VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Front spring hanger and spindles?

Hello!

I'm Fred and i am restoring a 1938 Master Deluxe Coupe here in Sweden.
The car was in a very poor shape and i have been working on it for about 6 months with positive results.
The car is a Deluxe coupe, but has had the front axle swapped in the distant past for a straight axle.

I have a few questions for the tech's here at vcca chat that i hope you guys can answer:

1. passenger Front spring hanger(front) (the part that is riveted/bolted to the frame): one of the threaded eyes for the bushing bolt is bad, can i trust the suspension with the threaded bushing and bolt + only one threaded hanger-eye?
If not, where can i buy this part? (n/a from fillingstation+chevys40s etc)

2. My passenger spindle might be alittle damaged in the bore, does anyone know where i can buy a new spindle?

3. Spindles: i see tips on using spindles from a 1955 chevy pickup with custom bushings, does anyone know which spindles from which models and years that would fit my car?

Regarding the car itself, it has been suggested to me that it may have somekind of dragrace past, it has the letters "Color me anxious" written on the doors, if anybody knows anything about this car i would be delighted in knowing.

That's it for now, sorry for a long post, hopefully someone knows a few tricks.
/
Fred

Welcome to Chatter
(1) If I am thinking of the right part, the threaded bushes are replacable without removing the rivetted part from the chassis. Replace pins and bushes as a set. I purchased a complete vehicle set from The Filling Station not so long ago. Contact them with your vehicle details including spring width, they are very helpful and know their Chev parts.

(2) I am not sure which spindle has a damaged "bore", all the spindles I know of are solid.

(3) To determine the 1955 swap it will be a csae of comparing measurements unless someone else has previously done the same swap which on this forum is highly unlikely as most of us here are restoring to original.

Tony

Fred
Welcome to VCCA no better place to be for restoring your Chevrolet
The Filling Station have more parts as they show on the on-line catalog. You can better contact them with your request they are very friendly.

Jianis

Hi, thanks for your answers!

It's alittle hard to describe the part.. but here goes:
The front of the front springs are attached to a cast iron piece that is riveted/bolted onto the frame. this piece has two eyes/ends that the large springbolt is threaded through, in the spring iteself there's a threaded bushing.
I have purchased new bolt and bushing, all nice and all good, but the threads in one of the "bolt holes" is bad, ruined threads due to misalignment in the front axle in the past.

Regarding the spindles bore:
The old kingpin bushings were so worn down that i believe that vibrations has expanded the bore in the spindle itself (the upper one) i make this asumption when trying to install new kingpin bushing, it is the same as the old one, yet it wobbles slightly (i am yet to install the kingpin itself)

I will contact fillingstation and ask them for these parts,
Thanks!

/
F

Is this what you're referring to?

Shackle types.

I didn't think that the spring hanger was cast iron but forged steel. If it is steel then it can be welded and machined back to its original shape or bore.

The spring hanger has thread in only one side, correct? Also, doesn't the bolt that goesw through have a nut on the end. I would think this is a redundant design. If the threads are not really bad and the bolt doesn't move around you could use the nut to lock it in place.

I don't know of anybody that installs hardened steel bushings into damaged spindle holes. There was someone on the "Stovebolt.com" that made custom bushings for a worn spindle hole, pressed them in and reamed them out to size.

It sounds like you are not sure which axle you have. Looking the part descriptions up on "Old Chevy Manuals.com" will give you some reference measuremants.

Some forgings and castings have a number on them. These numbers may identify the year of the part. You could post any numbers you find such as numbers found on the I beam axle, spring hangers (may start with FZ-..), shock mounting brackets, steering arm, steering knuckle.

Freddie
I have not seen king pin bushes holes oversized or out of shape. Again (as with shackle pins and bushes) replace pin and bush at the same time. In most cases with early vehicles the replacement bushes are made undersize to the pin and needed to be reamed to fit the pin after fitting to the knuckle (spindle), and are generally sold as a kit.
Tony

I believe the spindle bushings on the 38 straight axle are floating bushings. They go in with finger pressure and there is no reaming involved. This is the same setup that they used on half ton trucks for years. They are free to move in the bore. It is fairly common for the bushing to wear through and damage then occur to the bore of the spindle.

Freddie, I think you mean this leaf spring front hangar

The threads usually get worn down from loose bushing bolts but when you tighten down a new bolt it should be strong. I have repaired end threads with a tap, but if yours is damaged beyond that, you could weld on more metal and tap it.
Mike

Here are a couple of suggestions for your spindle problem. This is a product that some folks have used to fix the problem. Product

Here is a method to repair using other bushings. Replacement Method

I hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Brewskiehunter: yes, that is the part i am talking about.
I will consider re-weld and tap, i tought it was cast, but super that it is forged.

Regardning the spindle, i have a number: 593042GM107
does anyone know if this is the correct spindle for my car?

I have installed a new kingpin kit from fillingstation, the bushings were kind of loose when installed (held in place with grease) but the kingpins themselfes were snug. after pumping in grease they feel alright.

Unfortunately i have a few problems left before hitting the road, front shock absorbers axlemounting being my main concern right now.

Again: thank you everyone.
/
Fred

If the thread is damaged,you could always drill the threaded hole oversize,machine up a steel sleeve,weld it in and re-tap the thread again.