should be 3.78.. And i think it's the brake drum keys at the end of the axle that are the weak part. Go for a Quick Change with more modern axles.
worst, fwiw: i had accumulated four banjos to use in my nailhead powered t modified. after enough folks told me i'd never keep it together i gave in and got an early bronco 9". i've since disposed of two of the banjos. as for the ratio, i don't know if there was one that was "standard". i imagine that 3.78 might have been the most common. 3.54 was available, as was 4.11. i've heard of a couple of other ratios that were available too.
There is more folklore about the banjo then room here. A couple of bad stories and the old rear goes in the pile. Back in the '60's I ran a 40 banjo with 4:11 stock gears, lasalle side loader trans and a 375 horse 327 chevy. Never even broke an axle key. But I didn't hooked the old skinny 16'' bias ply tires either. I did tear up a bunch of ford toploader transmissions before switching to the Lasalle. Oh ,and old diggers used them quite often. ------------------------------------------------------------------- opossum benders central missouri chapter
'46 is an odd year for ratios--3.54 was apparently standard for a while, then Ford dropped that and went back to 3.78 as standard--so '46 is one of the likelier places to look for a 3.54. Generally, banjos before about '39 were most commonly 4.11, later mostly 3.78, but any of them could have any ratio. Original gearset tooth count is stamped on the lower front part of center section usually--get out the wire brush.
Awesome information!!! Very Helpful..I acquired a 46 Tudor sedan..And I am debating whether or not I should leave the rear end in it and see what happens...I think after reading this I will see how it holds up,if it breaks,than it breaks,not the end of the world... Thanks Again!
Is this to be a maxed out flathead? A conversion to a later overhead valve engine? So what are your plans for a torque tube driveline/transmission that will hold up to 400 HP? All stock original driveline with an engine adapter? Open driveline conversion and a later trans maybe? What plans do you have to control the torque rotation of the 46 rearend housing, if you go with an open driveline? Just some additional minor questions you need to ask if you do stick with the stock rearend AND have 400 HP. I vote for a souped up flathead or maybe even a 50's style 283 to an adapter on the stock driveline. Either would be sweet...and reasonably reliable.
now we can see where the question is coming from and might be of more help. to find out what your ratio is do what bruce said; get out the wire brush. the place he's talking about where the tooth count is stamped is the vertical rib right in the center of the housing; just under the pinion yoke. the numbers appear to be hand stamped into the housing, so sometimes you have to do a little detective work to find out your ratio. i mean that sometimes you'll just have part of a number, like a 3, 6, 8, 9, etc., and you have to figure out what the possibilities are and eliminate the non-possibles.
The Jalopy Journal
