Technical Ford banjo open drive conversion

Besides Henry, who makes the preferred modern open drive conversion for my 39 Ford rear. I love the look of the Winters quickie under the back of my 29 pickup, but the noise is getting a bit much. I found a real nice stock rear this week thru the H.A.M.B. and am thinking I can do a pretty simple Saturday afternoon swap. If it is too quiet, I can always put a blower or a gear drive on it! Thanks guys, Rich

 

I’d say go to your favourite rod parts place and ask , the kit is pretty common (Speedway has them)

 

Hot Rod Works or make your own, I believe there are blueprints for this here on the HAMB. tim

 

I'd work on saving the Quickchange.
I have found that most all QCs that are too noisy have too much R&P backlash and no carrier preload. Of course the change gears can make noise too.
Take the rear cover off and remove the change gears.
Turn the pinion back and forth.
If there is disernable movement, it is too loose.
The carrier should take about 30 in/lb of rotating force to turn after breakaway.
The Pinion should be about 20 in/lb.
If you establish the preload and backlash and it's till too loud, you can go to helical gears. To do it right takes a bit of monkeying but nothing a real Hot Rodder can't do.

 

I see that Speedway has them as well as Hotrod Works. Is one better than the other, Or they all made by the same overseas 12 year olds? Rich

 

I just bought mine from Speedway for my single seater build.

 

Hey Bruce, I was thinking of strapping my quickie to a pallet and sending it north to you. The 39 rear is an easy experiment to see exactly what the difference is, and take my time in getting the quickie right. Rich

 

I'm going to fab my own. There are several threads on here with good details. I think I'll follow along with this process;
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/strawshop-opendrive-banjo-conversion-diy.324073/page-3

 

Hot Rod Works makes their own stuff.

 

Hot Rod Works kit is made in USA.
The Speedway yokes we’ve seen are too loose on the pinion shaft. Some people have complained of drive line vibration.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

46-47 pickups have an already open drive Banjo center, can't beat genuine Henry parts.

 

Yes I agree, You just dont see them out there very often.

 

My dad made mine back in 2000ish. He was a tool and die master and was excited to do it for me.

 

Mine has '47 pick-up rear Found 2 in Ohio

 

Thanks guys, this is the info I was looking for. I used a speedway kit once, had to pack the splines full of shim stock strips and pound the yoke on to keep it from wobbling around. Will have to look at Hot Rod Works stuff. Rich

 

My Dad put a Cloumbia 2 speed - 327 Chevy and Muncie 4 speed and used the 46 / 47 Ford truck yoke to adapt the 2 speed rear end w/closed drive shaft. Seems to work great.

 

We have done 3 rears now using HRW kit. The only issue we had was centering the pinion seal , followed instructions to the letter ,but still had leaks,. We made up a dummy seal from aluminium inserted that in the outer cover and then bolted the cover tight to the rear over the pinion shaft , then removed aluminium dummy and pressed in the correct seal and no leaks what so ever. Well the first one leaked , so we continued to use this process.

 

I made my own but used a speedway coupler and it fits loose on the shaft. Did the shim thing work? I guess you just put shims at the outside dia of the shaft splines, did you put equal shims at each spline to keep it centered or was it harder than that?

 

Yes I worked at a shop the car came in with a speedway unit, it wobbled , was junk , took it off , put a hotrod works one on, problem solved... have heard other issues with speedway units also

 

x3 on HRW.....I have installed 2.

 

Speedway yoke shimming was a trial and error process. First strips were way too thick, tried a few more till I got it to go together with a little persuasion from my hammer. Only shim strips in the major diameter of the splined yoke. Hope this helps Rich

 

thanks for the tips Rich

 

Does anyone have the dimensions of the pinon shaft splines? I was going to try to find a better coupler or broch to make one that fits better.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES
Check out our LOW PRICES on OPEN DRIVE KITS!!
Our kits are proudly made in the USA. Our yokes are machined from forged steel and come with the correct spline fit. Be aware of loose fitting imitations. Our yokes are clearly labeled with our Hot Rod Works name.

From HRW website.

 

Are the Speedway open drive conversion kits for Model A banjo rearends plagued with the same loose-fit on splines that would merit spending roughly $60 more for the conversion kit from Hot Rod Works? I don't mind spending more money as long as I would get something better by spending more.

Lynn

 

I think 42-47 is factory OEM open drive banjo . Every part you need made by old Henry himself . Most people toss them in favor of later stuff anyway . Look around they are out there . Quick Change is louder than an early Pan trans , it gets old “quick change “ to something else . Best looking axle on the planet but not very practicle in today’s world the way we drive .