Finally making progress

[VCustoms]

I've finally made some progress on the '48. Ford 8.8 is ready for new spring perches, firewall will clear the BB now, and I have a Cavalier R&P from the junkyard. So here are the questions:

1. Rear-end. Can I use a 2" wide spring perch even though the springs are 1 7/8"? (I've never done a complete build so I'd rather ask and look stupid than not ask and something fail driving down the road.)

2. R&P install help. What do the brackets look like? I've seen one set of pics. Any others? Use 2005 Ford Exploder outer tie rods? Any other help?

3. Brakes. The 8.8 has 11" disks. Rusty Hope uses a 10" disk for the front I believe. As long as I use the right valves will the two live happily together?

4. Pedals. I keep seeing something about using a '94 Jeep Cherokee brake pedal assembly. Is this the whole assembly including the booster or just the pedal?

Edited September 13, 2016 by VCustoms

[VCustoms]

So no help with this?

[bobostski]

 Most of the people on this site keep there cars original. Now if you have questions about drum brakes and stock rear ends you would get lots of help.

[VCustoms]

7 minutes ago, bobostski said:

 Most of the people on this site keep there cars original. Now if you have questions about drum brakes and stock rear ends you would get lots of help.

Not helpful and kind of judgmental. This is the P15-D24 forum. Not the "Stock Only P15-D24 forum". Its my car. I can build it however I want. So if you have input that is productive, please feel free to jump in. If you just want to voice your opinion on how I am building MY car, please feel free to go post that somewhere else.

[P15-D24]

Your welcome here, that is why it it on the logo "Stock to Custom".  

I think the problem is maybe you haven't connected yet with a member who has done the same kind of project. 

[pflaming]

"It used to be that cars were built in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico," Trump told the audience in Canton. "Now the cars are made in Mexico, and you can't drink the water in Flint."

On September 11, 2016 at 5:11 PM, VCustoms said:

Rear-end. Can I use a 2" wide spring perch even though the springs are 1 7/8"? (I've never done a complete build so I'd rather ask and look stupid than not ask and something fail driving down the road.)

2. R&P install help. What do the brackets look like? I've seen one set of pics. Any others? Use 2005 Ford Exploder outer tie rods? Any other help?

3. Brakes. The 8.8 has 11" disks. Rusty Hope uses a 10" disk for the front I believe. As long as I use the right valves will the two live happily together?

4. Pedals. I keep seeing something about using a '94 Jeep Cherokee brake pedal assembly. Is this the whole assembly including the booster or just the pedal?

. Bob was only clarifying the forum base yet there is a lot of diversity here, so you are welcome

1. IMHO as long as the perch is wider than the spring and has a centering hole, probably just fine.

3. IMHO I doubt the valve knows what is on the ends of the lines. I have disc on front and drums on the axle.

Others can be more definitive, I just wanted you to know there is ample knowledge, experience, and forgiving help on this forum. 

[VCustoms]

55 minutes ago, P15-D24 said:

Your welcome here, that is why it it on the logo "Stock to Custom".  

I think the problem is maybe you haven't connected yet with a member who has done the same kind of project. 

I haven't ever felt unwelcomed here which is why I was surprised by the response. The questions are only because I have learned so much from this forum. So to imply that, as I am going to put it, I'm SOL since its not stock isn't something I was expecting.

 

19 minutes ago, pflaming said:

"It used to be that cars were built in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico," Trump told the audience in Canton. "Now the cars are made in Mexico, and you can't drink the water in Flint."

. Bob was only clarifying the forum base yet there is a lot of diversity here, so you are welcome

1. IMHO as long as the perch is wider than the spring and has a centering hole, probably just fine.

3. IMHO I doubt the valve knows what is on the ends of the lines. I have disc on front and drums on the axle.

Others can be more definitive, I just wanted you to know there is ample knowledge, experience, and forgiving help on this forum. 

Thanks pflaming. I understand that sometimes things are said with the best of intentions. Being on this forum, I have become accustomed to those that feel a vehicle should remain stock. I respect that. I am not that type of person though. I don't fit in with the normal crowd and tend to go against the grain. I may also be a bit grumpy after dealing with a Government customer who cant tie their own shoes. Deep breath. Let it go. Move on.

My concern with the perch was the U-Bolts. If I use a wider perch then the U-bolts will be wider. That means that the bolt wont be tight against the spring. Should I worry about that?

I had that feeling about the brakes but I just wanted to make sure I was thinking right. Shouldn't matter as long as I get the valving right front to rear.

Like I said in the question I haven't ever built a car from the ground up. Everything I am doing I am either learning by reading or doing or a combination of both. I just look to those with more experience for any crumb of help when I need it. There is less and less guys my age doing this and any knowledge out there is better than what I have. Thank you both for your supportive words.

[Andydodge]

VC........as for the rear axle spring pads when I built my 1940 Dodge in the 1970's I used an Oz 1962 diff that had pads slightly wider, think 2" against the 1&7/8th springs, had no problem...about 10 yrs ago I updated to a 1990's Oz Ford Falcon wagon rearend, which used a 3" wide rear spring, I was able to use the Ford U bolts on the 1 &7/8th spring and just redrilled the spring pad so one U bolt moved closer to the edge of the spring..........brakes?.......I have had 11" Oz vented front discs since 1975/6 with vented rear discs till I swapped to the Ford diff 10 yrs ago which came with 10" non vented discs and they still work fine...........I use the hanging pedal assembly that the front disc car had, its booster & mastercylinder bolted onto the reinforced firewall, stops fine...........as for steering............I use a narrowed 9" Oz Austin 1800 rack & pinion which obviously won't be available over there, but the Cavalier rack with its centre steer arrangement is a good setup, only thing is that you will have to "shorten" the mopar steering arms length as the rack does not have the same "throw" that the stock steering box has and consequently your turning circle will not be good..............anyway trust these pics help.......the one with the steering arm shows how its mounted "forward" to effectively shorten its throw, the 2nd last pic shows a USA Cavalier rack setup..........the last pic shows the car...........get back if I can help .......    

[Don Coatney]

Be it right or wrong this is what I did and it worked for me.

[Young Ed]

For my truck I found from a jeep supplier replacement pads in the 1.75 width to match my springs.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I had to do an alternative setting once due to not having a second set of perches on hand when I HAD to remove the intended rear gear due to an oversight on my part. (needed ring tone)  My method of smaller width spring on wider perches was to make and install capture plates...these were easy to do and are very effective at doing the deed.  There is a capture plate drilled and welded on each side of each spring plate..On can also source the narrow perches from Summit or a trailer building parts supplier

Edited September 16, 2016 by Plymouthy Adams

[VCustoms]

Thank you gents. I appreciate all the help. I like Plymouthy's solution. I keep hoping that someone has the Cavalier mounts and could send me a picture haha. I reached out to Fatman hoping they had an old set of directions or something that could help me out. I think with everyone's input so far I am good on 2 of the questions. Now to solve the rack mounting question and the brake pedal assembly/MC question. 

[bobostski]

On 9/15/2016 at 7:38 PM, VCustoms said:

So no help with this?

Sorry you took my post the wrong way. In your post you seemed shocked that nobody would answer your questions. I was only pointing out that most of the  knowledge on this site is toward stock problems. There are people into customizing but I don't think they are in the majority. You might as well customize and up date you car as they are worth a lot more than the stock cars and easier to sell. I'd put a 318 in my 50 Wayfarer if I knew how to do it but I can keep the 6 going so i guess I'm stuck with it.. Who needs to go over 50 anyway?  Sorry again but i wasn't trying to put you down.

[VCustoms]

Hello everyone!! Well lets bring this back from the dead. Kinda sad its been 3 years but Rome wasn't built overnight. Life has changed for me a lot of those three years (moving, hailstorms, chaos) but I am in a position with both my skills and finances now that I can move forward on this more. I have made more progress in the last three months than I have in the last three years.

1. Rebuilt the front end ( Deluxe kit from Kanter) Got my credit card info stolen in the process so not sure if I will ever use them again.

2. Disc brake conversion.

3. Front shock relocation using F1 shock mounts.

4. R&P tacked in place for now.

5. 2nd 383/727 combo picked up. Pretty tired. Needs a bore so first combo is at the machine shop.

6. New rear shocks.

7. Rear end mounted.

I have seen a lot of posts on here about using the Jeep sway bar on the front. Being one who always has to go against the grain I took some measurements on the old one and poked around Pull N Pay the last time I was there just to see if something else might work. I found the front sway bar on a 06 Dodge Magnum RT is darn near the same length and shape. The rod is about three times the size but I think it might work. I'll post some pictures so you guys can chime in. There may be something I missed that I am not thinking about.

Edited July 23, 2019 by VCustoms