Was out driving around with my buddy looking for a 46 Chevy he saw. We find it and start talking with the owner, and of course he wont sell any parts off it, or the whole thing. Says it has been on his farm since new and ain't leaving now. Any way I see him loading up a truck with s****, with what I guess is a 1940 ish Ford rear axle. The wishbone is bent and cracked, the end of the torque tube was cut and turned into a trailer hitch. But I offered him more than s**** for it, $20, and hooked it to my truck and hid it in my buddies barn. Question now is what in the hell am I gonna do with it? The wheels turn free, backing plates are to far gone to be reused, how ever the bells, center section and input all look pretty good. Is this worth hanging on to? What kind of power can they stand up to? If nothing else I'll paint it up nice and hang it on the wall in the shop. Or who knows maybe it will end up under the '31 A I'm trying to convince the owner of he should sell. Keith
sure it's worth hanging on to. even though the torque tube is messed up , somebody...or you....may want to convert to open drive or use it with a quick change
Why? Cause it's cool as hell to save old stuff. I'd have done the same thing and I don't own an early Ford...at the moment.
I saved the carrier and ring gear from my Model A rear. Going to make a lamp out of it. Too bad a shape to use for anything else. Yeah, I'm a weird-oh.
Right on! I've saved 5 early ford axles and wishbones from the s**** pile this year Luckily my father-in-law has a nice farm place for me to store them!
You are just like the rest of us. It is a disease friend LOL. Hell you might even use it sometime...... or if not s**** goes up every year!
Growing up and starting to work on cars in the '50s the only jack stands were old Ford axle bells cut off to different lengths. Worked then and work now, just not adjustable.
Dang you Mata. I hate living in the Northeast.. That stuff would be a pile of red oxide in 2 years up here. To everybody else, thanks, glad I saved it even if I don't use it, I saved it for somebody who needs one. How hard is it going to be to find a set of backing plate for it? I'm guessing drums are being re-poped. I'm going to be looking for a set of wishbones for it now. Keith
earlier this year I paid someone 15 bucks for a bug trunk, all rusted all to ****, but it still has the 60's Georgia plate attached to it, it's hanging on my garage wall now, why? I guess I felt sorry for it, sat somewhere rusting for all these years, then was headed for s****. my wife thinks I'm crazy
Well, you could remove the damaged bells and cut them down to some super-traditional jack stands like we all usta back in the good ol days. Have some fun with them. We used a torch to slice a "U" at the top of the stands so you could slip them under the axles of your car but you could make a pivoting platform at the top [I've got a pair of stands like that...very handy to go under frame rails] or send 'em out for chroming. Anyway, that would make storing the center and axle shaft easier and allow you to check gear condition. Good score and you broke the ice with the '46's owner. He now knows you're not wasting his time...you'll actually step up with a little cash for old stuff he has.
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