Technical 32 Wishbone with a Model A axle

Why not just grind/machine a little off the axle bosses ?
Be careful and you won’t even notice the missing chrome once the wishbones are in place.

 

have your stock axle dropped. IMHO that is henry's most beautiful axle ....tube axles are for T buckets.

 

Actually, that was also being considered. But, I wasn’t certain that we could secure the axle in the mill, without destroying the chrome. As you can see, the mill worked great.

 

Keep scrolling. A few years ago I reorganized his post with the pics.

 

Thanks, but no pics show up, just a weird IMG image. If I click on that all I get is an error message.

 

Try that There are any number of situations where one might need to lengthen a Ford wishbone to increase the distance between the perch pin holes and the pivot ball. One that comes to mind is adapting a ’33-’34 wishbone to an AV8 application in which a ’32 K-member is used to tie everything together. If you followed my bit of misinformation in “How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod” and have collected a ’33-’34 wishbone for your parts pile that’s the situation you’re facing. Don’t despair, I’m going to show and tell you how to set things right.

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In addition to the ’33-’34 wishbone you will also need a Model A wishbone, and about 8 inches of heavy-wall steel tubing that will fit inside the wishbone. More about that later.


Assemble the axle, ’33-’34 wishbone, perch pins, and spring and install them in the frame. Install the Model A wishbone in the cup, WITHOUT the rubber ball; you’ll be heating the forged Model A yoke to dull red which would melt and burn the rubber ball and make a helluva mess to say nothing of the stench. In place of the rubber ball, set a thick washer in the ball cup and another on top of the ball. Then install the cap and tighten the bolts. The washers will deform and take up the space normally occupied by the ball.





String a come-along between the right and left perch-pin holes of the Model A wishbone and snug it up. Support the forward ends of the wishbone on jackstands, directly above the ’33-’34 wishbone.

View attachment 3286817


Heat the right side of the Model A yoke to dull red – near the welded joint where it connects to the tube – and draw the right leg toward the center until it lines up with the right perch pin. The Model A wishbone is 6-7 inches too short to actually reach the perch pin, so you’ll have to visually “project” that alignment, indicated by the red line. (You could clamp a length of angle-iron to the outside of the Model A leg and draw the leg in until the angle-iron contacts the perch-pin, but the visualization is good enough.) What you DO NOT want to do is draw the leg in until the perch-pin bore lines up with the centerline of the leg of the ’33-’34 wishbone. That will create a “kink” at the joint where the Model A yoke mates with the ’33-’34 wishbone.

View attachment 3286822

Allow the yoke to cool normally, all the way until it’s comfortable to touch. Then, heat the left side of the Model A yoke and draw that leg in in the manner just described. When that side is cool, cut the yoke off of the ’33-’34 wishbone at the welds where it joins the tubes. Make the cuts square to avoid alignment problems with the Model A yoke.

View attachment 3286825

Cut the legs off the Model A yoke at a point that lines up with the ends of the ’33-’34 legs. Make these cuts square as well, and add 1/16-1/8 inch to the cut line on the Model A yoke so you don’t come up short; it’s easier to remove material than it is to add it to get the fit right. Once you have the joints square and fit, chamfer both ends of each joint to ensure good weld penetration, and drill ¼-inch holes, ½ inch from the end of the joint, at 6 and 12 o’clock – on both the Model A tube stubs and the ’33-’34 legs. These are for plug welds that will lock the “splints” into the joint. Fit a 4-inch length of heavy-wall steel tube “splint” into each joint. The ID of the wishbone tubes is somewhere around 1-1/4 inch and you will have to do some grinding and fitting on the Model A yoke end. It won’t be snug, but it will be close enough.



Align and clamp one joint together and tack it at several locations around the circumference and through the top plug-weld holes.

View attachment 3286828

Remove the wishbone and axle from the frame and you’re ready to finish welding, after which you can grind the joints smooth to create a lengthened wishbone that looks like it’s always been that way. (The finish welding and grinding were done a day after these pictures were taken. I’ll shoot a finished picture next week and add it to this thread.)

View attachment 3286832

This exercise can be applied to shortening a wishbone as well as lengthening it, and it’s not confined to the early Fords. The same thing could be done to fat Fords when later engines and transmissions dictate relocation of the transmission mounting yoke which also carries the wishbone cup.


Mike

 

I know what you mean.
I wrap things in cloths/rags etc, then clamp them.
My chrome plating man assures me that “quality” chrome plating is actually very hard and can handle quite a bit of heat.

 

Update: A couple of weekends ago I was able to get my Model A axle mated to my '32 wishbone. I started with the grinder and took off roughly the same amount of material off each side of the axle boss where the wishbone attaches. I followed it with a coarse hand file until the wishbone just slipped over the axle. Then I finished with a mill file to smooth everything out. It worked out very well. The wishbone holes lined up very easily with the Model A axle. I didn't have to pinch or pull the wishbone to get it to line up with the axle.

I was able to then mock up the front end with adding the front spring, backing plates and axles. Got me even more excited to start the build. Pictures below:

Model A axle prior to narrowing:


Model A axle after grinding and filing down:


Wishbone on:

Mocked up some more parts:

 

Looks good !
except I think that your main leaf and 2nd leaf may be too long. (You probably know that)

 

You got that right. I picked up the used stack and just kept them all till I see what I end up needing. One of the springs in the stack looks like a half of one that they threw in there. I plan to sort through them and round and taper the ones I keep.

Thanks,

Brian

 

I milled my model A axle. I would never ruin a 32 wishbone.

 

Thanks Aaron!!

 

@So Cal Brian B , will you be starting a build thread on this? Or updating this one? I’d like to follow if so.

 

Hi jimvette59,

Thanks for the feedback. I did in fact mill the axle and didn't touch the 32 wishbone. Also, the springs are just a pack that came with another purchase. I need to take some out (especially the first one) when I get to the point of mocking up the front suspension in the frame.

Thanks,

Brian

 

brEad,

I plan to start a build thread once I am ready to start the assembly. I am in the process of getting subassemblies ready for the build. I am trying to document all the steps I am taking and I plan to use them once I start the build. I'm a novice so this is my first attempt at building a hotrod. I've been researching and buying parts mostly. Can't wait to get started.

Thanks,

Brian

 

If you could post a link to your build here, those of us following will be able to (more easily) follow you there as well. Thanks for sharing your process!