There are lots of traditional guys in the lower mainland. But they don't show up at many of the big cruise ins. Ask around. They may find you.
this my '52 8RT its a runner with a '52 3 spd top loader behind it my question of the day: can I change out the lowest gear for something a bit higher? Where i am the availability of old 3 spds is few and far between but sometimes (rarely)craigslist will yeild a '49-54 sideshift tranny or an F4-6 4 spd. I'm wondering if I can modify my trans? like use my 2nd as 1st 3rd as 2nd and throw a pass. car top gear in or some such combo without breaking the bank or should I be happy with a working transmission and run it as a 2 speed (use 2nd as 1st)? my case has a cover on the side for a p.t.o etc. will this case take the later gears? does anyone know if the 4 spd case is just too huge to use in a model A hot rod? - thanks * EDIT: Nov. '21 Have pulled and ditched the 4 spd. crashbox, truck 3 spd is rusted junk, just found an early 48 case 3 spd. in working order currently being used for mock up but will have it soon*
You are going to need all three gears. Find a rear axle with tall gears. 3.50:1 or less. Or buy an adaptor for a T5 out of an S10 or mustang.
believe me you can't use that 1st gear on the street some distracted driver will drive straight up my tailpipe before I get it in second....my axle is an F1 truck no tag but probably not too tall....adaptors cost money I could spend on getting my car on the road i'm like you man bucks down but still tryin'....thinking it would be kinda neat to tear one up if i find another one of those 4 spds cheap enough the 2nd gear is low enough not to need 1st that will be for burnouts only
Yes but geared that low you are going to run out of RPM on the highway vey quickly. You rear axle (depending on year) is likely a Dana 44. 3.07 gears are easy to get and cheap. That gives you a good starting gear in first and about 3000rpm at 100K
Thats a great idea i don't mind learning how to pull the axle apart or a trans for that matter sounds kinda fun where as forking over the dough for new adaptor/5 spd etc. not so fun....Hey I might have a line on one of those big truck 4 spds i've got to do some research if the top gear is higher than the 3spd if so problem solved and I get a pto to boot so I can run a wood saw or something off the side of my hot rod lol
I just did a tech week post of putting late 50's truck brakes on 32 spindles. I am pretty sure your model A spindles will be the same. Make your swap easier. then you dont need to run the F100 spindles.
Ha ha I was afraid that was the case also my trans might be synchro'd where as the 4 spd is a "crashbox" I think youre right my best bet for now is to figure out the gearing Isnt there an old trick for that? jack it up and count the number of spins of the yolk to 2 full turn of the wheel? cool do you have a link? all i have right now is a bare axle and the complete F1 spindle/brakes I could probably scrounge up a set of spindles from the local model A guy but then I need model A king pins as well
another silly question: I'm about to pull the engine and trans out of an f-1 truck there doesnt seem to be an obvious way of removing the floor shift lever am I missing something?
the rounded piece that the lever sticks out of unscrews, big channel locks, then there is a keyway that slides into the ball part of the shift lever, pull that out and don't lose it or drop it inside the trans
Try and make sure the spring pressure doesn't strip the last few threads when you pull it apart. They are very fine and when distorted are a real pain to reassemble.
Thanks @2racer whew.... Iwas starting to think the whole top cover had to come off....thanks @bct so just hold some downward pressure until the cup/bowl is entirely undone?
Wait, your F1 has a THREE Speed with a PTO? Is the donor truck a F2 or F3? I thought F1's got the passenger style 3 speed toploader with open drive and a slightly deeper 1st gear. If your transmission is one of the heavy boxes, I'd start looking for the light duty truck box or an earlier passenger car toploader. I'm not sure, but I'm fairly certain that even if you could drop in different gears, you'll be way ahead of the game just replacing it. How deep is 1st in this 3 speed? Is it REALLY low like the HD 4 speed transmissions? When you pull it, can you post some pictures?
Patmanta the truck is an F2 3/4 ton it doesn't have a pto I was joking around about another trans I looked at a 4 spd non sync..... but this is definitely a larger truck case and it has a plate on the side for one. I would love to replace everything i'm starting out with hmmm...straight rust free sheetmetal, bored and stroked flatty, '39 toploader with zephyr gears, dropped deuce axle w lincoln brakes,'34 axles w '36 gears.....but instead i've got a running F2 eng/trans and f1 rear axle and spindles/brakes..... if I put everything on hold waiting for the "holy grail" parts I'll be 70 and way more interested in my armchair.....Yeah its bull low 1st gear but second is low enough to start off in....my phone is a pos the wife takes all pics lol but yeah I will
Hey, if it gets you down the road, it's better than sitting, you can always upgrade! & hey, you'll be able to pull parade floats with it for now! F1 rear is the Dana 41, right? You're in good shape with the brakes. Since you're already open drive, you could look for other transmissions, like from the later trucks and side loader passenger cars if you don't mind 3 on the tree or a conversion. VanPelt is a good resource for finding out what swaps into what.
i'm looking into a '48 open rear that is the three piece unit i cant afford the $350 but it would look way cooler
47 would be the open banjo with parallel leaf pads on the bells. Later car rears are good to have for the spring hangers if you want spring behind or ahead. I think someone on the HAMB makes bolt on A style hangers as well for spring over.
If you can think of who I'd appreciate the info.... i'm going to do a spring in front with a frame Z ed by cutting the rear crossmember and a few inches of frame rail off moving them forward and welding them on top of the rails
So (if I can scrounge up the cash) I could pick up a '47 truck open rear or a 1940 pass car rear converted to spring in front the '47 is open so is virtually a bolt in but the '40 is already flipped around and has spring hangers etc. it also doesn't appear to have hubs but maybe I can use the backing plates/brakes from the F1 axle I think the '40 might be narrower and work better with the model A front end and could have higher gears how difficult is it to convert it to open rear? .......any thoughts or ideas are appreciated
An open drive rear with a transverse spring is far from a "bolt-in". You will need to use '40-'48 Ford hubs to match up with the tapered axles with the '40 rear.
I have a complete set of 48 juice brakes for that open drive rear... And I will be in Surrey on the 26th.
40 is too narrow to use just the bells. You'd need to switch axles too. 42 to 48 bells should swap over.
The truck rear is a better bet. Fix the brakes and weld on some new hangers where you need them to be.
engine/trans out truck is gone to new home still looking for roadster 1/4 panel should start the frame soon as I find a rear
So, are we back at it yet? Have you found parts? Let's wake this thread back up! That 8RT is a good looking engine AND you've got a set of tube headers on it! That oil filter looks like a high capacity unit of some kind, which is also a neat piece. If you want to give that engine a little more pep on the cheap, be on the lookout for EAB heads; they have better flow and compression, as I understand (I have a set for my build). There is a good chance you already have an aluminum cam gear behind that timing plate too; that was a truck thing. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/canadian-1953-ford-8rt-truck-flathead-stroke.967811/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/whats-the-difference-between-8ba-and-8rt.403765/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/8rt-flathead-from-canada-4-stroke.156537/ https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59029&showall=1 http://www.tildentechnologies.com/Cams/CamHistory.html https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185173
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