new on here.question.have a 41 special deluxe mostly original for now.getting ready to put v8 into it and the next thing after that is the rear end.what rear end if any from the 70's-80's or 90's would bolt right into that car? some one told me awhile back that a chevelle or nova rear end bolts right in.don't want to buy one to find out that it doesn't fit.and trying to do this as cheap as possible.trying to get this done so i can give this car to my uncle who's going to retire after Christmas
Welcome to the HAMB, the short answer is no. The first question is what's wrong with the V8 and rear end it came with?
car came with a straight 6 that's on its last leg.as far as the rear end don't know if that's going to mesh up with a turbo 350 trans..plus would like to go to some newer style brakes the ones on their now **** and really don't work to good for the weight of the car plus putting a 350 v8 going to be more weight added to the car
Ah, sorry, I thought we were talking 41 Ford Super Deluxe and not 41 Chevy Special Deluxe. How far apart are the spring pads out back and how wide is the rear end? That will tell you where you need to look for an updated rear end. I'm ***uming that if you look around, there will be tons of information on the internet involving a 350/350 to a Ford 9" in those cars. The original 216's don't seem to be favored. What's your experience level? Two months is a very short schedule.
i am used to working on cars from the 70's so this 1941 stuff is all new to me would like to go a little modern on the brakes disc in the front and some newer drums on the rear.and switch the engine to a stock chevy 350 found all the parts to do just about all of it .but the rear end haven't found out what will fit in the car yet.last year i rewired the hole car so that done already.
nothing but problems with the original motor witch is getting pulled in a week or so and im going to sell it.new starter,put HEI distributor,header on it,and it still giving me problems going to sell the manual trans with the motor to just to get it out of the garage.tired of messing with it...sorry for the confusion its a chevy 41 special deluxe
A rear end from a '55-'57 Chevy car is probably the closest thing to bolt-in you'll find. Some of the Camaro/Firebirds are close also. Take measurements of what's in there now, axle flange to axle flange, spring perch to spring perch, etc. and start looking around. Here's a chart to get you going. There may be other charts out there on the net or on this site, I just happened to have this one. Oh, and a small block Chevy is actually lighter than the Stovebolt 6 you have now.
thanks for that.ok what axle flange is that from back of axle to back of axle.or backing plate to backing plate
The ONLY axle dimension that is relevant in this situation is wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface (WMS). If you have a specific set of tires and wheels you want to use, they can be positioned in the fender wells and the distance between the back of the wheel mounting surface measured to determine the max and minimum total axle width that will work with them. Ray
Outer wheel mounting surface is just that, where the wheels mount. It is the total width. Besides the width, you also need something that the leaf spring pads line up, so check that distance as well. I agree a 55-57 Chevy rearend is correct for both width and leaf pads distance. Others may be close, not sure of the leaf spring pad distance. However removing the pads on donor rear and welding new ones is fairly easy if you get a rearend that is correct width and bolt pattern. Speaking of bolt pattern, your 41 is 6-lug pattern, so you will have to change the front hubs and drums over to 49-54 Chevy car that are 5 on 4.75; which also means your donor rear should have 5 on 4.75 pattern.
I put a 2008 Chevy Colorado 2wd rear axle in mine and it fit nice. I did have to move the spring perches though.
ch***is engineering makes a great kit for the rear suspension on these. I used it with a mid 70s Camaro rear axle. I also replaced the front with a must II from heidts. The car drives perfect at 80 mph all day long.
Also be aware that your original rear housing is "hinged". The torque tube (enclosed driveshaft) needs to move with the suspention thus the hinge. Because of the hinge your original rear mounts behind the original "center" bolt that holds the springs together. I suggest if you use the original springs to weld an extention onto the front of your new spring pad to center your tire in the wheel opening. My 41 Chevy in my avatar has a 1969 camaro 12 bolt in it that is just perfect as far as width. Before that I used a 57 Chevy rear that was just as nice width wise as the 12 bolt.
The offset of the spring center bolt referred to in the above post is 1 1/4" as I recall. In most cases it does not require an extension on the spring pad. It does requires a new hole be drilled in the spring pad at that distance ahead of the original centered hole. Ray
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