Thread: Old ford rear

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Depending on your age you could get suckered into nostalgia over the time warp of old parts and I would be tempted myself to put a lot of TLC on that frame and running gear with the thought that the earlier Dodge 241 hemi was only rated at 140 H.P. as I recall, but the later ones were rated at over 250 H.P. so what is the year of the engine and what modifications have you made or are planned? Still I WASTED years on old rusty Ford parts due to economic limitations and nostalgia and eventually came to the conclusion that only die hard restorers can bring back these old cars and that is all the more wonder when you see a fully restored car from the early '30s! The axle problem Bob mentioned can be partially remedied with locking hubs still available from Speedway for WHEN (not if!) the axle keys break so that the wheels do not come off and MAYBE an early banjo would survive the early 140 H.P. Dodge hemi but overall you can expect a lot of heartbreak as well as partsbreak. Soo, since you show exposed rear wheels anyway, you should be able to find a Ford 9" rear for $200 or less in local advertisements and maybe not have to narrow it for your use and then maybe use offset rims to bring the wheels in closer to the body. Also an 8" Ford rear might be narrower but weaker than the 9" and yet still Ok for your purpose. Speedway, TCI and other aftermarket suppliers offer weld-on brackets to adapt the later rearends to early frames and only minor welding is required, but should be done by a certified welder. That also means you can choose a variety of transmissions other than the early Ford closed driveline. Unknown to a whole generation of modern rodders are the weakness of the '32-'48 Ford three speed transmissions AND how many of you have experienced "clutch chatter" of the flathead era? Instead we are used to the "clank" of worn universal joints, but in the old closed drivelines you only used reverse if you had too because the drive line was rigid and the clutch irregularities coupled with a worn throwout bearing could lead to incredible "bucking" of the whole drive line, especially when backing up an incline in a flexible convertible, although bucking clutch chatter was common even in more rigid Tudor bodies. With all those problems why did we love those flatheads? Well it was glorious because of the relatively better acceleration than the OHV-6 Chevies of the time which had an incredibly "slow-suck" vacuum shifter device, especially on the otherwise beautiful '40 Chevrolets, so it is all relative! But today, you should just get a Ford 9" rear, offset rims and a modern transmision from the '70s or newer. Believe me unless you own stock in the WD40 company you will not enjoy all the rust on the old parts. Still I would give that frame TLC and get it boxed and then you can build up the hemi closer to 300 H.P. with add on parts. I wish I had your engine!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder