It's hard to nail down exactly because someone has been in there and changed at least the shocks around a bit, but I would say 40-41 Ford based on the roundback spindles. I know they made them from 37 on, but the stabilizer bar kinda makes me think it is later stuff. Don
Yep, the more I look at it I think it is 40-41. Look at these axles, the one from 37-41 is like yours, but only 40-41 had hydraulic brakes ( unless those were added to an earlier front end) For sure it isn't 1932 though. Don
Maybe not. For one thing, your wheelbase will be 6 inches shorter because of the spring in front design, and MAYBE your spring is too wide to fit in the Model A crossmember. My memory is foggy on that, but I think the later spring is 2.25 wide and the Model A is 2 inches, but could be wrong on that one. But some people have run those in the A frame, as long as they don't mind the look of the shorter wheelbase and grill out in front of the axle center line. Don
didn't '39s have hydraulic wide 5's. not saying that's what it's definitely from but that could be what the brakes and spindles are.
It is not really suitable for a direct bolt in on a model A. the spring in front design alters the wheelbase. This has been done on many cars in the past, but personally I hate it. On the other hand, there are lots of good parts there that you can use on your A. The spindles, hubs, drums and wheels are all useable (wheels look like wide 5's to me. There are hydraulic brakes too, that's good. All you need is a 32-36 axle, some 32 perches and a new spring and you will be good to go. The radius arms may be able to be reworked to suit a spring over setup. Mart.
Fine in an A? To be honest, the short answer is no. It can be made to fit and work, but it's not a good recipe. Some would say an ugly recipe. Don't be tempted to use parts just because you came upon them cheap, given to you or whatever. Having said that, as Mart says, there are definitely parts you can use.
Replace the perch bolts for spring above, spring to suit and remove what you don't need.....that's hot rodding. JW
Using it as is - The biggest problem you will have is the axle will crash into the A frame with an A front crossmember. But there's a lot of good parts there though they need modified to use but its easy and that's what makes hot rodding fun.
I doubt it, There's 3 common types of spring set ups and they are exactly as they sound. You have a "spring in front" pictured above is a "spring over" and then there is a "spring behind" these reference the axle. See how your spring is in front of the axle.
of course that setup can be used in an A! lots of cars were built using that front end in new england in the 50-60's! personally I'm not a huge fan of how it looks, it's a bit more work to make it usable but it does work on a car with no front fenders or cycle fenders due to the shortened wheelbase. spring too wide?? slice your front crossmember and widen it!
As was said, it can be done but the proportions are going to be off in most people's opinion. It moves the axle back 6 inches and the radiator will sit over the spring with the axle centerline behind that by the aforementioned 6 inches. A model a has a 103.5 wheelbase, so if you deduct the 6 inches you will be at 97.5 inches.......way short. Some people don't mind that, but a lot of us do. But it is your car, so if you widen the crossmember to take the (as I recall wider spring) it will fit. But I would use all the good parts like spindles, brakes, and tie rod, and then sell off the rest to buy proper earlier parts that put the spring over the axle. Sometimes cheap isn't better. Don
Don Ferrara and Wally Parks mounted the 37-41 front ends in their roadsters. I think Don's roadster is one of the prettiest 29s ever built. Rich.... More pics of Don Ferrara's Front axle. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443845
Very usable and can be fitted in an early Ford. Either live with the shorter wheelbase - it's very traditional, or move the front crossmember forward like Roy Desbrow did on his famous pickup. It brings the front of the car down without needing a dropped axle which in itself makes things much easier. You can use the stock spindles and don't need to modify the steering arms. Here are some pictures of Roy's pickup with the front crossmember moved forward and some pictures of the it being re-created in my shop.
One thing that a lot of guys don't like about running that axle under an earlier car is that to split the bones you have to bend the bones like Edwardlloyd showed in photo 2 above. The other option that I think most guys would vote for is to buy an earlier style dropped axle like a Model A or 32/34 and the matching spring and use all the rest of the pieces trimming the bones to work with the earlier axle and springs. You have some interesting stuff there it's all in how you want to use it.
Mr48chev brings out a major issue with using that setup and it is the closeness of the wishbones to the tire. Ford moved the spring perches out to get a wider spring under the later cars for a better ride, and the problem is, if you use that setup on a hot rod and split the bones, you will have a very limited turning radius. The "fix" is to bend the wishbones inward to give more tire room on turns, but it isn't ideal to do it that way. Much better IMO to just use the earlier axles and salvage the usable parts from this setup to add to that axle. Don
Yes but wouldn't you agree Don, you'd prefer the modified 41 Ford front end to a bunch of made in China new parts. Also the spring in front axles make it possible to ride low without dropping the axle. Anyway it's real Ford parts and were used in many famous cars, Roy Desbrow's pickup included. Ed
Some of you guys are clouding the waters by showing pictures of cars with 32 and 34 frames. You also need to know if the front crossmember has been moved in them too. As stated, the Desbrow one was.
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