Don't throw any brake parts away. Even if everything is rusty, most will be reusable after blasting in your new cabinet. You'll probably replace the shoes, but if you can find a place to reline your current shoes, even better. You will replace the springs. But if the cylinders can be blasted clean, honed to clean up without pits, then for sure just buy a cup and bellows kit. The result will be much better than the screwy new castings that the current cylinders have.
One of the shoes on the driver side was froze to the inside of the brake drum and bent when the drum was removed. Everything on that side seems to still be functional otherwise. I am hoping I can skirt by with just blasting everything, giving it the usual service, replacing the shoes and re-assembling. I am worried about the other side though. Since it had an ant colony in it they must have packed it with dirt and that means moisture.
Beware the repro shoes. I bought some from a usually good vendor and the holes were in the wrong spot. Just a little, but enough to make adjusting them very hard to do. Would be a nightmare for somebody who's never worked on old Ford brakes before. Same issues with the new cylinders. They are close, but the holes are slightly misplaced which causes the fluid to leak past the inner cups if you don't pre-adjust the shoes out before adding the fluid.
While I piddle away trying to get the stuck brake drum off, here's a thought: I have an open drive transmission and a torque tube rear end. As the truck will be sitting high enough for the rear end to be on display, I am more married to the banjo than the dump truck trans. I understand my toploader is not really a "hot rod transmission"... but I know that actual vintage hot rods often ran them because they were cheap and comparatively easy to rebuild. I also know that I am not demanding much power out of my flathead... so it seems like it will suit my purposes fine, at least until I get the hankering, and the budget, for more than 100 horses. No matter what, one or the other will have to go before the truck can move down the road, and I am going to have to cut down both the torque tube and the drive shaft no matter what... so should I replace the transmission with an earlier closed drive unit, or convert the rear end to open drive? I would think the '49 dump truck transmission would be perhaps more tolerant of being flogged than an earlier transmission, that is assuming it hasn't already been flogged to death.
This is where a first time builder goes, Huuu! Now what? I think your going to find the Dump Truck gear box is the trade off item. I understand wanting the Banjo sticking out from behind, I'd stay with that and find a 49/50 Merc. block to trans bellhousing and a pre 49 3 speed Gearbox. Now your closed drive and a much better Trans. You don't need a 39 style gearbox. A 41-48 column shift is fine, just use a Hurst style shifter on it.
Also that torque tube is designed to assist the suspension and tie everything in. I bought a 46 48 passenger car trans at a swap for $35.00. When I took it apart it was clear that it was just rebuilt. I had a 37 39 model 78 case so Installed the 46 48 gears with the better synchros in it. You can find empty 78 cases for around $70 to $100.00. Lose that truck trans as you are only going to be replacing it later.
Remember, all old Ford transmissions were non syncro to 1st gear. If you want you girlfriend or grandson to drive the car, you are asking for a chipped tooth in 1st gear.
Are the cylinders themselves rebuildable or must they be replaced as complete units? And is that economical? I found "repair kits" that include the rubber but not the pieces I need. When the brake shoe bent (due to being seized to the drum) it bent the cup that holds the brake shoe, which in turn broke what I guess is the piston inside the cylinder.
I dont know about the early Ford stuff, but every wheel cylinder kit I ever used had 2 new rubber boots, 2 pistons (or cups), and a new spring. Pick up a wheel cylinder hone, break out the drill and smooth the inside of the cylinder out, and reassemble with brake fluid as a lubricant. Dont rebuild until the last step before priming the system and bleeding the brakes. That's my method anyway....right or wrong.
Got to sit in a 31 A pickup for the first time. Perfect size for me. I like it. I got front perch pins and a rear spring, so now all I need is a spring spreader and the damn kingpins out of the 37 axle and I can finally start getting my chassis put together. e: and the rear spring perches of course.
Don't guess anyone nearby has a rear spring spreader I can borrow? I am going to order the weld-on rear spring perches from Speedway as I can't find the bolt-ons. My hillbilly brain says I should attach the perches to the rear spring, install the spring on the frame, use the spring spreader to stretch the spring to the normal width it would be when the car is sitting on the ground, then locate the axle under the spring and adjust back and forth until I get the perches perfectly centered side to side, then measure/mark that, disassemble & weld. Tell me how bad of an idea that is.
There are seals inside your rear axle, in the location you are going to weld. That's why we use the bolt on style. I bought some from a supplier on the HAMB but I can't remember his name. It's early and I'm old.... I'm sure someone else will remember.
I can say I would NEVER try mounting the hangers in this method. The spring mounts should be mounted same center to center width as the spring mounts are on a stock rear axle for your spring Do that with a simple tape measure and weld them in place then hang the spring. You don't need a spring spreader. Take the spring apart using a pair of C Clamps and a long enough length of all thread to unload the spring leaves. Clean each leaf as needed, Mount just the main leaf as needed then stack the leaves back on the all thread and pull it back together and install the C Clamps. Remove the all thread and install a new center bolt. Go on about building the chassis. Yes there are Axle seals inside the housing. They are a Bitch to replace! You can get new seals that fit the I.D. of the housing just fine but I have found most are not a correct fit to the Axle itself.
I believe it is old yankee speed co https://www.millworkshotrod.com/col...ord-and-lincoln-brakes?variant=14329173180461 They do have another set that has a shock ball if you plan to use friction shocks in the rear
The '40 rear end is appreciably wider than the A, isn't it? Wouldn't this kit put the spring perches much further apart?
If your using a Model A rear spring you want the center to center bushing hole of the Weld on brackets to be the same distance apart as the stock Model A spring hangers are.
That's what I was thinking. The bolt on kit above would put them further apart than the A hangers, because the '40 axle is wider. With the weld on I could space it correctly, but then I suppose the heat would damage the seals?
That depends on where the seal is in relations to the seal and how the weld on bracket is made. A well made bracket can be skip welded on both sides of the seal. However you should check the conditions of the seals, they may need to be replaced anyway.
There's no way the original seals are any good. Don't worry about those, they need replacing anyways. Many guys seem to use these perches on this era of rearend without problems. And, an old original spring probably sags a little, so it will be slightly wider already. Maybe these perches will put you at the perfect width. Or, if you have access to a ruined original rearend you can use the perches ala' Chris's method shown in his roadster's thread.
I think someone else mentioned it, but get ahold of Old Yankee Speed Co. Tell ‘em what you wanna do. They have the bolt on brackets. If you’re using a ‘40 axle, im sure they can point you in the right direction as far as a spring goes. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
For what its worth I had already ordered the weld ons from Speedway last night. I can return them I think if they really aren't the way to go. Keep in mind that welding is really the only skill I am coming into this with. To me, welding on perches isn't a big deal if it's not going to fuck anything up inside the axle housing that isn't already going to need to be replaced. In semi big news: I got these things off with my neighbor's help, he had a big boy torch that made short work of it. All four bushings were seized to the kingpins and someone in the past had already mushroomed the heads out on the pins and then left them there to rust so they were stuck pretty good. I cut the heads off the top of the kingpins and pushed them out backwards.
Making sure the later kingpins will work on the A axle before I order the kit... looks like a good fit. Gonna have to find someone to ream these suckers before I can really install it, that's gonna suck...
Talk to your resources there close by you where you got the parts, and see if they know of a Early Ford Friendly Machine Shop. Ft. Worth is bound to have some old grey beard machinists still operating.....
Call the hot rod builders in the area. Sachse. North Texas Customs, Dirty's, Bass Customs. Check in the HAMB Alliance list. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I see that the king pin bolt is still in the axle. Did you just stick it back in so as not to lose it?? They have to be removed completely to get the king pin out.
I have successfully removed the kingpins from the 37 axle and this is just me putting the removed parts (less bushings) on the A axle to make sure the 37-41 kingpin kit will work with the A axle. The picture you quoted is after I removed them with the spindles moved over onto the A axle.
OK...that makes more sense. Just so you know those king pin bolts can be a bitch to get out as well but since the king pin is gone in this case you shouldn't have a problem. I would start soaking them so they come out easier. You can buy your own reamer for the spindles. It's something you can do your self with a vice, a wrench and the reamer. There was a thread on here about how to do it years ago that I followed. It was pretty simple.
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