want to use a 8" rearend in my pickup with the orig flathead. is the 46-48? truck trans open driveshaft and will it fit in the stock 39 center crossmember without major mods? Or is there a brake conversion for the original rearend to update the brakes? Thanks for the Help!!!!!!!!!
The 42-50 half ton pickup had the open drive light 3 speed trans. Basically, it's the same trans as the 39-48 p***enger 3 speed. Only difference was the rear mount and the longer mainshaft (output shaft). They were made in topload or sideload cases, just like the cars. The rear mount on the open drive has the 8" spacing between the centerlines of the mounting holes. Your 39 had the 10" spacing so you will have to modify the mounting brace on your frame to fit the 8" spacing. If you don't have the front yoke from a 42-50 pickup (and its driveshaft) you can use a front yoke from any 60-66 Chev V8 car with the Powerglide trans. It's the same spline and OD on the yoke. Then just have a driveshaft made up to match that yoke and the yoke on your 8" rearend. Make sure you get the length right on the driveshaft. You can use the loop type e-brake cable ***y from a 64 Fairlane on most of the 60's 8" rear end. That's what I used on mine (from a 65 Mustang). This is a single cable that connects to both backing plates. Any common yoke with a length of threaded stock will allow you to connect it to your 39 Ford e-brake cable. If you want to stay with the early Ford rear end, I believe you can update the brakes to the 46-48 self engergizing types. They're still 12" but you have to use the 46-48 backing plates and hardware. I havent done this conversion but I know it can be done.
Ch***is Engineering makes a nice kit to mount the rearend. I've used it in two different cars, a '37 and a '41. pigpen
I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I noticed you have a '39 pickup. I dug the one up in the picture out in the desert near here and have been trying to determine if it is a 38 or a 39. I've seen pictures with the grill like this listed as both 38's and 39's. Do you know what year it is? Thanks and good luck with your rear-end question, Sum
It looks like yours is a '39. The vertical bar on the '38 is seperate from the horizontal bars, like this: The '39 is all one piece.
Thanks, I had the pictue above of the differences, but not which was which. Is one of those that you posted yours? c ya, Sum
I like it a lot . If mine looked that good I would leave it alone and just drive it. Here are two pictures when we were digging it up. The guy in the picture is a friend that helped me dig it out. The first thing I did was to dig down at the back of the cab to see if it was attached to a frame. If it would have been I would have given up right there. When we started digging we found that both front fenders were there (under the sand) along with the grill. We dug it out so far and then put the fence post through the windows and used my jeep (in the background of top picture) winch to rock it side to side. I have to finish my lakester and then decide if I want to work on my '51 Desoto limo or the Ford pickup next. c ya, Sum
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