Hey guys, first of all I want to say I hope I'm not annoying. I know I've asked lots of questions and made lots of posts doing so. I just want to get things right, so thanks for putting up with me! Got the flathead out of the 41 super deluxe today. I'm about to get my new to me 305 on the engine stand and go through it. Motor mount kit will be here Thursday from CE, so things are moving. Will it matter which th350 I get? There's a rebuilder in Portland offering short or long tail for the same price. Being a sedan will a long tail be better for a shorter driveshaft? Or will the short tail install easier?? What have you used? I sure appreciate you guys, thanks!
It won’t matter in your 41. If you have a smaller car a short shaft is needed to be able to help set pinion angle and have enough room to do so.
I had a friend who used to use the longer shaft Turbo 350's in his installs(in 35-40), so that the driveshaft/yoke would stick out, behind the X-member.
TH350 long used to be cheap, since they're close enough to drop in place of 700R4, a lot got used to keep those cars going.
yeah, put in a long tail, if you plan to swap to a 700 later. Or a short tail if you plan to go to a 200. Either way, make the mount easy to move back pretty far, so either trans will bolt in.
If you don't have a trans. yet...I'd most defiantly go buy a T-200-4R. They are short, light, a little smaller in diameter, and MUCH better gear ratios than the T700-R4, or for that matter the T-350. The T-350 was a reasonably good trans in it's day, but there are better to choose from now. I have three old cars, I've used the T-400, the T-700-R4 (along with a coupla manual transmissions !). All of my old cars (3) now have the T-200-4R in them. Mike
Ahem!!! STOP!!!!!! No , no and no. Take a moment to research. I am pretty sure I know what site your looking at. Google for a review. I want you not to get ahead of yourself
I have a 200-4R in the '40 and its working out great with a 3:80 8" trac loc and a lockup torque converter with a switch to disengage when running around town and i don't need the lock up engaged. Had a 350 short tail shaft (6"?) and the drive shaft fit with no problems, A little tight in the X member and I have split Radius rods from a CE install a long time ago. I did have to upgrade to a Hyro boost set up as my Vacuum booster was really close to hitting the driver side radius rod, You may not have that issue with the '41 as there may be more room in the X member area.
Ok thank you. I'm not sure if it's the same place or not, I haven't talked to the guy. I have only seen his ads on Facebook marketplace.
Short shaft, long shaft, is but one consideration. An equally interesting and important conversation involves which torque converter you choose (high/low stall speed). In an earlier post you wrote about using an early Camaro rearend with probably a 3.08 ratio, which I would consider to be a pretty tall gear. So, how much power are you hoping for from your 305, and how are you planning to use this car? My point is that choosing an appropriate TC is sort of like choosing which cam shaft to use in your engine, it WILL influence the overall package. I once made a bad TC selection (too high stall, with relatively mild cam, and tall rear gear) in the past, and it was a frustrating and expensive experience. My two cents. Good luck Dan.
Well I missed out on the Camaro rear, the search still continues. I plan on a stock converter with the little 305, no matter what gears I get. I did see a 10 bolt that the guy thinks is a 3.50 gear, but it's a couple hours away. Thanks for the well wishes I'm having fun!
Save your money, and just buy a 8.8" Ford from an Explorer. Drum brake rears are 58.5" wide, and disc brake are 59.5" wide. Pick N Pull in Vancouver always has plenty in their yard, and sells them for $220 in various gear ratios, and half that price on 3 day holiday weekends. There's a site called "The Ranger Station" that lists all the good years for them, and door codes for ratios, and whether they're open or posi. I use these axles on everything, and they're bulletproof as is, and no upgrades needed unless you went crazy on the engine build. They have them in a wide assortment of gear ratios too. I'd seriously consider using a 200R or 700R4 for a trans, and then go with around a 3.56 or 3.73 rear gear. It will give your car great around town performance, and drop rpm's under 2000 rpm at 55-60 mph cruise speeds. Makes our old hotrods a lot nicer to hit the open highway with and cruise on long drives.
I have thought about this, but does the unequal axle lengths and offset pinion hurt anything? I mean do I have to shorten an axle to make equal length or just run as is?
Offset pinion only hurts the guys who are totally anal about everything on the car being true and square and having an offset Ford rear end in a Ford is more than they can mentally deal with even though Ford has run offset pinons since 1957. Simply meaning, the only viable reason that says you have to have a perfectly centered pinion is that you just flat ass do not have room for the driveshaft to be anything but perfectly centered.. Every 57/75 or so F100 and F150 you follow down the street every day has that offset pinion and driveshaft and you don't see them having mechanical issues because of it. As far as gear ratio you might want to play with this calculator a bit to decide what is going to work. It doesn't compensate for overdrive transmisisons so you have to multiply the overdrive ratio by the rear axle gear ratio to get a gear ratio with overdrive. Plug in three known quantities and get the fourth. meaning that it is real easy to figure out what rpm you would be running at a certain mph running down the road with the setup you have planned. Tire Size, RPM, Speed, and Differential Ratio Calculator (advanced-ev.com)
This thread has a lot of good general 8.8 info when you go looking for one https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/8-8-rear-end-for-a-hotrod-info.1203372/
My only concern is the tunnel on my 41 ford sedan. The explorer axle pinion is 4" off center, and I don't want the driveshaft rubbing. That's what my question was geared at, I'm not worried about looks since you would have to be under the car to see it. Has anyone used a non narrowed 8.8 in there 41? I would really like to run one, I was just scared of the offset.
Maybe get a look under it now and see what you have for room. Take a length of pvc pipe and off set it to get an idea.
Dan, BB427 and Mr 48 give good advice. Find a narrow 8.8, with a reasonable 3.50ish ratio for your 41. Use a Weedetr rear suspension kit, and position the rear axel wherever it needs to be, by moving the axel pads. There's tons of wheel offsets from most of the wheel manufacturers to dial in the rear axel tracking in the center of the car. Heck, I even run a diff offset on each wheel on the rear of my Avatar coupe, nobody notices, no biggy, and it keeps the right side tire out of the fender lip. This car also has a 200 4r from a Monty Carlo SS, really works nice. Highly recommand OD, the 200 is a nice fit and very reliable, if well built. Im sure the 4l60-80 would also work well, but it's a bigger package. Decisions, decisions, but hey , enjoy this part, mapping out the build is one of the best parts, without getting dirty. Truly, time spent in research & planning should result in fewer disappointments/redos, and give you more confidence in your ride. GL
I am not sure that I understand. The transmission you are after is not going to clear the tunnel, and I as well recommend that you go with an overdrive unit. Since you are going to have to make a transmission tunnel, just make a driveshaft tunnel, too.
So you are saying I have to cut the floor up for a th350 or 700r4? I've read other posts that said the th350 fit well, didn't see anything about having to cut the floor up. I'm hoping this is inaccurate as I would like to leave the body unmolested as possible. What I meant by the drive line not rubbing on the tunnel is with the trans centered in the car and an offset pinion on the rear, that makes the drive line run at an angle. Was just wondering about clearance issues as to not rub on one side of the tunnel or floor. But it sounds like I won't need to worry about that unless I lower the car way down, which I wont do. I'll get er down a few inches though if I can. Thanks for all the help, I have much to learn. I know I'll run into some hurdles as I go, just trying to avoid as many as I can before I get too deep.
@Dan Coburn the 9 I’m in my 46 is offset. And I’m very low and have no issues with the floor pan and factory tunnel. I’d assume you would be ok as well. Here’s some photos here you can see the offset between the rear and the transmission. I thought I had a shot of it with the driveshaft in but I don’t. But you can see how it is from this photo. here It sits after the ford test drive. No issues at all. And this is also with a short tail shaft by the way.
Thank you VERY MUCH!!! I was worried no one could understand my rambling, this is terrific news!! So I gotta ask...with the short tail th350 what did you have to do to make it fit? Again, THANKS!!
Followed the instructions for the the Pete and Jake’s th350 mount. I also got the one for the wishbone mounts. In the instructions it shows you where to open it up and where you will need to remove portions of the k member.
Well today I got my motor mounts from CE, a free set of never ran ceramic coated block huggers, (hope they will work) and a explorer 8.8 out of an explorer sport with the driveshaft. I don't have possession of the axle yet, but it's mine. Getting closer by the minute it seems! It was a VERY GOOD DAY.
The Jalopy Journal
