[1937Austin]

As far as which end of the springs the shackles should be, it depends on which side of the axle you plan to locate your steering box and drag link. I try to not have my cross steering pushing or pulling on the same side as the shackles, so it's not deflecting from shackle flex sideways. So if my steering box is behind the axle I put the shackles in the front, or vice versa.
I hope your decision to go 2" narrower on each side with your 54" axle width doesn't result in issues. With fenderwell headers it may put the tires too close to the collectors, and have contact when turning, or hitting bumps while turning. The other concern is the car taking on the look of a old tractor with too narrow stance up front. I usually go wider, not narrower, when the stance is higher than stock.

 

[hotrod1937]

As far as which end of the springs the shackles should be, it depends on which side of the axle you plan to locate your steering box and drag link. I try to not have my cross steering pushing or pulling on the same side as the shackles, so it's not deflecting from shackle flex sideways. So if my steering box is behind the axle I put the shackles in the front, or vice versa.
I hope your decision to go 2" narrower on each side with your 54" axle width doesn't result in issues. With fenderwell headers it may put the tires too close to the collectors, and have contact when turning, or hitting bumps while turning. The other concern is the car taking on the look of a old tractor with too narrow stance up front. I usually go wider, not narrower, when the stance is higher than stock.

Thanks for the info. I set up the springs today with shackles in the front for the rear cross steer system. I do have a plan for the wheels if they are too narrow for my liking. I can either install a set of wheel spacers providing i do not need to move over about 3/4 of an inch on each side or get a bigger axle. Hate to say it but one of the factors for a narrower axle was do to availability from Speedway. This is all they had in stock for the foreseeable future. I spoke with one of their reps and they told me they had no idea when the 56 or 58 inch ones would be available. Figured I would give it shot. If it doesn't work, I should be able to send just the axle back and order the longer ones......Hopefully. Made some progress today. Springs are mocked into place. Tomorrow I should be able to get the axle mocked into place and set the car on the ground to get a good look at how it sits and such. The headers should be fine. I installed a set of gasser headers on the car when I put the 454 in place and the tops of the wheels were hitting the collector. This was with the stock suspension, I should have plenty of clearance with the straight axle raising the front up. From estimates, the front end should come up about ten inches.

 

[hotrod1937]

Jesus, that is one of my least favorite photos of myFord that Mario posted. I had WAY to short tires on the front. Anyway, there's quite a few photos on the Project Update Section under So Cal 53 Mainline Street Gasser. Here's a link to a couple youtube videos.

.

If you have any questions ask away.

Thanks for the videos. Keeping the blood pumping.

 

[1937Austin]

Probably not worth sending the axle back if it works out to be too narrow as shipping on a package that long would likely be almost as much as the axle costs. Better to sell it at a loss than return it.

 

[sbauman2]

Unless you're stuck on a tube axle have you thought about getting a wider I-beam axle from a wrecking yard and shortening it with a Z cut and welding it? You can get the exact width you want that way. If you enter "Z cut" in the search box at the top of the page you'll find that many of the members have done it.

 

[hotrod1937]

Probably not worth sending the axle back if it works out to be too narrow as shipping on a package that long would likely be almost as much as the axle costs. Better to sell it at a loss than return it.

Got the axle in place today. Looks good at the moment, will see tomorrow when I get the spindles on and lower the car to the ground for the first time with all four wheels on and take a good look at things.

 

[hotrod1937]

Unless you're stuck on a tube axle have you thought about getting a wider I-beam axle from a wrecking yard and shortening it with a Z cut and welding it? You can get the exact width you want that way. If you enter "Z cut" in the search box at the top of the page you'll find that many of the members have done it.

Thanks for the info, I will look into this.

 

[dsb]

I had Ron Pope motorsports build an axle for me. and the speedway disc brake kit fit perfect.

 

[hotrod1937]

Update

Installed the front end today. Everything went ok for the most part. Although I did discover a couple of things that need addressed. First, the front shackles folded flat up against the frame rail. that will eb the first item to take care of on Monday. I think I am going to make longer shackle pieces for the sides and see hwo they work, unless of course someone else has a better suggestion. not to mention I would like to raise the front end a bit more. Next thing is I am nto sure how the tie rods are suppossed to attach to the steering arm. If any of you have the time, take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.

Rear axle hung under the leaf springs for now. When I set this up with the stock suspension, the car sat very high up in the air. After installing the straight axle, the rear came down over two inches. Waiting to see final height once the shackle issue is solved.

Passenger side. Does this look right? I do nto have the drag link or the steering box installed with a dropped pitman arm. I am running ford style spindles due to the fact I wanted the 11 inch rotors. Plus I have the same setup on my 47' Ford and like how works. I have the steering arms mounted on the upper two hole through the spindle with the angle facing up. Hoping this will give me a good angle for the drag link. Will not know for sure until I install the steering box and the pitman arm to have the drag link made.

Driver's side. Same question here. The bolt did not come all the way through the steering ram which has me a little concerned. I was not sure if I needed the cone pieces or not or what they were even for. I looked throughout the Speedway instructions and did not see anything describing them or how/where they were to go. Quite possible I have this installed incorrectly. Hoping to do more research this weekend on the tie rod end setup for both sides.

Car lowered on the ground for the first time in months. Big block mocked into place, wheels on, not the ones I am going to run, but sitting on all fours for the first time in a long time. Of course I had to install the header to get a look.

Obviously I need to fix the shackle on this one. Like i said, it laid flat on the bottom of the frame rail. I set the shackle slight towards the front with no weight on the axle and when I lowered the car down, it went right up against the frame rail. As I stated earlier, I plan on making shackles to see if that gives the 35 degree angle that speedway suggests. Any information here would be greatly appreciated. Don't mind the mess of the motor mounts, they are not done yet. Everything needs to come out one more time once final mock up is done.

this is the progress thus far. Hopefully folks out there can give me a bit of insight on how this is and suggestions for questions. I thank you all for your time. this is my first gasser build and I must say this has been very enjoyable so far. Thanks again all.



Nate

 

[hotrod1937]

I had Ron Pope motorsports build an axle for me. and the speedway disc brake kit fit perfect.

Thanks for the info. If this axle doesn't work, I will look into that. At this moment it seems to be working, plenty of turning radius with a 5 inch wide wheel and have decent header clearance.

 

[1937Austin]

You just need to cut the front shackle mount loose and move it forward enough to ensure the shackle doesn't flop over under load. The 35 degrees is fine, but not necessary. Anything from straight up to slightly past that point works fine, and will also avoid this flop over. Looks like your mount needs to move about 2" forward to avoid this.
Longer shackles aren't the fix for this, as longer shackles will result in changing caster, and you wont have the correct 7 degrees angle. It will also make the steering sketchy as the longer the shackles are, the more the shackles can deflect side to side when cornering, or turning. Best to move the mount.

 

[hotrod1937]

You just need to cut the front shackle mount loose and move it forward enough to ensure the shackle doesn't flop over under load. The 35 degrees is fine, but not necessary. Anything from straight up to slightly past that point works fine, and will also avoid this flop over. Looks like your mount needs to move about 2" forward to avoid this.
Longer shackles aren't the fix for this, as longer shackles will result in changing caster, and you wont have the correct 7 degrees angle. It will also make the steering sketchy as the longer the shackles are, the more the shackles can deflect side to side when cornering, or turning. Best to move the mount.

Will moving the shackle, change my wheel base at all?

 

[hotrod1937]

Will moving the shackle, change my wheel base at all?

just thought that question through, I figured out my answer. Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.