I started the reassembly of the front suspension.

Over the past week or so I had removed the gravel shield and steering box and have been cleaning and renewing the front assembly parts.  Both tie rod ends have been cleaned as well as the tie rod shaft.  Removing the protective coating of grime has been a difficult task.  I am saving some parts like the gravel shields for the Hot Tank at our local Napa store.  Also I cleaned as much of the wheel well as needed and painted it with flat black rust-oleum.  With this work completed I started to reassemble the driver's side suspension.

I lightly honed the frame shackle holes to clear them of any burs.  I used a large 'C' clamp to press the Teflon Bushing into place.



Below is a picture of the shackle setup without the locking nuts.  I added washers to keep the shackle ends from scraping against the spring and frame support.



I installed the Steering Box, New Leaf Spring, Bumper, reassembled the Drag Link, New Grease fittings and greased everything.  I am very happy with the end result.



I also spent some time on the passenger side spring now that the Driver's side is completed.  The passenger side was in really bad shape.  The top leaf had been broken and was welded.  I can't believe I was ridding around with this spring in this condition.



BTW, The passenger side leaf spring had a different shackle setup.  It had a metal bushing with a screw in center pivot shaft that the shackle ends connected to.  Definitely a much better shackle than the Tryon Shackle.  I believe the different shackle and welded top leaf happened quite awhile ago.  With all the grime on the leaf spring you couldn't notice that a half leaf was added to facilitate the broken front spring eyelet.   

Chet...

Thanks Frank, I have been talking with Bob.

UPDATE:

Bob doesn't have any more and L&L appears to be out of business.

Quote from: racertb on November 27, 2016, 02:41:42 PM
Chet, mine look the same, but do not have any exposed screw heads.

Thanks Ted, I think the gentleman who sent me this picture used these moldings on a wood running board.  If you don't have the original metal.., wood is an easy replacement.  I have been looking for original running boards since 2006.  So far no luck.  But these moldings might be a good find if I can still buy them ?

Chet...

My car did not have any of the original running boards or molding parts. 

Are the running board moldings pictured below correct for a 1929 Plymouth.  These are reproductions.

Quote from: frankp on November 26, 2016, 12:40:31 PM
Chet,

I finally received my new title today reading 1929!  They even included a copy of page 1157 of a book(?) that states the serial numbers, FEDCO, of 1929 cars.   I'm astounded.  I wish I knew the title of this book containing this information.      frank

Hi Frank,  I wish you know the name of that book, even though it probably wouldn't help me very much.  My FEDCO number is very hard to read so having the book would not help in my situation.  I guess I could have pressed them more but gave in to the bureaucracy.  For now I have accepted the situation and moved on.

Chet...

Nice Ted, you captured the exact striping from the Factory picture.   

Quote from: Crazydave on November 19, 2016, 12:17:47 PM
Good stuff Chet!
I already see items I will be referencing with my slow progress on my project.
Interested in the wiring harness source and price. It is something I need to get done.

I have not ordered from them but check out this link: 
http://www.harnessesunlimited.com/new%20forms/plymouth%20web%20page.pdf

Website:   http://www.harnessesunlimited.com/

OLD:



NEW:



Hopefully the car will sit and ride evenly again.  Well see....

PS... Frank, Yes new horn wire a must.  Also; I plan to order a new reproduction wire harness for the car.

Frank Your memory is excellent.  Everything worked out as you mentioned in your post:

I removed the bottom gravel pan and the switch assembly as well as all the clamps.  The cap and levers came out with just a little persuasion.  I also removed the Steering Gear Box.  Well for now I have a lot of parts to clean up.  The springs are on their way and Then & Now made new spring bumpers for me.  Plymouth Part# 43281

Maybe I'll be at this point in a year or two or three !!!  Chet...

Since I am working on the steering linkage.., the roof is off my car.., my wooden steering wheel is broken and in need of removal and repair, here is what I am thinking about doing.

First;  Removing the steering wheel without damaging the steering wheel cover or control arms and tubes.



I have not done this before and do not want to break these seemingly delicate parts.  My assumption is that the top wood cover is held in place through a long shaft going down to the light switch assembly.  I believe this light switch and associated parts need to be removed before the cover and control tubes can be removed.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom before I tackle this area.

Also:  Since the steering arms cleaned up so nicely I was thinking of removing the entire steering assembly to clean and inspect for wear or damage.  see below...



Many Thanks, Chet...

I continued the work of cleaning and checking the front suspension components.  I spent an entire day working on the Drag Link steering arm.  The crusted grease and road gravel collected over the past 8 decades was not easy to remove.  I worked slowly with a small wood chisel to scrap the accumulated crust off the Drag Link arm.  It took a considerable amount of time before things started to look like something that could be disassembled.

..

As you can see below, persistence always pays off.  The most impressive thing to me was the condition of the tightly bound component parts.  I am sure that this Drag Link has not been disassembled since the manufacture of the car but the component parts were in reasonable shape for the age of this automobile.  I believe when I assemble these parts they should be good for another 80+ years.

..

Thanks John

UPDATE:   Just to be clear:

My goal is always to do no harm to the original components when trying to find a modern day part solution.  
What I mean is..,
I will not modify any original component so that it can not be returned to its historic originality if and when an original part is found. 

My solution for the Tryon Shackle Issue:

After much discussion with various vendors and part restorers I stumbled across a fix that will maintain the historic integrity of my car and I believe also produce a road worthy solution.   I was able to find parts in a trailer store that met the requirements for a reasonable noninvasive fix. 

• 7/8" (0.875") OD to 9/16" ID  -  Teflon spacers.
• 9/16" Shackle Bolt Length 3" with ZERK fitting.
• 1.750" to 2" leaf spring width.
• Shackle Strap 2.250" on Shackle Pin Centers.

The shackle straps are a close match to the remains of the Tryon Shackle Straps.


The total cost of the parts for this fix for both leaf springs was $ 45.54

BTW the Teflon bushings are rated at 4,000 lbs. each.  EATON Detroit Springs are in the process of duplicating my front leaf springs.  The cost is pricey but I believe it will be well worth it.

Once the suspension is brought back to a reasonable and sound condition I will be able to allow the car to rest on its normal suspension and use jacks only to firm up the chassis while I fit the wooden frame and body parts.  This way, when sitting on its normal suspension the stress on the frame parts should be at minimum.  Also once aligned the hope is that it will stay in an aligned state after all the work is completed and the car rests on its normal road worthy suspension.   

Quote from: 29UJohn on November 04, 2016, 09:54:30 PM
Don Kuhn
973-423-1196
Cell: 973-904-0270
81 Grahm Ave
North Haledon, NJ 07508

... The cost was 4225 + $20 S&H, ...

Was there a decimal point in that 4225 number