While starting to cobble together parts for a cobbled together deuce framed roadster I came upon this all steel, all Ford, pretty much rust free '32 pick up. It had been sitting on SF Bay Area Craigslist for three weeks with no responses when I came upon it. I couldn't believe it was still there and I drove out immediately and bought it.... he even delivered it! It had an 8BA that the seller says he had running (no water in the oil)an Edelbrock twin carb manifold, headers, '39 trans and rear. It was an old hot rod and I want to retain the flavor with some safety and driving upgrades..... front dics brakes, unisteer, T5 trans. I'll go through the engine and check bearing clearances, etc and reseal it before trying to start it. I have a question..... it has a dropped axle but I don't know how much it's dropped. it measures about four and a half inches from the top of the spring boss to the top of the kingpin boss. I think it's a three inch drop but I have nothing to compare it to. I'm going to be cutting off that beautiful shock mount (?) I don't think there's a front side of the axle..... I'm hoping I can cut it and grind it down and make it look decent but then spin the axle around so that's in the back. Is there a problem with that? Thanks! Gary O
Do a search BEFORE you spend any money on a "Unisteer". The kind that replaces a stock Ford box has a very poor reputation here on the HAMB.
the guy who welded on that shock mount must have heard that old saying " if you can not weld good weld a lot" yes, you can turn the axle around
Why don't you like the unisteer? As Alchemy suggested above I have searched the HAMB for posts on the Unisteer and it appears to be about 50/50 love and hate. The two owners of cars I've seen in person loved them. Without seeing the 'hate' set ups I can't tell if the problem is with the unit or the installation. A panhard bar would be a absolute necessity with any cross steer set up but I can't figure out why it wouldn't work at least as well as a Vega box. I know they're not at all traditional and I suspect that's part of the issue. I love rack and pinion.... the steering feel is so much more precise than ball and sector. I have R&P on my two daily drivers and my roadster with almost no play in the wheel as I drive. My '51 Ford, my wife's '55 TBird and her Fiat 124 all have B&S and there is play in all of them..... not a lot but I can feel it. I appreciate the feedback and will continue to research it.
Love the pickup. Nice find. There is also lots of negative feedback on the FordBarn about unisteer. I haven't used one myself. The negative feedback I had read scared me off getting one. 50/50 positive vs negative feedback is not exactly great odds in my opinion. Good luck with the pickup.
The half-rack unisteer is not the kind I'm talking about. The problems were with the unisteer brand box that directly replaces the 32 box. It had parts that couldn't be adjusted and broke early. As for the half-rack, I'll just leave that up to you. Should work well with the disk brakes. Gonna use an LS motor too?
Ask someone with the unisteer rack what there turning radius is like. I,m sure it,s an improvement if you drive a bus.
It would be hard for me to change much other then the shock mounts on that pickup. Looks like a really nice start.
Thought I'd post some 'before ' pics for your entertainment and cringing. My comments would be 'why use one clamp when three will work' and 'I wouldn't trust that brake pedal!' You can see there is no rust at all with the exception of surface here and there. Makes the work worth it.
Yikes. That front wishbone needs some fixing up front and proper bungs welded in the rear. It also kinda looks like the spindles steering arms were maybe cut off and rewelded with the same care as the shock mount. The brake pedal set up is unique. Ive never seen a below floor mount stuck up on the firewall. Im sure the arm was torchered to make it work. All things that need some rethinking.
With a panhard bar I can't see why it shouldn't work splendidly.... I'll report my findings here. LS? Absolutely!!!! What other engine IS there???? I'm gonna pull the pan off the flattie, check the clearances, re-do the seals, bolt on a T5 and put it back in. Just seems wrong to do otherwise.
You want to sell the gear box on the truck let me know. I got some nice billet wheels I would trade ya. Go good with the gear ratio of that t5 you want to put in it.
I must have missed that listing. Either that or the wife blocked it Nice truck! Needs some sorting with the hacks that have been made but still a clean straight start. Where are you in the Bay Area? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The ad was on Craigslist for three weeks and I was the only call. Are you still looking for a 16" wire wheel? 35 Ford? I have a couple.....
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