First of all, I'm currently on a really tight budget, but I do have an F1 axle, spindles, drums, etc... and hope to put it under my '62 fairlane g***er project. A couple facts and figures: WMS to WMS on Fairlane 56", F1 60". CL to CL on F1 spring pads 29", CL to CL on boxed portion of Fairlane frame 31". So if the F1 axle has to be narrowed, that puts the spring pads even further "inside" the boxed portion. I do plan on cutting it all off and running new box tube anyway, but I won't even come close to the inner fender structure. That leaves me with two options that I can think of: 1) run a full frame all the way to the back, and 2) weld it to the cowl and torque-boxes somehow. Any ideas on this? Last, I don't really want to narrow the F1 axle, but instead maybe run a more positive offset wheel. I'm not sure how that would affect driving. Anyone? Afterall, it's only 2 inches further out on each side, and maybe the g***er look would benefit more from this. I'm just not sure, and don't have the wheels yet to try and see how it looks. Sorry for the long post.
Sell the F1 and buy an econoline axle. it will com closer to fitting. You may have to build sone mounts inboard for your springs like they do when they move the rear springs inboard for tire clearance but the econoline should come pretty close to landing in the right place.
Isn't the Econoline track width wider than the F1, or are you talking about spring pad location being better?
I've been on FTE for a few years, and they show up from time to time, lol. Having the old books helps, too.
Check out this thread and see if it is any help for you. It has a 48 F100 under it and has not been cut or altered. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250798&highlight=comet+g***er Jon
That's the shiznit! thanks! On a side note, been thinking about it at work all day, and I was thinking of just using it as is, and if it ends up being too wide, I just buy the speedway tube, but meanwhile I work with what I have. Your Comet affirmed it.
hi i looked at using the fioo front axle too but the thing that put me off was the spring pad locations. The 53 was to narrow and the 56 f1 was too wide. The overall witdh was fine as the wider front end the better. I ended up making my own tube axle. This way i could mount the springs were i wanted the other benifit is you can have less arch in the spring as the tube does not bend up like the original axle and you can get the car higher without over arching the springs. this has worked very well on my 64 fairlane running 11 secs. There are a couple photos in my profile of the build if you want to take a look. Hope it helps. Feel free to ask any other questions i may be a able to help with. Cheers
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