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  #1  
Old 11-14-2007, 09:48 PM
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teddy1500 teddy1500 is offline
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Default Any one know about straight axle gassers?????

Found a old henry j in a yard, want to make a gasser looking street car out of it. I can't seem to find online info on the conversion to a straight axle. What ikind of cars do I need to look for to take the axle and steering from? Henry j's became amc, which became mopar, and I want to put a 331 or 392 in it.....
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Old 11-14-2007, 11:58 PM
dodger1 dodger1 is offline
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Pre-49 Fords all had straight axles, but only one transverse leaf spring. There's gotta be aftermarket suppliers out there, though - look how popular street rods have become. Another choice might be pre 50's pickups, but I don't think you're gonna find too many of them in a j/y either.
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Old 11-15-2007, 12:20 AM
sanborn sanborn is offline
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Those cars were quite narrow. I think you will need to look at aftermarket suppliers because I think it is about the same width as a 1940 Willys coupe--and I would be very surprised to find one of them.
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Old 11-15-2007, 12:42 AM
bjoehandley bjoehandley is offline
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Maybe measure out a XJ or MJ, the 2wd models were solid axles with a variation on the coil sprung and 4 link arrangement.

I went and grabbed the owners manual for my '98 Cherokee, the track width for the front and rear is 58" (147.3cm for those going metric) with the 7" rims. The '84-'01 Cherokee's and '86-'92 Comanche's all share the front measurement.
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Old 11-15-2007, 01:59 AM
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What about A 100 vans or 61 -71 odge truck front axles?
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Old 11-15-2007, 09:45 AM
kick_the_reverb kick_the_reverb is offline
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A100 vans and D100 trucks might be too wide for a Henry J. What I heard was a good source, is the Jeep mail vehicle (2wd) - they are quite narrow. If you want an aftermarket setup - you can try Speedway Motors.
From some reading about the history of straight axle gassers, the racers moved away from the 2 parallel leafs to a 4 bar setup because it was easier to control the car during the slowdown at the end of the track.
Good luck with the Henry J, my dream project is a Henry J gasser, too.

Ran
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Old 11-15-2007, 11:56 AM
Dennis Jokela Dennis Jokela is offline
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Speedway Motors has several transverse spring, straight axle kits. They have straight or several dropped axles.

Also Mopar Max, the online Mopar magazine had some articles on how to narrow a A100 axle. The A100 set up is quite heavy, and probably cost the same as the Speedway stuff.

Dennis Jokela
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Old 11-15-2007, 01:07 PM
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Slingshot383 Slingshot383 is offline
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You would be better with the 4-bar and coil springs, or even coilover shocks. The tube axle would be street rod fair.
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Old 11-15-2007, 11:46 PM
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But if your building a gasser, a straight axle in my mind is the only choice.
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Old 11-16-2007, 02:23 AM
Tarrbabe Tarrbabe is offline
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Exclamation I had a 48 Hillman..........

I was told it had an Anglia? front axle. Normally it is shaped as a V but mine had been cut and moved back to almost a U shape. I never raced it but the guy I bought it from said it was hard to handle at over 100. The bushing were worn out and I had new ones made a machine shop but then lost the car due to unforseen problems. I had a .060 over 13.5 383 to put in it but I guess it doesnt count. I was told this was a standard setup back then. There must be something better now.
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Old 11-17-2007, 07:52 AM
storm king storm king is offline
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Speedway is the best choice if you are looking to make anice nostalgia car. Forget that strut and four bar crap. That's just for guys who have ot build 'cookie cutter' copies of what everyone else is running.
A leaf spring (Mopar S/S) car of the kind you are runnng will be ever bit as fast as some clown running a complex four bar set up, and you won't have anything to mess with.
A-100's are insanely heavy, Jeep axle is huge, doesn't have "the look" of a nostagia car. Go over to the HAMB and ask around, I just bought a dropped axle off an old top fuel car for a 100 bucks.
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Old 01-26-2008, 07:05 PM
bsuttonmci bsuttonmci is offline
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Default Looking for help with I.D.

Need to identify the straight axle in my 64 Polara, would like to put disc breaks on it but no one has been able to help me, attached are some pics. Any help out there?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 100_0653 small.jpg (113.0 KB, 11 views)
File Type: jpg 100_0654 small.jpg (112.3 KB, 8 views)
File Type: jpg 100_0800 small.jpg (108.3 KB, 8 views)
File Type: gif Axle measurments.GIF (3.3 KB, 8 views)
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  #13  
Old 01-27-2008, 10:13 AM
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Definately a100 or dodge truck, has it been narrowed, those brake lines look eerily familiar to the ones on my 62 dodge pickup, it still has the straight axle in it. The spring perches look the same too, but for some odd reason I thought the had a bit of a bow to them in the middle.

Here is a picture of another guys front dodge truck axle, not mine.

http://www.sweptline.org/forums/down...ile.php?id=674
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