40 Ford front end mod question

Hey Guys,

I bought an 80's-era modified '40 Ford last Feb from a dealer who had owned it for a couple years. He put about 300 miles on it and I've added another 200. It's got a small block 302 with A/T; runs fine and tracks reasonably well. My question is on the front end mod used to get the engine + tranny into the frame....pics attached.

The '80s builder kept the original front axle setup but cut the front wishbone down and welded the ends to interior frame gussets. It's obviously not a professional job. Moving each wishbone to the inside frame mis-aligns the front spring shackle connections and that eats the rubber bushings. I'm not sure how safe that setup is and I'm trying to decide whether there's another way to secure the solid front axle or if I should go the $$$ Mustang II conversion route.

Anybody out there run into a similar situation ?

Thanks for any help.

 

YIKES!
When the bones are split properly, the spring hanger should get re-aligned. IMO, that spring bushing issue is the least of your immediate worries...

Cut it ALL off, including the channel iron(!) motor mounts, clean it up and do it right. There's no reason not to leave the beam axle in there with properly split bones. It's not the smoothest or best handling setup, but it will cruise just fine.

 

what transmission & mount are installed? looks like SB Ford? there are replacment x-member parts that dont push out the bones so far. CE, TCI. fix the hack job and do it right

 

Those wishbones are ruined and just plain dangerous (the ends that connect to the frame are just wrong- you DO NOT weld tie rod ends like that). If you can find someone who knows what they are are doing (I.E. they have split wishbones on '35 & up Fords) get a new wishbone and have it done right. Clean off all the brackets too. Looks like stock car racing stuff- meant to go a few laps and get destroyed- not go under a high-mileage hot rod. You don't need to go Mustang II- just clean up a few things and that car will be great.

 

The bones need to be heated and bent just behind the axle. If you split them without doing it this way, the spring perches are swiveled inward and are too close together and missaligned. The ends of the bones need to be straightened and the tie rod ends remounted.

 

Ohhh my.........look at the "welded" stearing joints at he wishbone ends
you are a brave man driving around with that. in my opinion its not safe
to roll around on your driveway .Like exwestracer says cut all of it away
dont drive it like that go properly split wishbone or four link

 

Go mustang II. Its worth the money plus you can bet your going to be fixing those motor mounts at the same time. Just looks like to much was wrong not to give the car a decent setup now if you can afford it.

 

If you are close to Newark contact Skidmarks. He should be able to help you with parts or point you in the right direction

 

In the photo with the exhaust pipe visible...am I seeing the entire bottom of the left frame rail missing? Has a tin piece replacing it that doesn't even touch the rest of the rail bottom? And the overlapped and tac welded linkages are just plain bad. The entire bottom of the car has been hashed together. The worst part is the tac welded tie rod end at the end of the wishbone...maybe it could be saved with a proper bung but I don't think so...that crap needs to be removed and replaced.
The steering box also appears to be leaking out the bottom, not to mention the iron motormount brackets tac welded to the bottom of the frame rail...scary!
I'd have to pull the engine/tranny and front sheetmetal to evaluate and repair the damage. Maybe a mustangII swap [after repairing that frame] would be a better deal although the car can be repaired with the axle, however, you're gonna need to completely redo it.

 

Is it the blue 40 from Minnesota that did not have much of a interior that was on that famous auction site.

 

Please, for yourself and for everyone else, DON'T DRIVE that car ANYWHERE until the front end is re-done CORRECTLY. It CAN be re-done properly with an I-beam. What does the REAR installation look like? DD

 

Thanks for the advice folks. I've got a mod shop about 10 miles away so I'll be getting their opinion on the front end work as well as the frame + engine mount issues.....reliable metal fab guys from what I hear. I'll be back later on their verdict.

 

Here is a picture of what some have been talking about