Banjo Rear End Question

I am building a roadster, (an all '50's car) and want to use an enclosed drive shaft rear end. Are the later ones stronger than say the model A's? Is there any particular year better than others?
My car will have a '39 Ford top loader 3 speed, connected to a 303 Olds, cam, 3x2, etc. Driver (cruzer) not a racer.
Any sugustions?

 

35-36 and up work really well, don't use the model a driveshaft.

 

Model A rears are best left to restorers, 36 and up are the most commonly used. There are severall widths and the axle tubes interchange as long as you use the right length axles. The last four years of truck rear ends are open drive shaft and they or the yoke and retaining ring found their way onto alot of hotrods.

 

In my view 40s better,they had V8 up front.I run same tranny,16" tall rear tires and a 378 gear (1946 rearend)Lincolns were wider and have better brakes.Do homework on gear ratios.I made the mistake on too much angle forward and had gear lube go into tube.Dont have more than 5degree.Had to install seal in tube.Lincolns are 411 gear I think mercury and ford are the same.I run a 46 Ford with wide five rims.No problems Good luck!!

 

The A rear works fine with the warmed over flatty in my coupe, but I don't push it. I've always heard to use one of the later V8 banjos if you go with anything more powerful than a flathead.

 

Not to hijack your thread but how much power can a banjo handle?

 

in my opinion 125 hp tops in a later banjo,earlier model A banjos you're lucky with 60 hp at most

 

The 39-41 rear should work OK, but you might find that it rips off the axel keys if you get a little too lead footed off the line. No speed shiftin either with that tranny. Otherwise you'll be looking for a cluster gear.

Regardless, you are building what sounds like a great ride, and if you stick to cruzin, the drive train will do fine.

SAFU

 

Drag cars used this rearend for years putting 500hp to them and maybe more.

So, with that being said, I run a '41 rearend in my Model A with 3.78 gears. You can find the ratio on the bottom of the center section, a flat area stamped with numbers like 9 34 (3.78) just divide the large number with the small and you get your ratio provided nobody did a gear swap sometime in it's life.

Current car is a flathead V8, '41 rear end with a top shift transmission. I have a 392 Hemi that will be bolted into the car when done with the current transmission and rearend.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I have a '48 banjo behind my 401 and 4 sp. I haven't given it a hard time but it seems fine. I spent a bit of time lapping the axle tapers and hubs with valve lapping paste to take some strain off the keys. Cheap insurance.

Pete

 

so...you're saying a STOCK later banjo will handle 500hp?....yeah uh i don't think so without serious modifications

 

like a splined axle conversion with a locker eliminating the keyways all together

 

I have a stock 32 rear in my car including the torque tube. That way I did'nt have to cut the torque tube or anything. All the right lengths. I know they are not as strong as the later rears as mentioned. They are much bigger than the model a though...Which ever rear end you decied to go with, make sure you put on safety hubs! I am running a 327 with trips and a 39 top loader...I would also recomend skinney tires, fry the tires to protect the weak links....

 

i run a stock A rear behind my 350 sbc and 39 top loader. no...i don't do smokey burnouts, but it works fine if you treat it nice.

 

If you are building a 50s style Model A you need a copy of the book "How To Build A Traditional Ford Hot Rod" by Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel. Lots of good info on rear end selection and mounting.