Projects Victress S4 with 49 Ford "Shoe Box" Rails. I have many questions.

Hello, fellow Hambers!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. I finally got my 59 Victress delivered! The guy picked it up on Xmas Eve and it was here in NY State yesterday arriving from the most western tip of WA!

So, I am very excited about the new project! It has, from what I have been told and matched up in general pics online, a 1949 Ford Shoe Box frame. The cradle and A-arms and coils and drag link and the drums are all there.

Around halfway back, however, there are holes in the frame from rust. I am going to separate the body from the frame soon as to get a better understanding of frame status.
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Sorry for the big intro! Here comes the many questions!

1) Are there companies that re-stamped the rails or make a replacement frame or set of real for replacement?

2) How hard are the parts to get for the front end (Drums, bearings pads, coils, etc.)?

Do they make a disc brake set up and which parts/donor?

Since it is an A-arm setup and that tech has generally not changed in 70 years, am I correct to assume that they can handle pretty well (must be better than my Dodge's suicide dropped I beam axle, right?)? Seems like it has a sway bar and a typical drag link set up that would make it fairly decent as a handler... is why I note?

Are the steering boxes hard to rebuild/shim/find parts for and are there direct more modern replacements that bolt up?

Are there any well-known companies or folks who specifically deal in the Shoebox parts (49 Ford) ?

Of course, I would love to get a new frame, but since this one is already modded and torched to fit the Victress, I intend on using it as it already has body mounts, the steering and column, clutch, and brake pedal swinging assembly.

Of course, if I get down the frame after splitting and hanging the fiberglass shell and that frame is really "potato chippy" in the middle, I will have to make the real decision as to how much effort I want to place into cutting out pounds of crap and welding up virgin steel to make a seamless, pretty, and, of course ... safe roller.

Man! The Victress S4 is Huge! This thing fills my entire one bay garage. I thought it was tight with my 30 Dodge!

As always, I am appreciative of all and any(even the snarky and sarcastic) from the boys and gals on the Hamb!
Pork

 

No on the frame rails. But about everything else can be upgraded and modified. They make dropped spindles, disk kits ect. Aerostar coils are popular. Search out the shoebox threads

 

Ford used more-or-less the same frame design through '56, so finding something that would work shouldn't be too tough if yours requires too much repair. They did change the front suspension though, the '49-53 are mostly the same, '54-56 was upgraded and is a better suspension. But the change will affect how the motor sits in the frame so do some research before leaping...

 

Thank you, guys. Interesting 54 -56 is better tech.

 

Looks like it has 51 to 53 Packard tail lights on it.

 

More pictures when you get the chance

 

Basically the difference is the '49-53 still used kingpins, Ford upgraded to ball joints in '54. The 54-56 suspension/steering basically wouldn't wear out (other than the rubber bushings) if kept greased on even a intermittent basis, but replacement parts are more expensive.

I once split a near-200K miles '56 balljoint with unknown care and the machining marks weren't even worn off...

 

I love the Victress body, a very pretty design. As Crazy Steve said, it still uses kingpins instead of ball joints, but if it's all rebuilt and tight they ride and handle nice. The steering boxes have a tendency to get worn out by 60K miles, they are adjustable but once they're worn they need to be rebuilt. If you can find one out of a low-mileage car you're golden.

Nobody makes rails for these but I would think there's a donor car out there that could give up what you need if you find you need to weld in some new sections.

Post some pictures of the car, I'd really like to see it.

 

Jesus! A Sports car with Shoe-box Ford suspension? I once traded a Shoe-Box Ford and a wad of what was disingenuously called 'boot' for a '54 Jaguar roadster and never looked back. As close to Canada as you are, I would check out Paul Horton's stuff, here https://welderseries.com/ My suggestion would be to use Mustang II suspension (that use rack and pinion, disc brakes) because once you get the cross member mated to the frame, there is a whole plethora of aftermarket parts to make it handle and stop much better than the outdated engineering from the Shoe-box that never made the jump from its buggy sprung antecedents. And, as we all know from looking at how the folks who reproduce the storied Cobras that thick wall tubing is a much better choice for a frame than anything going, even if you don't intend to race your car, you want it safe and easy to handle. Maybe I'm well past the intended budget but there are companies that offer to mandrel bend this material to your specifications and offer their own suspension systems. Art Morrison comes to mind, even though, naturally there are others who offer similar services.

 

If you want to stick with a shoebox or up though say 56 frame there is probably someone doing a frame swap on a shoebox who has a decent frame that they will let go for what will amount to a reasonable price.
Truthfully there are dozens of ways you can go depending on how true you feel the need to stick to what the original build was. Tread width and wheel base being the two factors that may make a later model frame work on not work. a stock shoebox has a 114 inch wheelbase

 

Pork, glad to hear it made it to you safely.

 

Jamco suspension has a good bit of stuff to update shoebox front suspension.

 

I might add my impression from the photographs is that when in working order, you will have a quite nice ride. I have been watching some of the older James Bond films, and aside from his snidely righteous Aston Martin (a wise choice by the filmmakers) that some of the other autos that appear are interesting if only because of their timeliness and inclusion in what is an entertaining time capsule. A sports car like the one pictured, I must say, would fit right in. Good luck on your endeavors, as I am sure you already must have some in stock having come up with such a project.

 

Did you look up Shoebox Central ? They seem to be the go to place for shoebox info.