aa-fords.com

After removing the torque tube and disassembling the gear, bearing and race, the one the South Shore Bearing sent me must be for the car and not the AA, it was too small. I returned it. Fortunately, The bearing was not the problem, I had a bad U joint at the tail end of the connecting shaft. The front U joint at the transmission was worn, but serviceable. The original seal is much narrower than the original seal behind the front bearing, so I am going to put two of them in to make up for the thinness of the replacement seal. I am glad i did this because I found that the engine was sitting too low in the rear and that in turn caused the front U joint to rub on the tube and connecting flange. Shimming the engine up about 1 - 1 1/2" puts everything in alignment. The front of the tube and the bell flange were damaged, so i found a used set of flanges and the tube. I hired a shop to help me with this since this is my first time working with a torque tube. Between the shop owner, my son and me, we were able to get it apart and with any luck, we should be able to get it reassembled and back on the road. I think the key to the problem is grease. Pack those U joints and the bearing with lots of grease and keep them full. This should eliminate any premature wear on the parts. Thank you to everyone who helped me with this.

I think if you need to shim the engine up 1-1 1/2" you have a major problem someplace, sagging frame maybe.

Bob

cokefirst wrote: ↑

March 8th, 2020, 5:10 pm

I found that the engine was sitting too low in the rear and that in turn caused the front U joint to rub on the tube and connecting flange. Shimming the engine up about 1 - 1 1/2" puts everything in alignment.

What year is your AA?

The engine will be in the correct location at the rear if you are using AA rear engine supports. Using A chassis rear engine supports will result in the engine being too low by about 1". See https://aafords.com/aa-chassis/aa-5000- ... ckets/#ers

I bought this truck about 40 years ago. It was an absolute mess. It probably should have been sold for parts or gone to the crusher. I had a good Model A guy in my area do the initial restoration and if you saw the difference, you would think he was a magician. I am assuming that it always had the wrong rear engine mounts because the pedals have always been low and the metal plate and felt seals around the pedals and steering column would not work because the pedals were too low. I removed the body from the frame for a refresh and to locate and correct the VIN number since it has a funky title based on a non model A stamping on the engine. the engine was replaced when I had a shop put in one with insert bearings. The VIN is still not correct but that is a LONG involved story. In any case, I replaced the mounts with the float a motor ones in the rear which I assume are also passenger car mounts so I will shim it until the pedals are in alignment and I can use the metal plate around the steering column and pedals and I should be good. Thank you to everyone who has helped me. I am still learning.

Just an update to this post. I checked the rear engine mounts I took off and they are the AA mounts. When I removed the body, the frame had no apparent bend so I am not sure why the engine sat too low in the rear. It was this way when I purchased this back in 1979, It hasn't gotten any worse and it seems to drive fine. I am going to shim the rear of the engine up and not worry about it. My next project is going through the brakes. I know I will have questions about that also. Stay tuned!

Thank you to everyone for the great information. Thanks to Model A guy Al Zannino, Bud Valerius. and Morris Eddy I was able to fix the speedometer problem, adjust my engine, and repair the drive line of my 1931 AA. We spent the day today reassembling the drive line and took the old gal out for a 15 mile spin. Nice to have the old girl running again!