I finally had some free time to work on my hot rod. I am putting a 46 Ford axle in my 32 frame. I contoured the 46 spring to fit the curved crossmember. I reconverted the open drive tranny to closed. I have the toque tube on the end of the trans right now. I need to cut about 9" out of it. the wishbone tab is about 4.5" too far back. I have enough straig ht tub e at both ends to cut out all of the 9". I need to cut off the rear portion regardless, as it doesnt clear the pinion bearing. is this dimension crirical in any way, or just enough to clear the bearing shell? so should I just cut the 9" all out of the back and weld on a new wishbone tab? Also, what is the best way to locate the rear axle? I thoight I could just level the frame and plumb bob down to the center of the axle. any better methods?
I've done 2 with my brother. We just cut out the length we needed and re welded the wishbone tab. Not sure what you mean about "locating" the axle. The screw in the spring pack locates it in the crossmember and the wishbone tab welded to the torque tube does the rest. We just measured the wheelbase side to side (unsplit bone in front) to make sure it was the same before the tab was re-welded to the tube. Both were fine. I do think the 46 rear axle will be a bit too wide though. We used 37-41 type axles that are a bit closer wheel to wheel. I think the 46 will cause the tires to be outboard too far and look a bit strange. On a fenderless car, not a big deal if you don't mind how it looks. With fenders, could be a problem.
F6, what I meant by locating it, was to make sure the C/L of the axle was dead center of the frame measurement. Since I used the '46 spring and ground it, I thought it might be wise to measure it to be sure it was where it was supposed to be. Good to know on the width. I am going fenderless initially, but I may take a second look at it.
Well, as long as you didn't change the location of the center bolt of the spring or the hole in the crossmember where it goes, I don't see a problem. Measure from the center of the crossmember bolt hole to the frame rails and see if it's centered. Then you could measure from there to the backing plates and I would think you would be ok.
The center bolt in the crossmember is stock. I was more worried about the for and aft location. I talked with my dad, who has done quite a few 32s and he indicated that the C/L of the axle should be right below the center of the bump stop bolts. The question I had about locating it with a plumb bob, was whether or not the frame rails should be level, which, depending on the rake of the frame could affect the axle location. I am still guessing this is the case. I also found some information of the HAMB that the 33-36 (?) torque tubes have a smaller diameter hole, and it should be no problem to simply bore them out to fit over the pinion bearing shell. I am going to cut off the rear of the torque tube today and bore that out, then I think my dad is going to come over and take a peek to see if it looks good to him tomorrow, before I cut and weld the torque tube.
I am not sure of all of your terms but here is what I have done in some of my builds. 1. The 46 axle will work in a hiboy application but is too wide for fenders without protruding outside the fenders. 2. The spring locates the axle fore and aft - you can't change that without modifying the spring hangers or crossmember. It should be close and most deuces can stand to have the axle moved to the rear about 1/2" or so. The plumb bob will tell you where you are in relation to the snubber hole. 3. The torque tube length is somewhat critical so make sure the rear end is where you want it. The wheelbase should be 106" + 1/2" back toward the rear axle. 4. Take your time and you should be in good shape. Let us know how you make out.
Thanks Pews. I got the torque tube cut and machined out to clear the bearing. That end was some fairly tough metal. I am going hiboy at this time, and may change in the future, so I will bear in mind that I will have to change the axle. I put my laser on the frame and the axle is skewed 1/2" forward on 1 side. So I need to shove it into place a wee bit. Can I just force it back the extra 1/2 without modifying the spring, etc? I am putting this car together with parts that I have on hand, and may change it up in the future, but it is more palletable for me change a complete car than to have it in pieces forever trying to make everything perfect.
Okay, the TT is cut and welded. I cut down the driveshaft and reinserted the 10 spline end and decided to check fit before I welded. Turns out I have a 10 spline d shaft and a 6 spline rear. I pulled the adapter back out of the shaft and tried the original pinion coupler and it fits too sloppy. I am considering making a bushing, inserting the coupler and bushing and welding the seam. Is the seam weld sufficient, or should I plug weld the coupler through the tube as well?
Here is where I am at now. I turned down the od of the original coupler to be a press fit into a piece of steel. I will cut a piece of that and press it on, then turn the OD down to press into the driveshaft tube, then weld on. I also posted a pic of the frame as it sits. Once I get the TT installed the body can to back on, and I can start rehab work on that.
Didn't you clearance/grind/shape the spring to fit the 32 crossmember? It may need more on the back side of the spring on that side or maybe the front side of the spring on the other side. Or both. Something is shoving it forward. The spring locates the axle so it's probably skewed and throwing the axle/wheelbase off. If you just force it into position the spring will most likely be bound up and not work correctly. Did you crawl under and look up at it to see if the spring has clearance between it and the crossmember? That would be my first move.
There was just some minor misalignment. I pulled it back with a ratchet strap and it stayed with no tension on it. I got the bushing made and welded in, got the DS and TT installed and the body set on. It took a wee bit of time to get the TT end sitting square, as the pipe cutter cut left a little to be desired as far as being true goes. I leveled the tube in a vise, and leveled the face 90 to the tube and tacked top an bottom. On the sides I measured the width of the casting on each side, put a square across the face, then used an inside caliper between the end of the square and the tube. I ended up using the same method for the top and bottom, as the old tube was difficult to find an accurate straight portion to use for leveling. In the end it came out pretty true. Now I can move on and start squaring up the body on the frame and begin tweaking it into shape. It has some distortion in the cowl from the roll over, and the nails in the B pillars have all popped on one side. And the doors sag and dont close true either. I will need to come up with some scheme to support the B pillars as well as the cowl section since it is missing the roof. Some of the cowl issue may resolve themselves one the firewall is in place. The body is also sitting on top of the transmission where the shifter goes, keeping it from sitting all the way down on the frame. Once I cut out the transmission tunnel that was added and get the body on the rails, some more of the issues may go away. There is also a crack at the bottom of the cowl at the door opening where the body was flexed. Will need to weld that up. I have gotten more done in the last couple of days than I had done in the last 2 years. Thanks for the help.
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