correction, and again, something which will be corrected with new, thinner brackets: I added Tichy Train Group's .05" diameter rivet heads to the rear leaf spring brackets and where the frame cross members meet the frame rails, like so: Edited March 8, 2018 by Casey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Some awesome scratch building going on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89AKurt Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 I have never seen that turbine engine before, very interesting...... The leaf spring tutorial is appreciated. I have a project that should get this treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 After more measuring (what did I ever do before I owned a dial caliper?), cutting, bending and sanding, I managed to end up with two front leaf spring brackets which fit both the frame rails and leaf spring eyes properly, so with that step complete, I will move on to cleaning up both brackets a bit more and drilling holes for the rivets and spring eye bolts. The springs seem to be even and parallel with each other, but there's still some room left to adjust them if needed. Here's how things look now: A "third hand" soldering tool is one of the most helpful things I've purchased since I started soldering more often, and a tool I'd highly recommend to anyone else doing the same...your finger tips will thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.e0420fe52e683c60d19e843462316523.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.