Technical Hello and a question. 39 Ford

Hello from Huntersville, NC. Name is Doug and have a 39 Ford Standard sedan to play with. Not a stranger to working on old cars and trucks over my 65 years but got away from it for a few years due to some illnesses. Been driving this 39 for a year now has a flathead with T-5, open drive line with stock banjo rear end. Have decide to make some changes hence the question. I will be putting disk brakes on the front and have bought the Speedway kit 910-3140 looks to be quality stuff and should have no problem with install. I also have found a 69 Nova rear and have decided to do a swap there also. My question is which kit TCI or CE is easiest to install with the body on the car. I used the CE kit long years ago on a body off build to a 40 and seem to remember telling myself I was glad the body was not on to do the job and I was a lot younger then. Who has done this with body on using eather of these kits. Thanks, Doug

 

I use a CE kit on a 1940 also used a nova rear ,body was on and it was very easy ,just drill a few hole and bolt right in...

 

Thanks 41coupe. Using the CE kit I seem to remember having to grind off a few rivets and using those holes to line the brackets up and thinking that if body was on it would be hard to get to them. Like I said it been a few years, like around 1989 or 90. I Have read both instructions that are posted on line and looked at pict that speedway has but of course body is off on those.

 

Just finished installing the Speedway kit on my 38 with body on and wasn't to bad to do.. Used a V8 Maverick rear end but needed 3" blocks to get it down to acceptable ride height...

 

Thanks, I looked at the Speedway kit to. It appears that their bracket may be the same as TCI but they use the composed springs and require the lowering blocks. I am not sure why they require the blocks and the TCI does not.

 

My Speedway kit does not have composite springs.. It is the less expensive kit with 2 steel leafs per side.. The 3" blocks lets the rear fender cover the 235/75R15 tires about 1-2".. It may even settle more once I drive the car...

 

I have the CE rear kit in my '40 the only really difficult holes to drill is the one (each side) on the front spring hangers that you must drill thru the upper frame rail near the rear body mount, a 90 degree drill will work with a shortened drill bit.
Rivet removal is standard stuff I just ground them off and center punched and then drilled. Be care full when drilling the rear mount thru the side rail as you could drill into the gas tank. No I did not learn that the hard way.

 

remember to check the Nova rearend gear ratio so it'll work with the T5

 

I have the C/E kit under both of my 1939 Fords - they have stock chassis. I used the 1957 Ford 9 inch rear - but Ford or Chevy gear should not really matter. I drilled out the rivets and bolted the rear kit in - I have 28.5 inch rear tires on both the Coupe and Convertible 15 x 7 and 235 x 75 x 15 rubber. I like the stance - not lowering blocks were used. I bought the upgraded better gas stocks - the Coupe is a sold axle car and the rag top is M2. Both ride nice.

 

On my truck, same frame as your car, I used the rear springs and spring hangers from an '80 Isuzu pickup with a '74 Camaro rear.