I have a 29 Ford Fordor, I want to keep the body bone stock, and put on juice brakes but where I hit the wall is the wishbones. I would like to put in a four cylinder engine with auto, and really would like to keep the wishbones where they are. I see Speedway sells a kit to split the oem bones which does not seem to be a lot of work still anyway to leave the bones where Henry put them?
I don't really get what your asking entirely as it seems a bit all over the place.. buuuuuut.. Over here we can split wishbones without requiring engineering if the mounting centers are within 300mm. Why don't you make some mounts off the stock center crossmember, or knock up a new one, and mount them with 300mm centers so you retain the look of a stock wishbone but the advantage of them being split. I also don't get what you mean by a body bone..
I believe hes just asking how to put in a 4 banger with an auto trans but keeo the wishbone stock. Much of that depends on the trans used and if there is room to make a crossmember for the "ball". Me personally, Id split them and call it good.
depends on what type tranny you're going to use. Possibly you can put a drop ball mount in to make the bones clear the tranny. Also gives a bit more caster.
Back years ago when I was building a 40 Ford coupe I made a spacer to gain just about a half inch,,the only problem with this is it changes the caster but in this case it helped. HRP
Thank you and sorry for the confusing post, I was thinking of using a Ford 4 cyl eng and automatic tranny. I did not want to split the wishbone as I am not sure how it will screw up the alignment, also how much welding and fabricating would go along with the project. I wish to keep the car factory (bone stock)
i'm confused....you with to keep the car bone stock , yet you want to install an automatic transmission?
If you can plan, fabricate and weld, you can build a new crossmember to catch the wishbone in the original spot. If you can't do those things you'll need to hire someone who can as nobody builds a kit for this conversion. For me it sounds easy, but for somebody who is new to cars and fabrication, it may be impossible. Which are you?
With that engine and trans, are you sure that you need to modify the bones? Splitting the bones and moving them outward wont affect alignment, as long as it's done appropriately....which isn't difficult at all.
I do not want to alter the car only the engine and transmission. I can weld and fab but before I start messing around I need to pick some brains to figure out what kind of a mess I might be getting into.
Why don't you try setting this new 4cyl-auto in place before you go jumping off the Cliff? Clearly you have not done much fab work prior so before you go shooting around in the dark you need a clearer picture of what needs to be done. Don't be afraid to raise things up a bit to keep from making a small job bigger than it needs to be. And, I gotta say- You can't be bone stock with a motor change. Just build the car you want and to Hell with what it was when you bought it. All Hot Rods were Bone Stock at one time, then they got Fixed. The Wizzard
There's an available adapter for torqueflite to banger...is that what this is about? I think these generally keep the stock forward bellhousing casting, in which case there would not be an issue at all.
Doing something similar to this kit for 35/40 Ford Chassis that splits the bones for clearance but keeps them at the same angle as they always were may be what you will end up doing. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/TCI-2...on-Mount-for-1935-1940-Ford-Chassis,1134.html Dropping the ball mount just enough to clear the trans may work as you will probably have to install new crossmembers. You are also going to have to convert the car to open drive in the process to add the automatic trans unless there is an adapter for the back of the trans that I don't know about an the Torqueflite trans that Bruce mentioned as a swap may use a Jeep trans with adapters on both ends. There is no free lunch in these types of swaps, the adapters are expensive and you have to make some modifications to the frame to do it.
The A is a different case, as it has a very short wishbone that terminates right below the flywheel. Most swapping in an A brings up plenty of work elsewhere, as the pedals will be gone...if the swap keeps the forward bell, however, the wishbone and mounts do not become issues and the fat part of a late trans is way abaft the wishbone.
If the OP is unsure about splitting the bones, he has a bigger problem with the rear suspension. Converting to open drive and eleminating the torque tube is a job that can turn ugly very quickly. Redoing the pedals and brakes is small potatoes next to redesigning the whole rear suspension.
Thank you for the wisdom, what I mean by stock is I am not going to modify the body and the engine I am thinking about is the ford 2300 with auto and yes I will have to use the Speedway open drive conversion. What all this boils down to is I do not want anything to do with the Model A engine as it is cost prohibitive to rebuild according to my wallet. I will have to now go out and scrounge up an old dead 2300with tranny and see how it fits. Jim Cushing, WI
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