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Features Dropped Axles and Aesthetics...

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by NealinCA, Sep 30, 2007.

  1. Internet
    Joined: Mar 12, 2011
    Posts: 131

    Internet
    Member

    Larry McClung of victoria bc's front axle has me wondering
     

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  2. thunderbirdesq
    Joined: Feb 15, 2006
    Posts: 7,092

    thunderbirdesq
    Member

    Trio
     

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    kidcampbell71 and Old-Soul like this.
  3. thunderbirdesq
    Joined: Feb 15, 2006
    Posts: 7,092

    thunderbirdesq
    Member

    Three deuces
     

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  4. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
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  5. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

  6. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

    6888031989_8d5b6b596a_z.jpg 6888037439_b5ba700abb_z.jpg 6888028841_47ae72d0ea_z.jpg 6888034721_a832d5caac_z.jpg Super sexy stock, albeit drilled and chromed early Lincoln. 6888028841_47ae72d0ea_z.jpg 6888034721_a832d5caac_z.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2016
    Donut Dave, GuyW, willysguy and 15 others like this.
  7. Internet
    Joined: Mar 12, 2011
    Posts: 131

    Internet
    Member

  8. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Pretty standard for back yard/back in the day axle mods.
    Strictly speaking safety, people that know Fords oem axle dependability after modding would say "what's the big deal", run it!
     
  9. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Harv
    I'm guessing you prepped that one, has your signature perfect detailing.
    Who plated it?
    Just beautiful!
     
  10. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

    Not my work, but thanks for thinking it was. It belongs to member (bib overals) I'm not sure if he did the prep or where it was chromed.

    I am working on an axle now for a member that I will post here when it's done. :)
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  11. I respectfully disagree, unless backyard involves a 100-200 ton trip hammer (that's what makes the web so 'squished' looking). This method was used by Ed Stewart for his "Dago" axle and I'm 99% sure that's the ID of the piece in question. Homebrew axles were most likely taffy-pulled, just as they are today. Need to see more pics to be sure @Internet to positively ID, but at first glance, I'd say it's a genuine Dago.

    Here are a couple more of mine;
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    (and yes, I know the spindle is on the wrong side...was only going for a mockup...)
     
  12. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    GW
    I figured the backyard part would trip me up.
    I always thought Stewarts operation was a home shop deal, maybe set up more professionally.
    Are you saying Dagos' axles are, or are not "pulled taffy" looking. ? Your photo example?
    Not sure if I understand, the way your statements above read, has me somewhat confused.
    Not say'n your wrong, cuz I wasn't of hot rod age then, and never owned one.
     
  13. Fortunateson
    Joined: Apr 30, 2012
    Posts: 5,331

    Fortunateson
    Member

    I have identical as your 4th pic as well as the pic in post #132. However my has been drill for a shock mount just where it sweeps up. Don't know if I'll fill it and run original shocks or not. Where did you filled axle come from? Up here a number of guys have id'd mine as coming original Green's speed shop in the Vancouver area. Now I'm not so sure. Tardel questions the point of filling the outer webs but I know it looks re are two areas that are a little worn where the spring eye has worn on axle. I guess I could just weld those up and grind "to taste"?
     
  14. Thanks for the opportunity to clarify; unfortunately, some of these terms have been bastardized and/or are used interchangeably. "Dago" is a term most properly used to describe the hammer-drop method popularized by Ed "Axle" Stewart. From what I can tell, Ed's axles were first referred to as "Dagos" in or about the late 1940's after he relocated his shop to San Diego - but since that time, "Dago" has used to describe the stance of a car (that car's been "Dago-ed") and, sometimes, as a generic reference to any dropped axle. (It is thought that Stewart began hammer dropping axles just after WWII, as they show up in photographs in the immediate postwar period...many examples can be seen in the "Lakes Pictures P.R.C." thread)

    If I understand the Ed Stewart process correctly, the entire axle was heated and the ends hammered; essentially re-forging the axle. (Ed was a heat-treat specialist, so I'll assume he knew what he was doing). Other shops and individuals used a different method; heating on the ends only and stretching - to various degrees of severity. The less-sophisticated and heavily dropped "heat & stretch" axles became known as "taffy pulled" due in part to the method used and their distorted appearance; whereas hammer dropping compresses and pushes the ends of the axle to create 'drop', taffy pull stretches the metal out. The famous Mor-Drop axles use a heat & pull method - albeit with a more moderate drop and less stretch than the classic 'taffy pull'.

    Some also used a heat, pull, and 'whack it' method (with sledge hammers) - it said this is where the 'filled axle' comes from (the heat, pull, and whack jobs are often bore the scars of their re-formation so guys would fill the web to conceal the dirty work and make them more aesthetically pleasing)

    While it is true that Stewart worked out of a small garage/shop, his method required more specialized/dedicated shop tools than a simple heat & stretch job. Your average Joe could make a jig, grab a torch, and taffy pull an axle - many did and still drop axles in the taffy-pull (heat & stretch) style; not so with the hammer-drop method.


    Heat & stretch;
    [​IMG]

    Ed Stewart (Hammer drop method);
    dago 3.jpg
     
  15. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    GW
    Thanks, great getback response and details.
    I think that the reason I'm still (only slightly) confused about the old axles is the term "taffey pull", it's not new to me, I just thought it referred to the way they looked when guys did them with less than professional methods/tooling.


    The photo with rusty assembly won't load, but that is what (to me) looks like an "average Joe" backyard job.





     
  16. Old-Soul
    Joined: Jun 16, 2007
    Posts: 3,773

    Old-Soul
    Member

    Wow that Lincoln unit is amazing.
     
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  17. birdog
    Joined: Nov 25, 2010
    Posts: 426

    birdog
    Member
    from Monroe, UT

  18. It is confusing and the phrase can (and is) used that way, but I think the name 'taffy pull' actually comes from the method more than anything; heat & stretch, just like pulling taffy...but lots of folks also use the term to describe appearance as well.

    Just my opinion, I'd classify axles in the following manner;

    - Heat & stretch (taffy pull) : These vary in appearance from distorted to nicely proportioned. Some call the distorted/crude examples "taffy pulled" based on appearance alone. Mor-Drop axles (and most modern drops which copy this style) are generally much better proportioned, leading some to make a distinction between these and their more distorted 'taffy pulled' brethren (Mor-Drops are held in higher regard for this very reason). Tell-tale identifier for all heat & stretch axles is uniformity in the web area of the drop.

    - Hammer drop (Dago style) : Severely hammered; characterized by 'squished' webbing (lack of uniformity) in the drop area and hammer marks on the top and bottom flanges.

    - Heat, stretch, and whack (my gloss) : Dropped with a combo of heat & pull and hammering. It is thought this method gave birth to the 'filled' axle (webs were filled with weld to smooth them out/hide roughness).

    By no means is this science; just what I've gathered through experience, research, and talking with old timers. Hope that makes sense...
     
  19. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I'd like to know more about this car. If you want, pm me so we dont hi-jack this thread.
     
  20. I started to say that I have always thought a filled axle was sexy, then you posted the Lincoln axle and now I know for a fact that I am going to start a religion that thinks variety sexy. Damn that Lincoln axle is nice.

    I knew an old farmer in SE Kansas when I was down that way that had a 100 ton hammer and some other industrial sized machines in his farm shop. He had a lathe that had at the very least a 3 foot throat. He said he got all that stuff at an equipment auction and thought it would be handy. LOL

    So I guess he could have done a back yard axle. He let me use the stuff whenever I needed to. Pretty cool old guy. ;)

    OK I am off base here fellas.

    Carry on.
     
    gwhite likes this.
  21. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon



    Totally


    GW
    I still think my original remarks are 99% right after all this banter.
    Thanks for the great clarifications either way.
     
  22. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

    Random shot from a car show. 098.JPG
     
  23. My first one, a '35 :

    35.jpg

    My second :

    mini-20140710_175220.jpg
    mini-20140710_175243.jpg
    mini-20140710_160825.jpg
     
  24. NealinCA
    Joined: Dec 12, 2001
    Posts: 3,143

    NealinCA
    Member

    I have never heard a Mor-Drop axle referred to as a "taffy drop". In our part of the world, the "Taffy Drop" has always described the thinned out appearance of a hammer drop, like a Dago axle.
     
    falcongeorge and Speedy Canuck like this.
  25. image.jpg image.jpg Here's one I got today with a chassis I picked up... Northern Cali. Anybody got an idea who dropped it???
     
  26. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg View attachment 3157278
    Here are some better pictures. Also look at the difference in measurements between stock heavy and pressed heavy. Not sure if it's true that the dropping process squishes it 1/4 inch??? Bitchin axel anyway. First and second pic is stock. Other two are dropped axel.
     
  27. thunderbirdesq
    Joined: Feb 15, 2006
    Posts: 7,092

    thunderbirdesq
    Member

    Here's another 32 I just dropped...
     

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  28. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

    Bigger pic...nice. image.jpeg
     
    V8-m, -Brent- and thunderbirdesq like this.
  29. MUlrich07
    Joined: Mar 19, 2015
    Posts: 15

    MUlrich07

    I love this thread. I have a 36 Ford 4" dropped axle out of Genes Hotrod Shop. Would definitely do business with them again. I prefer the traditional look over the speedway catalog process, but that's just me.
     
  30. Check this one out.....

    [​IMG]
     
    -Brent-, 26 T Ford RPU and Hitchhiker like this.

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