My 38 ford. Can anyone help me with posting my ride in classified can't seem to figure it out

Hello I have a ew questions for all of you guys that have been there done that ! I'm replacing my 3speed top loader tomorrow for a rebuilt 39 I got on eBay . Dumb question does anybody no how much gear oil I should put in it ! Do I just fill it to the top of side fill hole or I read some where 2-1/2 pints . I know im supposed to use 140 weight any how yr help would be appreciated!

Another subject can I lower my rear end by just removing a couple springs ? Wich ones ? How many ? and can I also make some knew shackles longer ones , how long can I make them without making things screwy ? Will this screw any thing up with my stock enclosed drive I still have mechanical brakes I havnt converted yet ! Thank you for yr thoughts.



Here's my ride !


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Perfect, perfect and perfect...You defiantly get your answers here too...thanks for the treat...

 

That is one sweet automobile!

 

I really don't see why the rear end of your great looking 40 should or could be lowered more.

 

Fill the transmission to the bottom of the side fill hole with your 140W. You can remove two or three leafs from the rear spring but be CAREFUL the spring is under a lot of pressure and removing the spring center tie bolt or the spring shackle tie bars will release the leafs and pressure and can do a lot of damage. Heavy C-clamps usually are used to clamp the leafs together before removing the tie bolt. A spring spreader is used to remove and reinstall the spring from the shackle bolt bars. You need jack stands under the frame to support the body without the rear spring. Remove the short leafs from the top. This will effect the height of the spring and the length of the tie bolt, the area where the U-bolt mounting nuts rest and how far the bottom retainers have to go up into the rear cross member to clamp the spring in place in the rear cross member. Spacers can be used on the bottom of the spring to replace the leafs your removing and keep the height of the spring as original.

 

I put self energizing self adjusting Bendix brakes on all of my old Fords. Screw the crappy 39-48 brakes

 

Agree on the hydraulic brakes comment...I would avoid longer shackles, they can cause the rear of the car to sway when cornering, unless you also run a sway bar. You can also have the spring de-arched by a good spring shop, though there may not be many of these left. As someone told me a long time ago, there are lots of bad ways to lower a Fords rear, and only a few good ones, which are complicated and expensive (C or Z the rear frame or raise the rear crossmember.


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Okay, a couple of things.

First, do you like the ride quality that it has right now? If so, pulling leaves might not be the best idea. If it's a bit stiff, then pulling 2 or 3 of the shorter leaves to the top of the spring will help soften stuff up quite a bit, plus gain a bit of drop.

The next question, how low do you expect the car to go? An easy way to get 1-2", is with reverse eyed main leaves for the front and rear. That places to spring eye where the shackle attaches to the top of the main leaf instead of the underside. Reversed eye main leafs are commercially available, and if the correct length, they won't effect handling negatively. Good quality (think Pete & Jake's) modern, urethane bushed shackles will also improve ride and handling, and reduce squeaks.

If you have all this apart, now is a good time clean up and paint the spring before re-installing. I love doing the Teflon liner thing between the leaves, too, as it helps everything work without binding, and again quiets everything. Although by '38, the leaves were tapered at the ends, taking a bit of time and grinding the underside of each leaf tip to a slightly rounded configuration also helps them to slide over each other without bind.

For painting a spring on a full bodied car where it doesn't have to be "show quality", I love My Rust-0-Leum appliance epoxy enamel from Home Depot. spray it while it's all apart, let it dry a day or two and it'll be close to indestructible. Lots of guys at this point will wrap a spring with electrical tape, I much prefer to head to an electronics warehouse and grab a length of shrink tube that will fit over the spring, slide it on, shrink it up, and never worry about it again.

I just did this process a couple weeks ago for a client's Model "A", and it's about 4 hours, start to finish. it took the car from a hard riding buck board, to something that floats as it rolls down the road.

One last thing.... The reason why long shackles really aren't a good idea is shackle geometry. Early Fords use their springs as not only suspension members, put Panhard rods, or what some call "sway bars", to locate the rear end side to side. The magic involved comes in at the shackle angle, which with the car at rest with all of it's weight on the spring needs to be at 45 degrees minimum, or slightly shallower. Anything steeper and the car has a tendency to walk side to side on it's shackles, which is why longer shackles really aren't a great idea.

 

I used a Posie's reversed rear spring on my 38. Also I use Royal Purple synthetic gear oil in m y 39 tranny. Fill to bottom of side hole. I converted my brakes to 39 stuff with Buick front drums.

 

Thanks every one for the great advice Really appreciated !


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