new to the site I’m getting ready to put a speedway axle under my Henry and was wondering if anybody had good pictures of how the did there front frame rails I’m looking to run straight rails from the firewall forward
The stock frame isn't very substantial so think about where you cut it and brace/box the new stuff really good. I would try to get pictures of all old Henry J gassers and see if there is a common build theme that recognized the stress and took care of the problems before doing it wrong. I remember the Gasser wars of the early '60s and some of the big engine cars were death traps. Big wheel launches would break frames and crush headers.
That was kind of the whole purpose of this post lol was for some insight to do it right the first time lol
You also need to take into account how high you want the front to sit and if you want to Z the rails higher than stock. Most people I notice cut the stock frame right where it starts leveling off.
"The stock frame isn't very substantial " This is just not ture............... Ran hell out of a stock "J" frame with a J2 Olds in it for 3 years,never a prob. Used stock "A" arms an all,did have limit cables for drop an good shocks. Took a beating an kept on ticking. Every time I read some one put a M2 front end or some other crap,it makes me wounder who miss lead them. The "J" had two stock motors,a 4 cly and a 6cly,the 6 was about as many lbs as some V8s.
I have a 53 Henry J that I haven’t started yet . I originally wanted to put an axle under it but may go the fuel altered route and use the stock front end ? Still thinking about it though . Good to hear Dana ran that stock J ifs with no problems .
My J project had spring brackets tacked to the bottom of the stock frame and it was going to be stupid high, in my opinion. I built this stub that raised the rear spring mounting point and also swing the shackles through the frame, instead of under it. My best guesstimate is that it sets about 3" lower than it would have, if I hadn't.