I went to WCD Garage in Northborough, MA to pick up a 1928 President [edit: 1929 model FH President, s/n 7028315] axle assembly from Bob Munter. I thought I was getting an "axle", but it turned out to be the whole front axle assembly complete with 2 wood-spoke wheels, pressed steel 15" drums and brakes, and two shock absorbers.
It took four of us to roll and tug the thing to my trailer and hump it on board. When I got home, the engine hoist lifted it enough to start taking it apart. One wheel and brake came off easily. The other brake had the shoes rusted to the inside of the drum so I had to dismount the whole thing from the steering knuckle and take it apart from the back side. Even that took two days of grunt labor.
Talk about unsprung weight! When you drove one of those old '29 Presidents, you had better hope you didn't get a flat. The tire and demountable rim weighed about 75 lbs. The tire, rim, and the brake drum came in at 113. Even the backing plate and 3-shoe brake assembly ran 27 lbs. The hub, wood spokes, and inner rim are permanently mounted to the 15" drum. The tire and its outer rim slide onto the inner rim and were retained by 5 plates and big square nuts. This car must have seen some tough days because on one wheel, there was a collection of junk used to hold the wheel on; none of them matched. I don't need these brakes, so if anyone does, let me know.
The axle itself seems in pretty good shape. The steering knuckles and spindles are huge. I haven't weighed the axle itself yet. The king pins seem tight and move easily. All the wheel bearings still had grease and look great, no rust on the spindles. What I actually need now are some hubs [p/n 150922] for wire or disk wheels that fit these spindles. Even back then, Studebaker used 5-on-5 bolt pattern, and I plan to get some Dayton/Rudge wire wheels with knock-off retainers. I'll have to cut off the towers at the outer ends of the axle that held the levers for the rod-actuated brakes, but otherwise, this axle seems to be very like the original Indy cars. The original Indy cars probably used 1929-32 axles with the cable actuated brakes, but I think they were otherwise very similar.
At least it's some progress!
[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/indy/gary_indycar25_vvsm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'32 Indy car replica (in progress)
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com
It took four of us to roll and tug the thing to my trailer and hump it on board. When I got home, the engine hoist lifted it enough to start taking it apart. One wheel and brake came off easily. The other brake had the shoes rusted to the inside of the drum so I had to dismount the whole thing from the steering knuckle and take it apart from the back side. Even that took two days of grunt labor.
Talk about unsprung weight! When you drove one of those old '29 Presidents, you had better hope you didn't get a flat. The tire and demountable rim weighed about 75 lbs. The tire, rim, and the brake drum came in at 113. Even the backing plate and 3-shoe brake assembly ran 27 lbs. The hub, wood spokes, and inner rim are permanently mounted to the 15" drum. The tire and its outer rim slide onto the inner rim and were retained by 5 plates and big square nuts. This car must have seen some tough days because on one wheel, there was a collection of junk used to hold the wheel on; none of them matched. I don't need these brakes, so if anyone does, let me know.
The axle itself seems in pretty good shape. The steering knuckles and spindles are huge. I haven't weighed the axle itself yet. The king pins seem tight and move easily. All the wheel bearings still had grease and look great, no rust on the spindles. What I actually need now are some hubs [p/n 150922] for wire or disk wheels that fit these spindles. Even back then, Studebaker used 5-on-5 bolt pattern, and I plan to get some Dayton/Rudge wire wheels with knock-off retainers. I'll have to cut off the towers at the outer ends of the axle that held the levers for the rod-actuated brakes, but otherwise, this axle seems to be very like the original Indy cars. The original Indy cars probably used 1929-32 axles with the cable actuated brakes, but I think they were otherwise very similar.
At least it's some progress!
[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/indy/gary_indycar25_vvsm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'32 Indy car replica (in progress)
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com
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