Getting Framed - Building Your Own Chassis: Part II

Splitting the rear '35-36 Ford wishbones begins by welding a threaded insert into the cut wishbone to mount the tie-rod end. Note that in this story all the pieces are tacked or clamped until they are in place. Final weld-ing will take place later after all suspension components have been fit to the chassis.

A wishbone-mounting bracket cut from 3/16-inch steel was tacked to the frame.

A homemade transverse leaf spring spreader can easily be made from a piece of threaded bar stock with pointed ends that fit into the spring where it loops for the shackle. Just twist a bolt against the end piece to spread the spring to the desired width.

When mounting the rearend, carefully measure to check that the rearend is perfectly centered. We measured each side and moved pieces around until both measurements were identical.

Once all the rearend components were in place, the pinion angle was set within acceptable tolerance of 4 to 7 degrees.

A simple upper shock mount for the rearend was made from a couple pieces of flat steel and a piece of tubing.

A wishbone gusset was welded to the '35-36 Ford wishbone in an area known to develop cracks when used with higher horsepower hot rod drivetrains. The gusset is not only functional but also a great styling element. This gusset will be fully welded for maximum strength.

The lower shock mount will be made from the piece removed from the front of the '35-36 Ford rear wishbone. Recycling pieces whenever possible saves material and also makes cool-looking pieces of which people will take notice. And original Ford steel is some of the best.

A motor-mount kit like this can be purchased from suppliers like Speedway or Sacramento Vintage Ford.