Technical 39 ford backing plates

A friend of mine wants to set up his mechanical 38 wide five drums for hydraulics.
Will any later backing plate work with his 38 drums or does he need 39's and thats it?
There are a few later year setups kicking around locally for him to buy but 39's will be a trip to Ebay for him for sure.
To be clear...I'm talking both front and rear backing plates.

Thanks.

 

'39-'41 are an easy fit. Some Lincolns in the same era work, too. Everything else will be a project.

 

Ahhhh...****.
Whats the hang up with the later BP's?
I expected there might be a difference with wide five, but 39 is the last year for that.
Yet 40-41 will actually work?
I know there is a difference in shoe adjustment locations somewhere in the 40's.
Is that also an indicator on which BP will work?

 

Prior to 1937, the spindle snout was a different length, with the wide-5. 1936 wide-5 spindles/drums are are a 1-year only item.

After 1936, the spindles went to the cl***ic round-back spindle you know, even behind on 5-on-5-1/2" pattern drums.

After 1942-up will work too, as far as I know, as long as you get the correct king pins. I just cannot remember if there is a difference in the steering arms that will make a difference. My memory is fuzzy.

 

I was looking at axles and options early today. Speedway has a 12 x 2 drum brake sets for front and rears that may work.
B*** Kustoms modifies later backing plates for drum brakes. He did a write up that is halfway down this page.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...rakes-to-self-energizing.841229/#post-9325278
http://www.b***kustom.com/brakes.html#top

 

He has 38 front and rear axles and will be using the 38 spindles.
Just wants to change the 38 wide fives to hydraulic. He's keeping the wide five configuration.

 

Oooh, never mind. I am really tired.

He has spindles. Any juice backing plate, from 1939-1948 will work.

There are other backing plates that could work, but would require ditching the wide-5 drums, as they are not 12".

 

Ahhhh...fantastic! He can get some later BP's no problem.
Thanks for the info.

 

There is a generational change in shoe anchor/adjusters, so buy them in matched pairs.

The early ones had lower shoe anchors that were also adjusters (1939-1941):

Later on, the lower anchors were not adjustable:

Both work. One's a little more fiddly to adjust, but not really a big deal.