i HAD A 40 ford coupe with that front setup. I would NOT run it again.. ride sucked.. and i could have spent just as much and been LOWER with an axle and split bones.
I am using an 8.8 Ford Explorer rear axle for my 41 build. While I have used this axle before, I have never found it so easy to install as with this chassis! It is almost a bolt in swap! Perfect width, it mounts with very little fabrication to the new parallel leaf spring kit Im using (from speedway). The hardest part was cutting off the original spring pads because they were mounted too wide on the axle by a few inches. Once removing them, the only modification was cutting out a small notch in the drag bar mounts so the U bolts could be slid over the axle. The factory drag links only required a slight mod by cutting off one side of the rear body mount, and then removing the lower rivet holding it to the frame. Then drilling out the rivet hole to 1/2" for the bracket attaching the drag bar to the chassis. Once this is accomplished, you can mark and drill out the second hole for the bracket. I chose to use the Explorer U bolts and lower brackets. This makes installing the shocks very easy! I am still working on attaching the torsion bar from the Explorer rear to the 41 chassis, but it looks to be very simple to do! Here's some pics detailing the mounting of the drag bars and U bolts. EDIT: I had a lot more detailed photos of the drag bars and U joint mount mods, but this site has the worst set up for down loading pics compared to any other car forum I belong to! This place sucks for downloading pics!
Heres a few more pics if this site will let me download them.... It will work with any parallel leaf set up on the 41 chassis. I used the factory Explorer mounts and they lined up perfect with the frame rails. No...you do not have to use the drag links, but when something is as simple as cutting off a small part of a body mount and drilling two holes, why would you not use them?
This particular rear axle came out of a 99 Mercury Mountaineer which is the same as the Ford Explorer. I believe they were the same from 99 to 2006. This may work for 41 thru 48 Fords but Im not 100% sure of that. The 1941 Ford chassis seems to be somewhat of a bastard child in the group...
Ive ordered a few parts from Chassis Engineering and while they are listed 41-48 they will require some modification for the 41. Im not overly impressed by that company. I am using their engine and transmission bolt in mount with the split wishbone kit. The reference points they use dont match the 41 chassis. Ive already decided that I dont like the wishbone kit and wont use it. Dont get me wrong, I made the engine and trans mounts work, but it was far from a bolt in kit! (plus I do plan on welding the engine mounts once its all set up correctly). I am using a lot of Speedway parts and so far I am very happy with the results. I am currently installing the Speedway bolt in master cylinder using the factory mount holes. Like every thing else, some modification is required, but nothing severe... Now since I was not happy with the chassis engineering wishbone split kit, my next mod will be attempting to use the Speedway 4 bar front suspension kit. It is designed for the 40 Ford Chassis, but after researching differences between the 40 and 41 Ford chassis, I believe I can make this work easier then splitting the wish bones! Now since Im going thru all this trouble, Im also going to go with a 4 inch dropped axle with a reversed eye spring set up. What the hell, its only money! lol.....
Well after a few more measurements and research, I decided to pull the trigger on the Speedway 4 bar suspension. Speedway says its for 35-40 Fords, but it looked to me like it may fit. I just set the main link on top of my axle perch and held in the rods and everything sure looks like a perfect fit! For all the work and modifications I would have had to do just to make the wishbones work, this will actually be an easier modification! Hope it all goes well....I'll keep ya'll posted! EDIT: The pic with the bracket sitting on the axle....the bracket is shown upside down...I was seeing how it would line up with the old spring mount....
Funny how things work out. My dropped axle and panhard bar shipped Tuesday. I have everything else on hand with a week of vacation starting this Monday, so I plan on getting a lot built and posted. Sent from my LG-LS993 using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Cool...we will both have two completely different setups to show for comparison! Also, I got my master cylinder and brake lines all fabricated and mounted. Even got them all bled and ready to go! Got the rear axle cleaned up finally too.
I started putting everything together. Some times I think Speedway motors sells seconds! When I put the brackets on the axle the right side was a little snug. I filed away the old paint and made a nice clean surface on top and bottom. With a little persuasion from a rubber mallet, it went on fine. When I attempted to install the left side it was a different story. I had to file the dog crap out of the top and bottom, maybe about 1/16 of an inch, and then still had to beat it with a mallet to get it on! With the axle/spring brackets on, I can see already that the steering arms will have to be heated and bent a little to clear the bottom bar. But I also happen to have a new set of dropped steering arms that look like they will work great. I decided to stop where Im at because as long as I have this all torn apart again, I decided to replace the spring with a new one with a reversed eye. Already ordered one so it will be a few days before I work on the 4 bar set up again. Here's a few pics of the progress.
Mocked up the 50 Merc od tonight. Looks like I'm splitting the wish bones and more. I will wait till I have the axle under the frame and have the trans on the motor before I do anything Sent from my LG-LS993 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just curious, why are you splitting the wishbone if you are using the stock trans mount as shown in the picture? Since the front spring is attached to the wishbone, if you try to open them up, you will be effecting the spring perch angle. You will have to heat and bend the spring perch angle if you split and widen the bone. Or do you plan on bending the wishbones behind the axle? I bought the kit to split my wishbones that I wont be using.......
That picture is a little misleading. The trans has to go to rear at least 6 inches yet. So, the original mount doesn't work and will have to be pulled. I still may be able leave the bones alone, but not sure till I get it behind the motor
Well Im about to find out how good or bad they actually are! The sell on Ebay also. I purchased a reverse eye front spring last week. A day or two after purchasing it, Ebay has them listed as "no longer a registered member"! When I try to call the phone number listed, is has been disconnected! But...I did receive notice that the spring was shipped VIA UPS....so now its the wait and see game....
I lined my factory spring that I had reversed and de arched this Thursday. Got stuck working all day Saturday due to storms in the area. My company had 66k customers out of power, so duty called. Hopefully I can back on track tomorrow. From what I here, a factory spring is hard to beat. It was only $100 to rework mine. Sent from my LG-LS993 using H.A.M.B. mobile app
I may have to go that same route with my front spring. Im not familiar with the de arching process. How did you know how far to go and who does this? If not local, it must cost a fortune to ship a spring!
I just told him to reverse the eye and de arched what he could. They have been in the spring business forever. Call St Louis spring. http://www.saintlouisspring.com You will not be disappointed. Sent from my LG-LS993 using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yeah, but looks like you may live near them. Probably would kill me to ship from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi!
Sure...I had unmolested but rusted out survivor...had a friend of mine talk me into the 305/350...ifs...parallel leaf...etc... Just seemed to be the right thing to do 10 years ago. Looking back now I would of just freshened everything up and drove it and would of probably sold it...BUT NO.... I had a friend do all the mechanical installation...John Bulato did a fine job and i was on the road. The rust issues bugged me...pretty much everything from the roof down as the car was from Boston. Long story short it was way cheaper to find a rust free body here in the desert, a whole 46 tudor and sold off everything to basically keep the body for a few hundred bucks, and threw it on the now powder coated chassis along with everything else dialed in. I put it all back together myself...basically a life sized model and my first time trying my hand at this. Had it painted (5 year fiasco) and had a friend do the interior and it has turned out nice. Been on the road around 3 years now. Probably wont get rid of it as its like a family member now due to all the drama that we had during the build...haha. Just put new wheels and BFG's on that i had sitting in storage not thinking the would fit...but they do. Drives alot better than with the 670.15's and will be picking up some 640.15's soon and keep the 2 sets for a different look and feel. There you have it! 41's are not everyone's cup of tea but they sure do get attention weather good or bad. Good luck on the builds..i will be watching!
Looks good! Pretty much the same as mine except for the front suspension. I have some rust issues with mine also. Not too bad, but Im looking for a coupe body to swap before I put the sedan back on the chassis. So far no luck.
Well, had a shipping mishap and got the wrong axle. No biggie, pleanty of work to do. Today's question: how bad will this slinger style oil seal leak? I got a complete gasket set, and a rope seal with it, but i guess i have to have the slinger machined off? I have other rope seal maim caps in my stash Sent from my LG-LS993 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I cant help ya with that question. I know NOTHING about flat head engines. But...I have more progress to show! I had my driveshaft cut, balanced, new u joints and the Ford to Chevy conversion done.
You might try sending a PM to Bored&Stroked or Bruce Lancaster here on the HAMB about your rear main. I swapped my crank out for an 8BA type which uses a different seal system.
Well....I got my new reversed eye front spring from Johnny law motors today. (it was less then 80 bucks shipped!!!) I was pleasantly surprised! The only thing I did not expect was that the main leaf came separate from the leaf pack. Not really a big deal. A few big C clamps later and it was all good! I have it installed and it seems to have a nice ride to it! The problems I mentioned before were all problem with Ebay and not the company. Since I got the spring, and that was the only thing holding me up on installing the 4 bar, I spent the day doing that. Since this suspension from Speedway was designed for 35-40 Fords I had to make a few changes to the installation instructions. The only thing I had to do was attach the frame bracket about 4 inches forward from what the original instructions called for. It has a nice travel to it and looks good too! Now that I have determined it will work, I will order a panhard bar and shock brackets and shocks. Its all coming together! Oh yeah, I also got all my new rubber mounts and hardware for the frame to body mounts today!
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