how did they use to do a solid alex conversion on the old gasers?

what parts did they use ? what did they come off of ? has any one seen a artical on it?

 

Here is a picture of my 48 Coupe. I took off the knee action shocks, A arms and installed a
55 Chevy 1/2ton pickup straight axle. I used new springs/hangers that were the same dimensions as the truck. Worked great although it extended the turning radius by some 10', but was great in a straight line. I even had enough HP to pull the wheels off the ground with slicks.
I built the car in 1968 as a street car.

 

I am lookin to do a ald school conv on my 55 but i dont know what parst they used I woul like to come across a artical from the 50's or 60's explaning how to do it

 

Willys axles are fine looking and parallel leaf.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=296954&highlight=gasser+axle

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225171&highlight=axle+shakey

 

We used to take them from old Ford Econoline vans.

 

I came across this but it seems too expensive http://www.jimmeyerracing.com/tri-5_gasser_subframe.html I would rather use a ford axel and vega sterring box but I dont know witch axel to use

 

I can make the brackets my self but I still need witch axel and springs to use also what brake set up

 

Check out shakey puddin's tech article on the hamb, his 55 is the new gold standard to compare all others to! Even us mere mortals can emulate what he did. He has almost as much in chrome plating as I have in my whole front end! Just a 1st class job with the best parts he could get. 9 second car.

 

check out speedway motors axle kit comes with everything u need and its priced right around a grand

 

What's an artical? What's an alex? What color is an orange?

 

whats a stugot give me a break we cant all be expert typers

 

The search button is your friend. This has been talked about at least 500 billion times in the year I've been here.

 

We used to cut down a big tree using only a sharp rock. Then we would rub two sticks together and make a fire. Next we would sharpen a stick and make something called a "spear", then we would hunt down and kill a wooly mammoth and eat the meat and use the skin to make loin-cloths.

After we were well fed and warm, we would..... Oh, wait... Wrong forum

 

No, Darryl, you just didn't get far enough into the story. I keep seeing that same word over and over in your post: MAKE.

The gasser guys and other early drag racers didn't always go out and BUY a bolt in kit, they MADE stuff too. Made stuff to fit even.

Myself, I wouldn't put a Vega box in a '55. Saginaw 605 maybe, but not a Vega.

Compare the published track width of a '55 with other vehicles and see what you can find. I've even seen '55 Chevys with the transverse leaf Ford setup.

MAS offers better prices on axles than Speedway...........but the website is hard to navigate, seeing as how it requires an envelope instead of a packet (a little bit of computer humor there for you.............very little, but I thought it was funny).

Tim D.

 

A friend had 2 MAS tube axles come apart at the king pin boss weld. It was on a relatively light '32 Dodge coupe. MAS has had a shaky reputation for quality for 30+ years.
Cheaper isn't and shouldn't be the determining factor on parts purchases.

 

Back when straight axle conversions were being done a lot, early '60s Ford Econoline vans were plentiful in the junkyards, so that's what a lot of people used. Ford beam axles are among the toughest pieces of steel ever made. If you can find one, the worst case scenario is that it will need king pins and bushings, which is not a very difficult job, and of course you'll want to replace spring shackle bushings. The same vintage Chevy/GMC vans and Dodge vans had straight axles and parallel leaf setups similar to the Econoline. Only thing is that all of these straight axle front ends had drum brakes. Probably easier to get a disc brake conversion to fit the Econoline spindles since those spindles have been used on a lot of aftermarket straight axle front ends. Don't know if anybody makes a disc brake kit for the Chevy/GMC or Dodge van spindles.

 

Here's a story on using a 49-54 Chevy truck axle, which is very close to stock width and they're not too hard to find:
http://www.rebelrodscarclub.com/members/lonniecobb/55straightaxle.htm


A good series of pics on a '56 with the Chevy truck axle, shows its not too hard. You can keep the truck brakes to save some $$:
http://www.gassersinc.com/members/jimcecil/my56/56gasser.htm


49-54 Chevy truck axle's the best bet. You can use your steering arms and junkyard Saginaw 525 or 122 manual boxes that are found on late 60's to mid 80's Chevies


Good luck.

 

The early '60s Ford Econoline van front ends were plentiful in the junkyards back when a lot of people were doing this conversion and mile-high front ends were all the rage. Ford beam axles are among the toughest pieces of steel ever made by the hands of man, so you're not going to break one of them if you can find one. It should be easy to get a disc brake kit for the Econoline front end since many of the aftermarket axles have used Econoline spindles over the years.

Comparable vintage Chevy/GMC and Dodge vans had straight axles and parallel leafs like the Econoline. They would be equally good for your purpose, only thing is that I don't know about the availability of disc brake conversions for the Chevy/GMC or Dodge spindles. They may be out there, I don't know.

One thing to consider is that these van front ends all are set up for a push-pull drag link to the left spindle (drag link parallel to frame rails). The only straight axle with parallel leaf springs I know of that is designed for cross steer (drag link parallel to axle) is '42-'47 Ford pickup. If you could find one of those, you wouldn't have any trouble getting a disc brake kit for it since it would be the same kit as '37-'48 Ford cars.

 

I think I have an old Dodge axle with cross steer...but I can't say for sure it is set up for cross steer. No idea on the vintage either, I bought it as a trailer. It is pre '60 but it also has a fair amount of drop to it.

'42-'42 Ford pickup shouldn't be too hard to find either. That said, I guess it depends on where you are....I haven't been able to find one locally, besides the one I own.

You could always use that double tie rod end thingy Speedway sells.

I hadn't heard of a lot of issues with MAS parts. Some of Speedway's stuff is questionable too. Everybody makes a clunker now and then. At least I didn't suggest he make his own axle (even though the tech to do it is here on the HAMB).

Tim D.

 

OOOOPS! I meant to put some smilies in there

 

i'd like to turn my 55 fairlane into a gasser, i know where i can get an ecnoline front end and makeing the hangers myself wont be a problem, i was looking and i think i can just unbolt the suspension thats on there and have my spring hangers as boltons, that way it can always be changed back if someone wants to down the road, anyone have pics of something like this on a 55 fairlane, thanks

 

Like some other people have mentioned, I have seen plenty of staight axle discussions here on the hamb.

As much as I like Shakey's car, it's not a very streetable set up. I'm too lazy to look through the posts again, but doesn't one of the rods come very close to the leaf springs? I think he mentioned it somewhere in his tech discussion.

I'd really like to know more about Blair's Speed Shop staight axle conversions. Blair's seemed to be the leader in straight axle conversions on the West coast. What were they doing that was so great?

 

I've seen a couple of Blair's setups and I wasn't too impressed. They are good, don't get me wrong, but nothing a guy couldn't do in his garage with the right tools.

Shakey has an extremely well thought out setup. It's not streetable only because the car isn't. He has said on a couple of occasions that it rides better than it did with the A-arms. There is some video on here somewhere that proves it.

I'm a fan of built over bought, and not just because I'm a poor kid. I put my whole econoline setup together, thanks to info I found on here, for the same money as the speedway kit. I'm talking springs, brakes, new king-pins, steering, narrowing, and fabrication of all mounts for the same $450 they want for springs, mounts, and a tube. It's also period correct for what I'm building.

That is why I say the search button is your friend. I got the same answer when I asked similar questions when I was an FNG.

 

any moor info from the old schoolers ?????

 

Tri hewked onn fonix, ids wurkd fer mee.

 

day one on the 54 merc. Not a 55 ford, but close. I just unbolted the original suspension and welded brackets on.

 

any more info?

 

49-54 chevy half ton truck was axle under my 53 club coupe. Used the steer box from the donor truck as well. Tracked best with skinny gragars up front 4.5's ......never ran shocks didn't need em. advantage was big brakes, looks wicked, less weight.

dis-advantages.....wheel bearings expensive, rides like a 49-54 chevy truck. May I suggest ball joint spacers, heavier springs for your existing set up ? ?

not an old timer but the books i have studied on 60's gassers MOST of them ran a-arm set ups with station wagon springs etc.

hope this helps

 

Most of the ones I saw in the 60's used either Econoline or other van axles and springs or pickup axles.

A couple of the local ones were pretty crude but fast.

They are great if you like a rough riding car that doesn't handle well on normal roads at highway speeds.

One thing to remember is that this was all about weight transfer on vehicles that were only expected to go in a straight line for a quarter of a mile at a time and didn't have to turn well, handle curves or rough roads well.