Hot Rods 1936 Truck w/ 1946 banjo questions

I picked up a sweet rebuilt, open drive, panhard barred 1946 banjo rear end and am trying to stick it under my '36 truck. A couple questions -

1. I have a '39 rear end also and I'd like to stick those drums on the '46... the '46 has hubs inside of drums and they're on there pretty good... see below. I couldn't get it with my bearing splitter and I'm fixing to go get a 3-jaw hub puller to have a go, but I want a little confirmation that I can fit the '39s on there.


2. I got my axle dropped 3" and ***embled my front end and now my spring seems to sit a little funny - does this look normal? It was a farm truck, and the front leaf pack had a couple broken leafs, so who knows what the spring is actually from and I didn't pay enough attention when pulling it off.




So I may need to open the wishbones up a little (they are split), so when I'm bending them open, should I drop the ends that mount to the springs as well?

Also, I figured out that the wishbone kit from HRC isn't made for the '36, it isn't wide enough (or the wishbones aren't long enough), so i'll be looking for a chunk of 3/16" plate to make one up.

Thanks,
Ken

 

The drums should fit fine, although you'll need a real-deal early ford hub puller to remove them. Ask around your circle of car friends or call your local early ford resto shop and see if you can rent or borrow one.

You are aware that in stock form the early ford drums are sweged to the hub with the wheel studs, right? There will be no seperating the hub from the drum without cutting the sweges first.

I wouldn't worry about dropping the ends, but if you're gonna open them up you'll need to heat and bend the perches back out so they're parallel again.

 

Thanks. I got the '39 drums off no problem with the bearing splitter (luck) , I don't need that on the '46 hubs in the photo do I? I'm hoping I can use the Autozone 3-jaw puller.

I'm planning to build a jig to keep the ends of the wishbones parallel for bending. It just looks like the spring is about to rub on the wishbone and I wasn't sure that was normal. I'll try and get a better photo up that shows it more clearly.

 

Man, you did luck out! They can be VERY difficult to remove. I can't tell from the pics, is the engine in the ch***is? I ***umed that it wasn't...

 

No the engine is sitting in the shed, lonely, waiting for me to get the ch***is on 4 wheels and give it a proper home.

Yea, the '39 ch***is was in a field too and I pulled the drums to check if they were still good prior to buying it... pulling those drums for the first time with 3 ol timers watching was an experience.

You think with the engine in it will change the spring angle/location? Should I wait to drop it in to worry about the spring?

 

It will definitely change the shackle angle with the weight of the engine and trans on it. You could pile several hundred pounds of s****/sandbags/etc... on the ch***is to see what happens, but I think you'll be fine.

 

TBirds on with the weight...he "Zone" pulley should work on the 46 hub - or hopefully some one close by will have a three bar hub puller...

 

A quick update - the '39 drums slid on smoothly and I got the ch***is on 4 wheels. Now the real questions begin -

- It has an aftermarket transverse spring on it, how much lower would a '46 be than a '36? It seems to sit very low in the back.



- I can't get the pinion angle to a reasonable degree without pushing the front of the bones 2-3 inches below the frame rails. I'm holding it on there with a 2x4 right now, so you can see that 1.5" below the rails is about 6* on the pinion. I'm trying to get to 3* per other discussions.





I would like some options if anyone has one to offer...

My thought was to shim the spring up, but that will make the wishbone mounting worse. So I think I'm left to either (or both) bigger tires on the rear or modifying the wishbones.

Thanks

 

What about indexing the center section one bolt hole on the axle housings?

 

Thanks Dale, I didn't think of that... it may get me too far, but I'll go take some measurements. I'll have to study up on that banjo rebuild thread, can I just pull all of the bolts out of the bells, rotate the center section and then reinstall the bolts?

Any other ideas? Is a '46 spring really that much shorter?

 

any other ideas?

 

Put a torch to the bones and give them a little bit of a bend at the cast end. You'll have to remove, then modify that torque arm as well.

I'd also check the angle of the rear cross member, spring, etc. . . you don't want the bones pulling the rear down and binding the spring up.