i know that the 1949-48 car brakes will work with model a spindles if you buy the adaptor kit that speedway motors sells. my question is, has anyone tried putting 1948-56 ford pick up brakes on model a spindles? is there any grinding required to clear the wheel cyclinder? does it use the same ring adaptors as the earlier brakes do?
I have 56 F100 drum brakes on my project. Yes some grinding is required to clear the wheel cyl. I did not use a ring adapter. I will take some photos this afternoon and post them for you
thank you....im looking forward to the pics. also, did you have to use different bearings...or did the stock f100 bearings fit the spindles?
jnunez1955, Usually when installing hydraulic brakes on a Model A axle, you would install the late model spindles as well as the hydraulic brakes. It makes for a simpler install. If my memory is correct the center hole in the 48-56 Ford F-100 Bendix brakes is the same size as the late model spindles. Then if you are putting them on the Model A spindles you would need the adapter ring for the smaller Model A spindle. As far as grinding on the spindle. When the F-100 brakes were put on the late model round back spindles you had to grind clearance for the brake cylinder. When you had the later square back spindles you didn't need to grind the spindle. There is a need to change the wheel bearings to use the later F-100 hubs. I'm at work and don't have access to an old article on the change. Maybe one of the smart guys will chime in and provide the necessary part numbers for the wheel bearings.
thanks guys. im aware that most people change to the earlier spindles. but since my axle is droped 4 inches....i dont want to deal with heating and bending the spindles links...
Yes you can, with the adapter kit. The biggest hurdle is the different bolt patterns of the backing plate and the spindle. I usually weld to holes up in the plate using plugs, dress them down and use the adapter ring to center the plate, transfer punch, and redrill to the new bolt pattern. You will need to use the spacer provided in the kit, and you do need to change the inner bearing and race same as you would any other F1 or F100 conversion. I just ran out to the shop and got the numbers - 14116 inner bearing, 14276 inner race, 450461 or CR15214 seal. Not too hard...
I believe it was Timken. That's the beauty of having a good bearing warehouse like Bearing Belt and Chain here in Phoenix. Just hand them the numbers and they can do the rest. Bearing guys seem to live on cross reference charts.
thanks, are the bearing choices the same between f1 (1948-1952) and f1 (1953-1956) and someone previously stated that grinding is required off of the spindle...do you have pics of how much was taken off?
Yes the bearings are the same for F1 and F100. As far as grinding the spindle, I don't believe you will have to on model A spindles. If for some reason you do, it is on a sort of do it and check basis. I couldn't really tell you how much.
ya, after doing a lil more research....i found out that you dont have to grind them down. So, i just have to buy the adaptor kit, and bearings...redrill the holes and im set thanks for the tips.
so the outer bearing stays the same? and whats the difference between the 450461 seal and the CR15214 seal?
so the outer bearing stays the same? and whats the difference between the 450461 seal and the CR15214 seal? I tried this about a week ago with parts i had loose, outer bearing seemed like it was the same. Correct me if iam wrong.
Yes the outer is the same from '28-'56 pickup, '28-'48 p***enger car. The seal numbers are interchangeable. Just two different numbering systems.
Raising the dead here but there is another non-catalog way to mate later hubs to a Model A spindle. This is half instructional/half venting. I have a lathe so I took some measurements and made a combined spacer/sleeve that allows me to use the original F-100 bearings as mine were too good to just toss out. I entered the cluster trying to find the diameter of the spindle seal surface of an F-100(just to ensure it wasn't the same as the 37-48"). Speedway's kit has a seal for the 37-41 spindles and claim in the question section that the shaft diameter is 1.5". The hubs have a 2.75" ID so you know what you need depending what spindles you start with. Parts guys aren't what they once were so the more parts you change the more it's up to you. A bearing house could set you up but at a premium and more time spent. The original F-100 seal is only $4.95 but has a larger ID. Start venturing for parts like this and it's difficult to get all the info in one spot. But I just refuse to accept "just buy a kit" or "everyone uses later spindles so just do that" so I figured a way to keep the F-100 inner bearings and all. Started with 1.5" 4130 so it's a little gummy to work with. I left the 1.5" section as a feature at the base of my spacers for the 15214 seals to ride (which are on order). This is all I had to buy to make the conversion(so far). The model A spindle lacks a good seal area as it used a different kind that presses on the base of the spindle - not a good surface for the later seals to ride on. No machining of the Model A spindles required. There is a .125 radius on the spacer for the F-100 inner bearing(rather than a valve seat or other spacer) and another .125 radius inside where the spacer meats the A spindle radius. The spacers would just start to go on but I heated them until they fell on. The gap at the outer end is primarily from the taper of the A spindle. Here is the original F-100 inner bearing sitting in place. It is spaced out slightly more than necessary so I might change that once I see the seals fitted. I had measured less but added more as I knew there could be an issue with the seal interfering with that spindle base. Here's the ***embly. The new 1.5" seal surface is just visable and may be moved back later. I could have made yet another step in a larger adaptor that would go over the original A spindle base and allow even the F-100 seals to be used. That was a little more cypherin' than I cared to do and meant starting with 2.5" or so stock. I have plugged and tigged the F-100 backing plate holes and turned my own "piston ring" spacers but haven't redrilled the plates yet for the A's 3/8" bolts. Okey Joe dropped my axle and set my spindle inclination last week but that's not for this thread. So technically one can do this with a little reverse engineering. The needed "sleeve" part between the spindle and bearing ID is easy to figure. The rest is in the back spacing and remembering you need to add radii. Sounds daunting at first but it is quite simple if you have a lathe and the patience to measure and draw it up.
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