Whats the best front clip to put on a 1941-48 Ford frame? (Camaro or Nova) If you own one what did you use? (ANY PICTURES????) TxKahuna Email: txkahuna@sbcglobal.net
Greetings! The '41-48 Ford frame, just like the '49-53 Chevy frame, does not "clip" well. The best option is the Mus II, but if you insist use '79-85 G body (Monti-Carlo, Regal, Cutlass), it's 2" narrower than the Camero, (hub face to hub face) and 3" narrower than the Nova. (Yes, the Nova was wider than the Camero).
If you feel compelled to do a clip, I would find an early Camaro with rear steering set up. The front steer is a real Bitch to mount the radiator support which mounts the front sheet metal in the correct location. The steering gear is in the way. Not saying it can't be done, but the rear steer is easier. I put MII in mine. Clipped the rear with an 85 Metric chassis GM coil spring triangulated four link. Search for my thread on this in a 46 Ford frame.
Just as an option, because some people don't know this, the original axle can be dropped and the original suspension and brakes used. And then it will look way, way better than all that modern stuff plus save you 1000$ bucks or so and some time.
I have dropped the front on 3 of my 47 fords by removing some springs works great and its a cheap way to do it...
I a retired guy on a budget and I can't afford an aftermarket kit does anyone have a setup using a stock Mustang II or Pinto setup on the frame! If so do you have pic's?
My 46 Ford Convertible has a four inch dropped axle, eleven inch power disc brakes, GM 605 power steering and goes down the road better then several M ll's I've had. In my estimation its a lot cheaper, safer and better looking then cobbled up M ll and Camaro clips that are out there.
My 41 had a Mustang II, much better fitment than any clip I have ever seen on one of these cars. You can salvage the stock MII stuff and then use an inexpensive crossmember only kit from Welder Series set up for stock arms etc for a little over $200.00
Just say no to both nova and camaro.. I put a nova under my 47 years ago and hated the look under the hood and the wheels sit out to wide. There are a lot of options now that we didnot have some years ago.. I had a 47 with fat man front and rear and that thing handled and rode perfect.. and it had good size tires front and rear.. I am putting chassis eng. under my 54 chevy....looks good, sits right and the cost although not cheap but worth it.. just my 2 pennies...
Speedway has a front crossmember that replaces the stock one and drops the front 3" using the stock front suspension, it's only $104. Put some new kingpins, spring bushings and if you want a disc brake kit and you're good to go and cheap.
The Speedway dropped crossmember refered to in an earlier post fits poorly. Your much better off cutting the top out of your existing crossmember and dropping the car the same 3". Out of 16 bolt holes, 2 lined up, and then the spring center bolt was misplaced 1/2" towards the rear. I threw my Speedway crossmember in the junk pile. Hundred bucks wasted.
Dropped axle and stock brakes. Reversed spring too if you want a little.lower... Works perfectly and will out last any ball joints.
Let the search begain! I going to look around for a M2 front end, what is the best years to look for? Thanks.... Also BTW: Are the headlight buckets on a 1946-48 Ford car the same as a 1941?
Why even bother to ask? You got good answers, and then ignore the good advice. A stock Mustang or Pinto will NOT work, they won't fit between the frame rails. You COULD pinch the rails, or stub the frame, but then you've got a hacked up mess, especially if you're dead set on using the Pinto crossmember, which does NOT clean up nicely or mount easily. Early ones have a flimsy, clamped on rack, later ones use a three bolt mount, but again, you have to stub the frame, or widen the crossmember, putting the wheels outside the fender line. Get an aftermarket crossmember if you're dead set on re-inventing the wheel, or as others wisely point out, rebuild the stock set up and add disc brakes. Brian
Gotcha. While you're considering the M2 stuff, keep an eye on classifieds around here. You can probably assemble the stock stuff with a dropped axle and disc brakes pretty inexpensively. And it's pretty. Good luck!
Really? It WON'T WORK to do a stock crossmember Mustang II in a '41-'48... That's funny, I've done or assisted in doing several over the last 20 some odd years or so. It works just fine and I much prefer it to a "revised geometry" kit with the upper and lower inner pivots changed (spread apart) with absolutely no thought givin to a camber curve or roll center. OH, and I understand that Stock crossmembers are flimsy and don't work at all... Hmmmmm, I wish you would have told me that 225,000 miles or so ago before El Polacko and I did the stock crossmember under my '48 Plymouth. Would have been great to know I've been driving something horrendous and unsafe all these years!
Sorry, I thought we were talking about Fords. The rack mount in early Pinto fronts clamps on with what looks like a muffler clamp. They're flimsy looking compared to the later MII racks. In my experience taking a stock MII crossmember OUT of my '40 Ford, with the front wheels hanging outside the fender, and putting a Heidts in it's place, which put the tires back under the fenders, and the front end down where it belonged, that a stock MII doesn't work well under a Ford. But, I bow to your experience with Plymouths... Brian
flynbrian, I have built far more than my '48 Plymouth in my damn near 35 years doing this stuff. That car has just been my daily driver for about 20 years now with out the aid of a late model car, ever. As I said, between doing my customer stuff and working at ElPolacko's shop I have done several '41-'48 Fords and STILL and always will prefer a stock crossmember to one that is poorly engineered in the after market, and without appology, most are comprimised for fitment. And yes, I am talking about FORDS! If your stock crossmembered car had the tires hanging outside of the fenderwells and was a Mustang II then someone did something horribly wrong in installing it. I know some that would widen them instead of notch a crossmember and pocket a coil spring. And yes, the pre '74 Pinto front end is a completely different animal from the '74 and later stuff. But the bottom line is a stock Mustang II / Pinto crossmember from '74 - '80 fits a '41 - '48 Ford frame quite nicely.
Maybe ....somewhat....but you can learn a lot from them ! I put a Fatman MII in my coupe with OEM style control arms. The only issue I have is the quickness of the power steering with the Mustang rack ( not MII rack ) and GM pump. I've tried the shims for the relief valve and the supposed reduced-flow valve, but nothing has worked yet to my satisfaction. I even tried a manual rack and did not like that at all. I've got about 4 degrees of caster but plan on increasing that this Spring along with installing the Heidts adjustable flow bypass valve.
I have stock style upper and lower control arms with strut rods.I use a GM type II (small style-remote resevoir) pump with a '91 Mustang rack.I have it set it up to 6 degrees caster. It steers easy but is not too light and tracks straight down the highway.
Stock Mustang II crossmember in a 41-48 Ford?? (Of Course you can) It is a bunch of work to make the correct cuts and slip the crossmember into place without altering the geometry, but I have done it several times with good success. You just gotta make up your mind to take lots of time to fit the beast very accurately and then make accurate welds. You are trading your time to save $$....your choice. Here are a couple pics of my Ford frame getting MII crossmember. Pics were taken prior to welding, so the tight fit shows. I used a plasma cutter and whiz wheel cutoff to ease the unit into position. Good luck.
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