Im building my first A, 29 tudor sedan, trying to figure out what to put out back, 9in or the original banjo. Trying for mostly traditional with a few slight changes. picked up a flathead for it probably going to be around 180 hp. i have a 3 speed for it but might go with the s-10 5 speed just to make it a better driver, i plan on driving it a lot. will have buggy spring in the back. channeled about 4" and a 4 or 5 inch chop. how much power can the banjo take or are they better from a different year car? upgrades to make them stronger? any pros for that axle? 9in are stronger, better brakes, any other reason to switch to a 9in? Thanks Tony
Use a later banjo, '35-48, convert to open drive and put in later axles. Banjos look great and are very traditional.
I'd consider an 8" ford rearend as well. They look cool enough (way better than a 10-bolt) and usually the width will fit an A right, so no need to narrow it like a 9. The only thing i'd think of that is a problem is the bolt pattern. Its kinda nice to match your front hubs, but not necessary, besides restricting your choice for wheels. TP
Anybody making up grades for a Banjo...gear sets, axles, open rear conversions, etc.? Back in the old days, we use to use a late forties PU open rear...
I'd say it depends on how you drive... If you're doing burn outs every ten seconds and trying to fish tail it around every corner you might spin an alxe key. But you can up grade to ford nine inch inner axles if you want to keep the look of the banjo and not worry about spinning an axle.
If I'm not mistaken, the forties PU open rears were parallel leaf spring set-ups. They're still out there. Seems like I read somewhere that you can put '35/36 axles and bells on them to make them easier to mount in a traditional rod (36 radius rods mounted). Is that right, or am I delusional?
ok thanks everybody. staying with the banjo it is! i guess ill try to find a later one 35' up. do most 35' and up have juice brakes or are still mechanical? now to use split 36' bones or radius rods hmmmm.
weren't juice until '39. spend some time on the hot rod works website. they have lots of good banjo rear end info.
40's banjo.. if you wanna run trad style.. esp with the flatty.. imo.. and run torque tube.. go with the 3spd. or if you hop up that flattie maybe save some cabbage for the LaSalle.. but Im running the 8BA with a 39 box, torque tube and 40 ford rear in my 27 T
I would say you are definitely pushing your luck, but you could get away with it longer IF you ran some narrow bias ply tires in a relatively light car. If you're running better tires than that I hope your discipline is better than most.
Banjo - 36's are popular because of the 3.78:1 final drive, but if you are going to run a T5 then you may want a numerically higher ratio - depends on your rear tire size. Go to www.currieenterprises.com and then click on the center icon, at the next page click on calculators on the right hand side column and you can get answers to everything except the meaning of life.
I vote banjo also. But they came with 3 different ratios, 4.10, 3.78 and 3.54. The 3.54 being the rarest, I was told.
That is comparing oranges to walnuts. The T-5 might make shifting a bit better, but I tink you should run a banjo. You are running an unblown or injected semi stock flattie...BANJO. I don't think any real benefit would come from running a 9" behind your said set up.
yeah im definitely going with the banjo by what everyone said. i have a 3 speed minus the bell housing. just trying to figure out if i want the old 3 speed or get a t-5, and that will determine if i run the torque tube. although i have heard that the torque tubes arent that fun to work on. in the process of looking for a 39' up banjo so i can get juice brakes.
Not trying to rob your thread sir-but I'm doing a '29 coupe and was wondering the same thing. Also wondering if my '29 banjo will hook up to a '36-'38 manual ford ******?
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