I've been told that a Chevy small block equipped Ford 33-34 often will have 55% of the weight on the REAR wheels?

I know it's lots of other factors than the engine who decide this, but is this correct?

The car I'm building is a steel roadster with a Jaguar rear axle, standard chevy 350 engine, 6 speed manual T56 transmission, and Mustang II front suspension (FatMan stage III). It will have easily removable bobbed rear fenders and "MC-type" front fenders.

I was planning to move the engine 1-2 inches further back than "normal" and the front suspenion 1 inch further towards the front than original wheelbase, but if this will make a rear heavy car even more rear heavy, I won't do it.

What's yours advice?

Not true. As a matter of fact it's usually the other way around. The chart below is from the Heidts web site and illustrates the front/rear weight distribution of typical Mustang II IFS equipped cars. Which suspension is used will have little effect on this information.

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Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

That's what I thought too.

And I bet the roof on the 33-34 Coupe will not change this ratio much.

But on the other hand: I will use a T56 trans, which I think is lighter than the more common TH350. I will also have aluminium radiator, no a/c, no PS, and I will use headers.
Maybe I end up with a nearly 50/50 ratio after all?

Your vehicle will have a lot better front/rear weight ratio than would most newer cars, due to the engine having a further setback in the first placed. However, Im not sure it would be 55%. Type of suspension will have some play in weight distribution, as an after market tube straight axle and springs will have a lot less weight than will say a twin I beam setup out of a Ford Pickup. Spring rates will also play a big part in the weight bias. IF you know anyone in your area that races Stock Cars, most likely they will have scales to set the suspension with. If you know them well enough, you might be able to get them to scale your car for you. Another option would be to get a DEKO weight checker from Speedway Motors or some such supplier of racing equipment. This weight checker works by hooking the pressure piston stud under the lip of the wheel rim and then pushing down on the handle, as you would when jacking up a car. I have one, and have used it on more than just my old stock cars that I used to race.
Having rear end weight bias is a good thing, as it will drastically improve your handling. Tire sizes will dictate just how much rear weight bias you can handle before you get too much, and your car tends to skid sideways everytime yuo try to corner, rather than it just following the front end properly.
Under most conditions, having a 52-55% rear bias is very desireable in a street vehicle, at least with rear wheel drive, front mount engine.
With rear engine, rear drive, or front engine, front drive, these vehicles often will have over a 60% bias over the drive wheels, where the typical production (post 30's vehicles) will often have a 55-60% front bias with rear wheel drive.

I believe MOST of the weights above by Heidts listed to be in error.....
I have scrapped a lot of Pintos and they NEVER weigh over 2900 lbs...with some junk thown in.

My 32 Roadster, a all steel Henry Ford car with a SBC, 400 Turbo and a 9 inch Ford rear end weighs 2240 LBS......on a state certified scale.



That as you see it......fully boxed chassis, bumpers, fenders and steel wheels. It does have aluminum heads, intake, water pump, driveshaft and a Strange aluminum center section. The heads save 50 pounds, the intake 25 and the water pump 5. The driveshaft and center section save about 25 lbs. SO .....THAT's less than 110 lbs...

Even with without the weight saving Aluminum stuff and a full tank of fuel and cooler full of Diet Cokes...it will NOT get to 2500 LBS.

Your 350 and my 350........fairly even ..you could get yours as light....
Your Jag rear and my 9 inch Ford.....Mine could be 25 to 50 lbs lighter
Your 6 speed and my 400 Turbo......fairly even MAYBE yours lighter ?
Your Fatman IFS and my 4 bar/straight axle .....mine might be a little lighter
Your sheet metal ......a good bit lighter and with NO running boards, bumpers and braces.....your would be a good bit lighter. Light enougn to offset any weight advantage my car would have.....

Your car should weigh less than 2500 lbs.....easy....more like 2300.

I had a 32 Hiboy years ago ( steel car too ) and it crossed the scales at 2080. But had almost no aluminum stuff on the engine and had a Turbo 350...

Set it back if you want.....

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administratiion (NHTSA) the 1979 Pinto 2 door hatch back 4 cylinder without air weighed a total of 2998 pounds. This makes Heidts info off by a whopping 100 lbs. This was the weight of the vehicle (right off the assembly line) the NHTSA crash tested. Add a full tank of gas (about 10 gallons @ 8 lbs. per gallon) and Heidts numbers are only off by 30 pounds.

I'm not trying to defend Heidts but it's been my experience that their technical info is usually pretty good.

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Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

That may be true........ But you will have to admit...the 1979 is the heaviest one....with all the junky bumpers and door supports and junk.....the average 1974 and so ones are lighter, a good bit so.....and I have scrapped over 2 dozen of them..... on a state certified scale.

When cleaning up the salvage yard.......we would throw extra metal junk in them......and NEVER get over 2900 lbs. That's complete cars...econo boxes if you will. Pintos and their different skinned kin....... the Mustangs were disposable throw away cars ( like the Vega ). I have bought lots of them for 50 to 75 dollars...and never sold nothing off of them....I quit buying them...nobody wanted anything off of them...at least with the Vegas.I could sell the AT converters and the steering box..

NOW........with the Pinto/Mustang IFS craze ......the 74 to 78 front end suspension parts would bring some cash....

I think they are OK under vehicles weighing less than 3000 lbs......( what Ford designed them for..... ) but are overated, ugly and a LOT of installations are edgey are best. They were designed with 4 lug wheels, small brakes and a cheap rack and pinion. I know you can upgrade the brakes, and there are new racks.....but IMHO..they are still a throw away car front end....under another car.....most of the time .....too heavy for a Pinto/Mustang II IFS.

Most of the problems asked on the Suspension Brakes and Steering and General Rodding Tech are Pinto/Mustang II .......They are very mis-installed... under too heavy cars....and trucks.

Now I know that you , Centerline.... are a big fan of Heidts and the Pinto/Mustang II front ends......that's cool.........but a 34 3Window will not weigh 3100 lbs either.......IMHO........the ones I have been around were 2600 to 2800 with A/C....The perfect weight for a Pinto/Mustang II...... and with fenders to hide the ugly A arms...


We will just have to agree to disagree......

No sweat.

Life would be pretty boring if we all agreed on everything. I understand where you're coming from and agree with your points on a lot of them being mis-installed. But you have to admit that with the number of them running around in street rods that the actual number that have problems is pretty small. Especially when you take into consideration that a lot of the aftermarket versions aren't designed all that well in the first place and a good portion were installed by shade-tree mechanics.

__________________
Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

Thank you for the inputs!
Even if the Heidt's numbers are wrong, I think the ratio between front and rear weight are fairly correct.
I will probably move the engine back just a little. Then I'll make rom for an electric pull-type fan on the rear of the radiator, too. Save some horses compared to a conventional belt driven fan w/clutch.

And I've measured the framerails in the front suspension area. They are so flat that moving the front suspension 0,5-0,75" forward is no problem at all.
And the radiator mounts on the 34 Ford are not quite at the bottom of the framerails, so it will not interrupt with this either.

Can't help but wonder if that was a 'glas '33. My stock '56 Corvette scaled (city scales) at 2850. (Incidentally, this was also the license weight. First time I've ever seen actual weight even close to license weight.)