converting a closed driveline

A good friend of mine who puts countless miles on his flathead V-8 is looking to convert the drivetrain to an open drive shaft. Currently he is runnin a 50-51 Flathead with a 39 toploader. He would like to retain the stock banjo and put a mid 50's trans behind the motor. If anybody can direct me to a good tech article on converting the banjo to open driveline that would be great. Or if anybody has pics on hand your help is greatly appreciated.
He would like to retain the banjo because he likes his Ford wire wheels and also he loves his mechanical (gasp) brakes.. Also is it true that 16 inch Dodge truck rims mount up to this bolt pattern?

Thanks for the help

Justin

This is the car in question. I am sure some of you have seen it. He drives the pants off of this thing. 15,000 miles this summer alone!

 

Speedway sells a kit for 280$ that is a bolt on deal.I don't know if it works on an A though. A place called Hot Rod Works here in Ca sells alot of stuff like that as well.Hope it may help,Larry

 

You are actually dealing with a few issues. The biggest are:

How do you bolt a different transmission to the back of an early flathead?

and the second is:

How do you make the rear suspension work properly when you remove the torque tube?

The other stuff like making a shifter work, making the clutch work out, and getting a yoke that fits the banjo are all secondary and usually solved by throwing money at it, although some HAMBers have had some creative ideas.

The tranny to flathead answer depends on that transmission your buddy plans on using. Frankly, having the early block will almost require an adapter unless he want to adapt a trans to bolt to the back half of the big Ford truck bellhousing.

The suspension question is harder to answer. The absolute easiest way to solve it is to purchase a set of Pete 'n' Jakes ladder bars, or if he's crafty, make his own. If he wants a more complicated suspension, he can adapt a shortened version of a '67 Chevy truck rear suspension, or...or...or...there are LOTS of different rear suspensions available. He can keep the existing rear spring and change out the wishbones for something that can take the torque, or go with a completely new suspension.

 

Sounds like he's bored.
Tell him to start working on another hotrod, and leave that one "done" and running.

 

Yeah I think it may be out of boredom. I mean he has put gobs of miles on this thing without one single hitch. I guess I am not really sure why he wants to do this other than the fact he wants steeper gears to keep his RPM's down. Thanks for the info. He knows of the Speedway kit I think he wanted more input on what to do for rear suspension.

Thanks

Justin

 

Modernbeat? He said he's running a 50-51 Flathead. That is the later style block with the flywheel housing seperate from the block.

You will have trouble with the rear end trying to turn under or over without the torque tube holding it steady. There was a post on here that got pretty long discussing the topic.

 

Well, the late engine changes things. If I was in his shoes, and I wanted to do it quickly and easily and get back on the road ASAP, I'd buy:

A '50 Ford stamped steel bellhousing
A V6 Mustang WC T5 trans
An S-10 tailshaft housing with the mechanical speedo hole and get the top cover and shift rod.
A set of Pete and Jakes ladder bars and crossmember
A Hot Rod Works open drive conversion kit.

That stuff should run around $1000-$1100 if you had to run out and buy it in one week.

Other incidentials, He'll have to make a tranny crossmember, decide how he wants to run the clutch linkage, mechanical or hydraulic - remember that the late Ford bellhousing uses a single pivot style clutch fork, not like the early style pivot shaft. He'll have to get a driveshaft made, the speedo cable might work, most likely the speedo drive of the trans will have to be reworked, and the emergency brake will have to be rerouted.

Wait, did you say MECHANICAL BRAKES?!? Damn, update those first before he starts going too fast.

 

He wants higher gearing by putting in a fifties trans, presumably meaning an overdrive trans. To do this he will have to rework the torque tube and build a split suspension with built in binding and the possibility of breaking a bracket or rod that has to twist to function, a big step backward from 1930 technology. This will cost a trans, machine work on rear, and whatever it takes to fabricate a new suspension. Can this idea and just go buy a Mitchell Od, which is a bolt in replacement for the A torque tube. The price may look shocking, around 1500, but he will likely have that in a worse system otherwise by the time the car rolls again. Or just put 3.54's in the stock rear and accept a little slower acceleration off the line. Don't mess up a good runner.

 

Bruce, do those Mitchell O/Ds work on V8 drivetrains too? I've seen them advertised before, but I figured if they were serious people'd be using them more often on here.

 

Yeah expand on the Mitchel overdrive. Is that the overdrive box that mounts near the rear axle? Maybe steeper gears in the rear axle is the answer cuz he likes the car the way it is, yep mechanical brakes and all...
He only cruises highway so get up and burn rubber is not his intention.

Now about the rims. Can you run 16 inch Dodge truck rims on the banjo? It has been rumored to the both of us that Dodge rims have the same bolt pattern for the banjo.

Thanks for all the help and advice guys.

Justin

 

tell him to just go out and buy
a set of 3.55 gears from patrick's
than he can clean up his rearend,
and keep a proven machine working.

if not,
than get the HOT ROD WORKS kit,
(there are two different ones for different years)
speedway only makes the one for later model (6 spline)
plus its a smaller company,
and they "invented" it not copied it...

travis aka zibo...

(i use a ford 3spd OD, witha '36 open shaft banjo)

 

grimlock you are right...
but unfortunately,
the 42+ fords had a different spline count
than early early rears.

and there were alot of guys that found
the correct yoke ....
BUT,
the HRW were the first to go all out,
and advertise,
buy and invest in the idea
and la da da da....

I can make you one,
it can be cheap,
from 10 - 30 depending on the grip style,
PM me if you are serious!!

travis aka zibo

 

The Mitchell is a 2-speed box set in the torque tube, sold ready to install with a new fabricated tube. I believe they will make them up for V8 rears and even AA's. Gear Vendors, well known as an OD for automatics, will also build a version of their regular OD into a torque tube. Both are expensive, but so are the alternatives, even for folks who are expert fabricators and machinests.

 

The cheap way would be to just use lower gears in the rear end. You aren't going to be able to burn the tires, but you will add 10-15 mph onto your cruising speed.