Projects Yes sir, I got me a Henry J

I don't believe they fit the mounts, I emailed the guy and he didn't know the year, just said metric calipers if I remember correctly.

 

Check out a Ford Ranger 8.8 rear for the big v-6 . Same parts fit fox body mustangs and have 5 lug stock. Strong enough to with stand a stout 347 and 5 speed with slicks.
A friend of mine ran a Chevy Luv p.u. with the stock rear with a 383 stroker with a trans brake for years.
The only drawback was 6 lug wheels. Same blot pattern as Chevy p.u. so wheels were easy to get.
I have found 3 9 in Ford rears in the past few years and never paid more than 50 bucks for any of them. 70's Econolines are a good source. 31 spline stock. Had one narrowed and axles resplined for $175.00 at a 4 wheel drive shop in Rossville,Ga. The axles have plenty of meat to shorten and respline.

 

I'd see some info on using the 8.8 out of an Explorer because they have 31 splines, some have limited slip, plus the wide range of gearing used in them. I found a chart that gives codes on the driver's door for them so maybe less having to slide under and look for tags.

Well I got what I ordered yesterday and like a dingus I ordered disks for the rear axle. Since those are going back I'm just shipping the entire order back and I'll go with the '85 calipers and the FRONT disks.

 

Now some pictures!! I mounted (temporarily) the radiator so I could get some idea on the engine set back and see how it all fit together.



Good clearance with the hood, even though I'm not going to run with one for a while.





I like it right here.



Floor mods are in order too. I'm going to do some work on the shifter to see if I can shorten the rods, make a new mount, and move it a bit forward.

 

A little photoshop noodling while snowed in.

 

Don't forget that you'll need wheel studs, since the factory used bolts. If you were closer I'd make you a deal on my hubs, rotors, brackets and calipers.

 

Well I haven't placed the order for the new parts yet.......

It looked like the old rivet holes lined up with the holes on the disks. I was thinking about drilling those out & putting studs in there.

Did you weld up the old wheel bolt holes in the stock hubs?

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No, I just left them open.

 

Picked up some nice quarters, now I just have to drive them back to Denver!

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We have lift off!! Now that I know where I want the engine to sit in the frame this will make it easier to build engine / trans mounts. Big swap meet in a week so I should have the rear end purchased. The last several days have been kids scrubbing down the frame. I removed the GIANT trans mount & have been cleaning up those welds. Plus other little things, welding this, measuring that.

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Hows the build coming along?
I just found a HJ too... stoked!

-Shiny

 

I remember my youth, plenty of time but no money. Now I'm an adult and I've got a little more money but no time.
I'll post an update soon, I have been making progress and want to share.
Glad to hear about the find 29EHV8!

 

I've been sitting here at work rolling around ideas for a steering setup on the J and was hoping to get some input. I'm thinking the easiest way to tackle this issue is going to be to simply mount the engine back a little farther. But I'm open to suggestions from those that conquered this before. I do plan to flip the spindles too and curious if that creates any issues with frame clearance.

 

Well it has been a wile since I've made a substantial post on this thread. I have been chipping away at it but not as fast as I would like. I discovered after getting the frame off that it was a little bent at the bend where it comes off the right rear wheel arch. I took it to a buddy's place and we leveled it out, chained it down, heated up the bend and leaned on it and presto straight frame! OK so it was a little more involved than that but needless to say I have a straight frame plus we welded in some nuts to the old body mount holes so I don't need to rely on the old speed nut/clip things that were in the frame.





I didn't take the frame into get it sandblasted, instead I blew it out, washed it out and hit it with various scrubbing tools. I painted it black, with a brush because this isn't going to be a show car and at this point I'm really just trying to get it done.

 

I picked up a couple of goodies along the way as well. An original front windshield with nice chrome and rubber that is still soft.



I also picked up a nice 3X2 Edelbrock intake for the 303 heads. I think I'm going to run this non progressive until I do the rebuild and add the #10 heads and maybe a 471 blower.

 

So with the frame painted, engine and trans mated, it was time to finish up the brakes. I pined everything together and a few things didn't look quite right.



The offset looked really off...yea bad joke. I couldn't get the front pad in to save my life so back to my buddies shop for some brainstorming. So we removed all the spacers (washers) and did some measuring and made a few changes. One, we drilled the caliper mounting holes and inserted some fittings to beef it up a bit. then we machined the spindles down so the caliper bracket mounts flush on the back of the spindle.



It might look like we took quite a bit off but it was only down to the stock recesses where the backing plate originally mounted. I plan to add a post with drawings of my mounts which I made from the Robert Wylie write up. I plan to have it a 1:1 ratio so it can be printed out and used as a pattern. I'll include all of his measurements as well.

 

So here, more or less, is where I am right now.


There are 14" wheels on the car but I don't think I'll be able to use them due to clearance with the calipers. I have since installed the stock sway bar, used new rubbers from ShoeboxCentral.com. They are for a 50 Ford and are a bit snug but fit and are so much better than the rock hard cracked stock ones. I'm picking up the 303 heads today, found some busted bolts and wanted them cleaned up a bit. The engine is sitting about where it's going to be, depending on the steering. Which I think could be a real issue as it runs almost center of the sump on the oil pan. It sits about 1" or 2" below the pan but that is not figuring in any sort of up or down travel. Any suggestions?

I had the rear end bolted in but needed to make some changes. For one, the recommended bushings for 2" leaf springs are too small for the mounting holes in the frame. Needed to go with 7/8 for 3" springs and cut them down. Also I'm running an 8" Ford and will be combining two different ones that I got for free. It will be getting new bearings, races, and seals of course.

I'll try and be better about posting regularly instead of giant dumps like I just did.

 

Shame all your pictures are gone.

 

So the third party I was using to store my pictures has decided to close that function down. I can still see most of my pictures here but am clearly missing some. I am still working on my J and will post some major updates soon.

 

If you don't have a rear glass I'll gladly give you the extra one I have if you can get someone to pick it up for you, maybe a hamber relay. HRP

 

A buddy of mine and I are planning a ride out to Tennessee from Denver. While adding South Carolina to that wouldn't be difficult, it'd be hard to get it back to Denver on a Harley. Let me ask around and see if I've got some connections who owe me favors. Thanks HRP!