47-59 Safer Builds: A reference thread

[1project2many]

We should all be aware that keeping people safe in and an older vehicle really requires the vehicle to be driven safely. Modern engineering includes millions of dollars of research and design dedicated to making sure everyone inside survives an accident. This wasn't the case in the '40s and '50s and it shows in our trucks. We just can't fix many of the inherent issues. But we can try to make improvements designed to reduce the chances a relatively small accident doesn't turn bad.

For example, the original folding seat and many replacement seats before the and '60s don't latch. In a frontal collision the seat back folds forward quickly. This can slam the driver and passengers into the steering wheel or dash. If you're building a stock truck or using this type of seat it's a good idea to design a latch or stop into the seat. Better yeat, use a modern seat that has a positive latch or an inertia latch which will keep the seat back from folding in an accident.

[G&R's57GMC]

Good place to start is seat belts . The backing under the floor should have a large plate of at least 3/16” thick and 3” round or rectangular with no sharp edges contacting the floor sheet metal .
Small window cab : Shoulder belts need the above plus the same behind the upper mount plus the panel fully welded to the rest of the ceiling panels .

Big window : The pillar should reinforced over its entire length with 3/16” plate with a nut welded to it . The entire pillar should be welded with continuous bead on all sides and into the ceiling panels .

“Bear claw” style door latches should be used to prevent the doors from opening in a collision.

Relocating the gas tank out of the cab .

Collapsible steering column and shaft from column to box .

Rear of hood pins to plenum to prevent hood from being pushed through windshield in a collision.

Adding more welds all around the cab to strengthen the entire cab .

Seats with built in belts need the mounting points in the floor reinforced like the seat belts above .

Headrests or higher seat backs . Ya ya just limo tint the back window to hide them .

[MARTINSR]

The hood pins, how could you do that? I have never thought about that, got an idea how to pull that off but what are your thoughts on it?

Brian

[1project2many]

Switching to a dual chamber master cylinder is a good idea. While its true that checking a system over regularly should allow a person to catch many brake issues before they get worse, the dual chamber system splits front and rear brakes so they are supplied by separate parts of the master. A leak in one half does not necessarily disable the other half.

Related to brakes, put more / brighter lighting on the back and move a brake light up to the rear window or top of the bed at the least. Stock stepside brake and tail lights just don't demand attantion like a modern LED light. Even with replacement LED's the stock lights are below the line of vision for many.

[mr48chev]

The hoods aren't an issue on AD trucks as they would go around rather than through the windshield. I'm not sure that is an issue on any Full size Chevy truck up though 87 at least.

Seat mounting and seat belt mounting is a big issue, I've seen some pretty sketchy work on both at times. One was lag screws going though just the floor layer to hold the seat in place on a rig I bought for parts after it was wrecked. It wasn't all that bad of a wreck just bending up the nose where it had hit something in line with the right headlight but the screws were pulled out of the floor. The radiator was in the fan and the frame was tweaked a bit. Great parts donor for what I wanted the parts for though.

I'm not a fan of high backs in old rigs but after the wreck in the GSI that may change. I would have had a severe neck injury if not for that head rest. I think the ones on the seats I plan to use will pop out and could come out at shows where "the look" is a big deal.

Dual piston master cylinders and split brake systems, That is a safety thing. I'd say most everyone on here has had at least one experience with a single mastercylinder rig have brake failure and a story to tell because of it. I was 17 the first time it happened to me and was driving a 55 Nash Metropolitan ragtop. I aimed that little bugger between the back bumper of the car ahead of me and an early 50's Chevy at the curb and got a little scrape on my rear quarter and donated a little bit of green paint to the Chevy's bumper bolt. I got out of town using my emergency brake to stop and taking back streets with no traffic. I promptly pulled all four wheels and rebuilt all four wheel cylinders on it with cups from Napa and my little brother learned how to pump brakes to bleed them. That was one of my lessons in defensive driving that has stuck with me for the past 56 years, always know where your escape route is.

[MiraclePieCo]

I've spent most of my hot-rodding life in Model A's. By comparison my AD is a tank.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

Switching to a dual chamber master cylinder is a good idea. While its true that checking a system over regularly should allow a person to catch many brake issues before they get worse, the dual chamber system splits front and rear brakes so they are supplied by separate parts of the master. A leak in one half does not necessarily disable the other half.

Related to brakes, put more / brighter lighting on the back and move a brake light up to the rear window or top of the bed at the least. Stock stepside brake and tail lights just don't demand attantion like a modern LED light. Even with replacement LED's the stock lights are below the line of vision for many.

I have to say I drove my Rambler for the last 8 years with a single reservoir master cylinder without an issue. But I rebuilt all the brakes, tubing, master, everything in my son's 63 Falcon leaving the single reservoir and I got a call from him that the brakes had failed and he almost crashed! Yeah, I say now that's a simple change, just do it, put the dual master cylinder in, just makes sense.

On the third brake light, that is another thing I added on the Rambler because people today drive by the brake light of the car in front of them, they don't look a friggin foot past the tail lights of the car in front of them, so yes, that light is a good idea.

Adding a reflector to the vintage lights adds a LOT of light. So that alone will make a big difference. I got a couple of broken tail lights from a car at work and pulled them apart and cut up the reflector from behind the lights and put them in the stock tail lights on the Rambler, worked AWESOME!

And I ran regular old 1157 bulbs look at the photos on the link, the LED replacements SUCKED they weren't even close to what I did with the reflectors and the 1157's.

Click on the link to see the "Basics of Basics" on the tail light upgrade.
https://www.hotrodders.com/threads/b.../#post-1510886

Brian

[G&R's57GMC]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

The hood pins, how could you do that? I have never thought about that, got an idea how to pull that off but what are your thoughts on it?

Brian

Fab brackets to mount the pin horizontally and weld to the rear hood crossmember to the outside of the hinge mounting area . Make a hole in the outer upper portion of the cowl , reinforce the area with 1/8" plate that aligns with the pin as the hood closes .

This will not only keep the rear of the hood from the windshield in a collision it will also keep the hood in alignment when closed .

[G&R's57GMC]

Another way to brighten your tail/stop lights is to use Flat White paint on the inside of the housing .

Whats that you say "Wouldn't gloss white or silver or chrome paint work better?"
Actually NO , they don't have the ability to to brighten the light in the housing as much as flat white .

[1project2many]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Fab brackets to mount the pin horizontally and weld to the rear hood crossmember to the outside of the hinge mounting area . Make a hole in the outer upper portion of the cowl , reinforce the area with 1/8" plate that aligns with the pin as the hood closes .

This will not only keep the rear of the hood from the windshield in a collision it will also keep the hood in alignment when closed .

That's a good idea. As a retainer I wonder if cables could be effective. Based on experience with TF trucks the hinge pin is more likely to fail than the bolts. A plate secured between the hinge/hood and hinge/body could provide anchor points for the cable without modifying the body panels.

[dsraven]

brakes:
decide what you want-disc disc, disc-drum, drum/drum, power/manual, stock etc. if it is a numbers matching show car maybe keep the stock master cyl and system if you think it is a necessity. if not, think hard about keeping that old single system master cyl. like said above, 1 leak and you lose everything. along with that a lot of guys feel no need for an emergency or (poorly worded in my opinion) a park brake. if going with a drum brake system on the rear a park brake is an integral part of how the shoes adjust to the drums. without that proper adjustment the brake pedal is required to supply more brake fluid displacement to get the shoes out to the drum BEFORE any brake force is actually applied. sometimes this means the brakes need to be "pumped up". how many times have you heard somebody say "the brakes work good but you gotta pump them up". basically, the adjuster moves the bottom end of the shoes outward to contact, or come close to, the drum. the top part, where they anchor and the wheel cylinder is, is actually adjusted by the park brake adjustment. if no park brake, or a poorly adjusted park brake, then the return springs will bring the shoes all the way back to the anchor so they will be as far away from the drum at that end as they could ever be. that means the wheel cylinders are fully retracted. when the brakes are applied sometimes so much fluid is required to push the shoes out until contact that a second pump of the pedal is needed. remember, loosen the park brake, adjust the star wheel adjuster, then adjust the park brake.
another important thing is to match the master cylinder to the type of system. a disc/drum set up will need a different master cylinder than a drum/drum or a disc disc. drum brakes require a residual valve to keep a small amount of pressure in the system so the sealing cups in the wheel cylinders stay tight against the walls of the cylinders and they don't leak. these valves are usually located in the master cylinder outlet ports. with that in mind it makes sense that a master cyl set up for drum brakes would cause issues with a disc brake set up and a disc brake master would not work well for a drum brake set up. match the master cylinder according to what you are using. master cylinder bore size is also important and a simple thing like using a manual master on a power brake set up could make the brakes touchy. a call to a brake specialty company could be worth the money spent. power brakes mounted on the frame rail under the cab would also need different residual valves than would a booster/master mounted on the firewall. a simple thing like pedal ratio can also have a big effect because it affects how much travel is available in a full pedal stroke compared to how much is needed for a full stroke of the master cylinder and also how much effort is required to get the correct pressure at the calipers or wheel cylinders. simply put, match the whole system from one end to the other and choose the best components you have available. talk to an expert if you are unsure.