Is there any front wheel drums that will swap onto an original 48 ford front axle that would give me 5x4.5 drums? Also, need some 58 ford 223 pushrods for a 58 custom 300 motor. The truck engine I picked up had ones in it that were too long. Thanks.
The Speedway disk kit is cheap, but since you want drums, the rotors the disk kit uses are from a Volare/Aspen... I don't know if they made any Aspens or Volares with drum brakes, but I doubt they would make special spindles for them... Or look in the Hollanders for interchanges with Aspen/Volare spindles and cars that DID have drum brakes.
The size you mention is 'small Ford'. Like all 'Early Ford' brakes, stock '48 Ford brakes are limited by the engineering, and are not self-energizing If you want to swap this, for better stopping, use the drums, backing plates and hubs from a donor F100 ('53-'56) They are self-energizing. I won't quote the bearing and seal numbers needed because a kit can be had from Speedway to make this painless (and instructions are available online for dealing with issues that come up with certain spindles, etc.). That said, I too have a '48 Ford and intend to step up to disc brakes out of safety considerations. Kits in small Ford (4.5x5) and small Chevrolet (4 3/4 x 5) can be had using rotors with the appropriate lug pattern. There is a vendor on HAMB (Rotten Leonard) who markets a kit for re-drilling bolt patterns if you go with drum brakes and still want to change the bolt pattern. I have used both of these systems, and even though self-energizing brakes work quite well, at Freeway speeds, a few panic stops will wipe them out and they fade, making further stopping dicey. I know this from experience with a '37 Coupe I built and drove. After cleaning my shorts once, I changed to disc brakes with good results. It stopped well, continuously, and was a pleasure to drive, anywhere. Not to be preachy, but when it comes to handling there are the big three (1.) Suspension. Including shocks, tie rod ends, king pins and bushings, or upper and lower ball joints, etc. (with independent front-ends), sway bars and if needed Panhard bars; all in good repair. (2.)Steering: All of the above and the box, or rack, must not have slop, and connected to the driver's hand through a perfected system that is dependable and safe. (3.)Braking: Adequate brakes for the weight of the vehicle; all in good repair; and bled, so stopping is instantaneous.
Thanks for your help guys. The reason I was asking this is due to the fact that we had an 80 ft tree come down in a storm about 3 months ago and it crushed our 58 ford custom 300 4 dr. I am using now the leafs and rear out of that for my 48 ford sedan. I was hoping by chance that the front drums could somehow be adapted to my 48 spindles. And....seeing how the flathead in my 48 was broken beyond repair my 48 is also getting the 223 I6 also. I know it's not what most would do but I'm trying to recycle the 58 as much as possible.....hence, the asking for 223 car push rods earlier. The motor runs fine but the PO adjusted the rockers like they were hydraulic. I pulled the pushrods out and bent them back just to get the motor running and it actually ran really well but want good straight ones for final assembly. No, I'm not rebuilding the engine seeing how the car had less than 80,000 on it. Have a bunch of odds and ends that I salvaged from the 58 so if anyone is interested, let me know. I am also putting the 58 dash in my 48. Thanks for all of your assistance.
Try a wanted (or want to swap) ad for the 5 on 4 1/2 drums. Here and on for barn.com. If no luck then as post #2 said have yours redrilled. Charlie Stephens
You might check out post #8 at http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82985 to see if it is what you are looking for. Charlie Stephens
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