I am running a modified 250 inline six with a T350 ****** and a 38 Ford rearend. Until recently, the motor has been choked down with two small carburetors and has never realized its true potential. I have just mounted 2 Dellorto 45 DRLA carbs. I am still tuning them but I can already tell it has tire roasting power. I am now worried that the rearend will not hold up for long. What kind of power are you guys putting to a late 30's Ford rear? Should I go ahead and change to later model 8" or 9" rear and save the 38 rear for someone looking for one to complete a restoration or should I run it until it goes and hope I'm not far from home. Before it is said, not getting on the throttle too hard is not an option. Why have a power if you are not going to use it.
OK. I'll bite. Wow. That mighty 6 popper is going to bust lots of drive train parts. That carb change will ensure that! Do a search on early Ford rear ends. You may find that the rear will handle that kind of abuse with proper maintenance.
Hi, Those 38 axles are the weak link, if the keyways don't give first the axle will probably break near the end of the thread. Speaking now as a blacksmith those axels were poorly designed and not all that well made, adequate for their time but not now. Don't road test the rear end to destruction ( I know it's fun ) if you are prepared to destroy it, why not give it to a good home? Fe26 Get it Hot! hit it Hard!
Seriously I dont mean to semi-hi-jack the thread, but how much power can they take? I've got one sitting in my garage thats been converted to open drive, and I have the possibilty of throwing it in the A. And I know I'm using a built big block to motivate her. How much power can you really throw at them?
Seriously, when I got in to this stuff - early '60s in PA. - about the only guys running banjo rears still had flatheads. Even they said you had to go easy on them, and that was with bias plys, ***ettabout with an Olds or Pontiac, even a smallblock Chev. We scrounged every '57 Olds rear we could find. I never ran a Ford rear myself, so I really can't say what they can take, just went by the older guys experience and s**** piles. I'd like to have back all the axle housings I made into jack stands so I could sell 'em now.
There are definitely better built ones than banjo rears but like most it depends how you drive, ie., pop the clutch. If you don't drag race for compe***ion a 9" is a lotta extra unsprung weight. I have abused a few banjo rears and have done the usual like break the axle key, twist the axle end, and even cracked a case. But hey you gotta love them.
I probably wouldn't worry about one in good shape with a streetable inline 6. I mean hell 1 horse per inch is only 250 hp. That said we always cut down the bells for axle stands if that gives you any idea of what we thought of them from a performance standpoint. face it unless you're building a tru period correct '40s ride there is no reason to run one at all. period correct '40s rides don't get multi delorto carbed 250s or big blocks. Leave the hard to find parts to the guys that need 'em for a period piece.
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