New to this board and new to a old Ford. Play with a 31 chev five window coupe and a 1942 Fargo 2 1/2 ton. And then there is the newer stuff. .corvette etc. Back to question at hand .. Have just gotten hold of a 1936 Ford Tudor and would like to do some work on it. It is in very good shape. Has had hydraulic brakes installed along the way. Looks like 40ish spindles have been installed - round back plates and not sure about the wish bone. So would like to install a 4" dropped axle. Have looked at Chassis Eng. whole kit for the dropped axle, tube shocks etc. so the question is now the wishbone. Can the 1936 wishbone be cut/split to work..the kit recommends a 37-40 wishbone. I need a little help and recommendations and above or complete recommendation for an alternate route. One alternate route would be the reworking -dropping the existing axle. Open to any help.
you need to get in touch with Greg here on the HAMB ( 296 V8 ) he can do a proper dropped axle for you and will have all the answers on your wishbone etc as he has a '36 project of his own . And he's a top bloke http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=614475 Brian.
The frames are pretty much the same 35 through 40. The front axle changed in 37 to accomidate a longer spring for a better ride. If my memory is correct the 37 perch pin holes are about 1 1/2 inches wider than the 35-36. I used a Nostalgia Sids dropped axle. I understand Sids can heat and bend spindle arms to fit his axles if you choose to do that. Otherwise, use Chassis Engineering bolt on spindle arms. I'm an old airplane mechanic, and I was very happy with the results.
Like was said, get your axle dropped. It is the same from 33 to 36. The 35/36 front bones are made so that the tie rod goes under, so you won't really need to bend the steering arms all that much, compared to using 32-34 style bones.
I also had 296 V8 drop my factory 36 axle for my 3 window.He also did a 31 model A axle for me.I'm very happy with both,I'm sure he can tell you what you need to do.
The Jalopy Journal
