Hot Rods Ford F-1 Dana 44 under Model A?

Well here is the story, I picked up a 52 Ford rolling (almost rolling) ch***is minus engine the other day for the F-1 brakes, steering box, crossember and pedals, shock brackets and a few other pieces for my 31 Vic and didn't figure on the rear end but after getting it home and looking at it it is a Dana 44 rather than the 41 that some had.
The thought has crossed my mind that rather than going out and getting another rear end I might just check this one over, clean it up and run it under the A as the brakes already match everything else and the bolt pattern obviously matches. The car is running an 8BA with T-5 so the gear ratio should be good or real close to good.
Now the question: Am I nuts for thinking about doing this or is it a viable way to go? A check shows that parts are relatively easy to come by and it does solve the will the brakes match issue.
The bare frame minus the pieces I listed will be for sale if someone needs a nice set of rails. The truck donated it's cab and bed to a 4x4 frame swap years ago by the father of the guys I got the frame from.

 

Maybe a little wide ? but I say go fer it....still running a few myself - pretty good little low HP rear end.....

 

Good find. Those crossmembers and pedals and the rear. All usable for your a.

 

I haven't measured it or checked it out yet. Had a Dana 44 out of a 56 F100 in my T bucket back in the 70's. They sell some pretty nifty finned aluminum covers for that rear end too so that might be a plus. It still comes down to width and condition. The rest of the ch***is seems to have been well taken care of with Midas shocks and no hacking or damage.

 

Dana 44 = good stuff , same as front or rear in millions of Jeep , and Rear of Jag . Etc. Great axle , a little tuff to swap gears , but doable . I’ll buy the F2 front backing plates if you want to part with them .

 

You will need to be happy with the ratio as well I guess.
For what this diff offers you, even if too wide, you could shorten one axle if you know people and still come out close to OK.

 

My 49 F-1 had a a pretty spindly rear axle under it and I busted it twice with a 289/cruiso. Shelled the ring and pinion once and snapped a left axle. Ratio was 4.27.

 

That might have been a Dana 41, not a Dana 44.

 

Prolly was as it was fragile.

 

49 had the Dana 41 that was a bit whimpy. I'm thinking that at 60 inch tread width this rear is too wide and it isn't worth spending the money to cut it down. I already have a stack of nine inch rears and one V8 banjo rear. The banjo is naked with no backing plates or drums though. This is/was just an idea that I am looking for input on.

 

After some hunting I found that the Model A has a 56 inch tread width and the F1 has a 60 inch tread width. Even though I am not running wide tires or wide rims that may be too big of a difference.

 

Dana 44's have a 8 1/2'' ring gear and are pretty strong. Dana 44's were the rear axle that was under alot of late 60's Chevy suburbans and late model Camaros. There are many gear ratios available for that rear end. Just make sure you run one piece axles.