My first post ! Been cleaning up ,getting ready for spring, and found I have 2 Champ diffs,1 aluminum and 1 mag. Also have 2 1940 axle tubes. I'd like to end up with an open driveshaft assembly with Ford 9" axles. So, mag or aluminum housing ? How do I covert to 9" bearings and axles. Run the diff with a spool,or limited slip? Or, just get rid of this stuff and get a Winters nostalgia rear? I'd appreciate any thoughts or ideas on how to go about building a rear.
Welcome to the HAMB, this is where I am supposed to say they are not worth anything and ask if you have ever been introduced to the joy of a good screwin'. Uh I think. Both are worth saving. I know nothing about you or your fabrication/mechanical abilities so I am going to be brief. I would no doubt either save both or sell one to build the other. I don't know the condistion of either but I would probably lean toward keep the magnesium unit if they were mone and I had to loose one or the other. 9" style axles is no biggy, you weld 9" bearing ends on your axle tubes then contact a major axle builder like say strange or Dutchman and have them build you a pair of axles. Differential choice depends on what you are going to do with them and they are already open drive.
Welcome to the HAMB! Nice parts to build a car around. I think I'd build that one with the open drive yoke and lett the mag one go to some race car restorer. There is a thread that was stated about a gear cover just like yours with the shallow fins. Your axle tubes look like Model A not '40's. Bob
So what? I answered your question. Guess this answers my doubts about your mechanical and or fab abilities.
Well, we don't want to break with tradition ,but I'll be keeping my parts no matter how worthless they are So just cut the old housing ends off and weld on 9" ends ? Looks like I need a special bearing, I don't think any lube gets to the bearing on the Halibrand. Any point in saving the old ends? Sorry for the "so",kinda made a double post.
The ends on those old ford axle tubes are for floating axles and the bearing goes on the outside of that machined stub. I have found no good use for the old ford ends other then trot line weights and I have been doing this a long time. Yep you cut the ends off the axle tubes and weld the later Ford ends on, should probably use some sort of a fixture to keep everything in align. If you don't have a 9" Ford to rob the ends from you can get axle housing ends from any number of axle/rear end manufacturers. I prefer Strange Axle stuff but that is entirely up to you. You may even source a kit from the roundy round suppliers. A lot of the new quick change stuff will work with your stuff.
Bob, don't A axles mount the radius rod (wishbone) and the leaf spring to the backing plate? Mine look like a spring behind setup,butI'd better check and make sure of what I have. Invisible, not sure how you think I dissed Beaner, I certainly wouldn't want to,he's been nothing but a great help to me.
Short Straw Welcome aboard, pay no never mind to the nut kickers, they got nothing better to do apparently.
From the photo you posted the trumpets have above the axle spring mounts, not the behind '32 and later style. If I was going to do that '9 inch end modification I'd buy the new ends, then find a good machine shop to turn the ends so everything is aligned befor it gets welded. You need to deside at that time what type of spring mount you want to run, then have a good welder put it together, if that is something you don't plan to do yourself. What is the grand plan for what this is going under? Bob
Just want to go through the champ rear for now and come up with a plan (trackwidth,spring location,brakes).I'm not ready for my own build yet, I'm concentrating on helping Orangeamcs with his A-V8 build. Learning what I like and dislike for when the time comes for my build. I have a clean 30 A coupe body ,some 32 rails,the champ rears and a nice 322 nailhead. What I want is something along the lines of Jim Busby's 32 or Duffy's T Eliminator which were road racer oriented. Going to be hard to strike a balance between traditional and performance/safety. On the one hand, Buick finned drums are just awesome ,but on the other hand I can't see myself flying into turn 1 at Watkins Glen with them. Maybe some Porsche 356 double leading shoe drum brakes would do it. Gonna take some thinkin, but meanwhile I'm having fun with the A V-8 project.
I think Short Straw was looking for a creative comment telling him it was all junk and if he would box it up someone would be glad to pay the shipping on it to get it out of his way. I am pretty sure that's what the So.................... comment meant. But since nobody made the smart ass comment I got dibbs. Ill be by tomorrow to get that junk out of your way. See you in the afternoon. And post a better pic of the axle tubes
No, actually the "so" was me accidently hitting the "post reply" before I had a chance to write the reply, not an attempt at sarcasm. Site navigation is not one of my strong points, I'll try and do better as I get used to it.
Thank's Bob ,my first picture was kind of crappy, sorry about that! Yeah, Busby's car is awesome ! If I can even build close to that concept, I'll be a happy camper. I don't have the cubic money that's in that car but I think a milder version is definitely doable.
With the spring hanger "made on" to the housing end as the one pictured, it can be tough to install the late model ends, and maintain the stock hanger. The "Hot Rod Works" do a late model axle conversion, by removing the old bearing snout, and boring out the housing to accept a seal. The bearing carrier bolts on the brake side of the backing plate. It's a real clean setup, not cheap though. Is the carrier in the aluminum unit 28, or 31 spline ? You have some great parts there, good luck with your projects and welcome to the HAMB.
Thank's for the welcome Marty! I haven't figured how to get the sidecover off yet and I don't want to force anything. I hate the sound of aluminum going "snap". Gonna swallow my pride and get a manual before I go any further. Looking thru the hole there are only 12 (big!) square splines. Until I get the cover off I won't know any more. Also,I want to make sure this is not a FWD unit before I get too carried away.
Short Straw, there is a thread on quickchanges by Gearheads QCE, Bruce and others on there can supply you with some accurate info, methods and sources. The 12 spline is standard stuff on those old roundy racer units. I am going with the full floating / wide 5 setup on mine, with 31 spline locker. If you want to road race, you might think about floating axles, not necessarily wide 5, but perhaps Grand National with the 5 on 5" wheel pattern.
Aw man ! Marty ,why did you have to show me that wide five setup, that's awesome! Then again, I road raced for years with 8" and 9" non floating rears. The trick seems to be, don't get the "racing axles", too brittle. You rarely snap an axle in road racing but it's easy to snap a flange on the curbing if the axle is too brittle. I like em nice and soft so they have a little flex , so they'll only bend instead of snapping if I'm hit on the wheel . The splines do twist after awhile, so you gotta throw them away after a season or so. Yeah ,I'd need to learn how to search the forums, I'm sure there is some great info available. In the meantime, you guys have gotten me off to a great start ! Thanks!!
Got the sidecovers off ! Good news,it's not a FWD and the pinion bearing support isn't cracked like most are. Bad news,ring and pinion have rust pitting from sitting for so long. I'd like to get the bearings out of the rear gear cover ( heat the cover in an oven?). Is that something I can do myself, or do I need some kind of special tool, or should I leave that to a pro?