maybe this is old news if so i apologise. i was just surfing ebay and noticed an auction for a '32 ford front axle by the son of marty costello owner of mor-drop axles saying he is closing the buisness and is selling all the dies and fixtures. another hotrod icon gone sadly. Al.
Shoot it's been shut down I believe.. I talked to him last year, said he'd cut everything in half he didn't sell off..
I met him for the first time at Turlock and was invited to come by his place. Sadly he died before I could make it
Back in the early 60's I tuned and my buddy Pete drove John Mor's Dragster for several years. It was a great time. also learned a lot about Blacksmithing.
call Derek at Pair-o-dice customs. His shop is around the corner for mor-drop and he bought a lot of axles from them before they closed.
Marty died on March 14, of this year. He was not in good health, and was not expected to even last that long (his words). He sold his equipment off, piecemeal, so non went to China, at-least as axle dropping equipment. What was not sold, was s****ped. He had no successor.
i just picked up a 33 ford 5wdw that has been sitting in the exact same spot since early to mid 50's and owned by the same guy since 1949 . he said the dropped axle under the front of it was purchased at a speed shop in california in that time frame and he drilled it when he got it home and he drilled the unsplit bones to match it . is there any way to know for sure who dropped the axle ??? did any of these early axle dropping shops use any marks or any other identifying features . i will post pics if it helps but there is very little if any distortion in the dropped area it looks as smooth and transitional as a new superbell . i had a mor drop on my old 34 hot rod and it was very obvious that it was heated and bent . not ugly or hacked looking but definitely some distortion in the flanges of the beam and obviously dropped . i will post pics if needed for identifying !!!! jp
I think it is, too. I have a 4" Mor Drop that my Dad picked up right at the Mor-Drop shop and it's identical to that one.
John Moore was an old time blacksmith, I first met him in 1959 and he was no spring chicken then. His shop had been in that place a long time before that.
here are a couple pics, i know the front end is not together and the kingpins aren't in right etc.etc. i'm just wondering about the axle , remember as i stated in my other post when i got this car it was an abandoned hot rod project that had not been touched since 1952 ish Shot at 2012-09-04 Shot at 2012-09-04
i am no expert but your axle looks like a mor-drop to me, i am sure others will be able to varify it. i really like your coupe project. Al.
I have a real Mor-Drop 4" or 5" dropped 1932-1936 axle with 1932 spindles, split Model A wishbones and perches under a Model A frame on the sideyard. I really should snap a photo of it.
Maybe it's just my impression, but Mor Drop was about the only company dropping axles until the more recent generation to actively go after mail order and speed shop type business. Back in the late seventies when I first got going in this stuff, If you called, say, Speedway you got an axle and sent a core. I remember saving my paper route and family business weekend work monies for one, then calling Speedway and being told I would have to wait 3 months. I'm pretty damn sure that Mor Drop was doing the deal. Until about ten years ago, seeing a for real old time dropped axle (not an aftermarket tube or I-beam) at a swap was an uncommon thing. There always seemed to be one guy in town (that's you Don Marks!) that was hoarding them when he found them and you bought from him. With that thought, I would have to think that a good portion or most of the dropped axles floating around out there are possibly Mor Drop, that is untill you get into the newer generation of guys doing this stuff.
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