[Riley]

bear with me, I'm still learning here. I have a 1930 (or so I think) Chevy 1.5 ton truck. I'm taking the whole drive train out. I want to put in a 1979 mustang rear end in underneath that old truck. The rear end is just a bit wider than the original dually rear end but I can live with that. My question is...can anybody tell me a proceedure for making and adding perch mounts for the mustang rear end housing to fit the stock truck leaf springs? is it as simple as just copying the perch design and then just welding them in place? I have never done that before but I am confident that I can do it if that's all it is. Is there someplace specific I can look on hotrodder.com to find where somebody has done this allready so I can get a feel for how it should go? I can't seem to find anything though I have been looking. Also, I think that the leaf springs from the 1.5 ton will be WAY to stiff for that mustang rear end that I have. Is there a procedure for adding the leaf springs and leaf spring mounts from off of a donor car to a project car? can someone tell me where to find that info here on hotrodders.com? I have been looking and I can't find it and I need to start that project next weekend (old lady's orders). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[F&J]

Most people might just go with an aftermarket leaf spring set like from Posies.

But I think you are on a tight budget?



I was going to suggest tossing the upper helper spring set, and then pull off some leaves from the main stack. But it almost looks like the springs are made from very thick leaves. So, it could still work with the Mustang rear mounted on TOP of the main stack, but it would still be stiff. Mounting the rear end on top of the springs will lower the truck a lot.


Perches; I can't see if you can cut off the chevy perches and re-use them. They likely are cast steel?? You could buy some aftermarket perches made for leaf springs, or you can make your own from short piece of very heavy wall square tubing. You would cut away one side and end up with a !_! shape and then cut C shapes on the opposite sides to wrap around your axle tubes.

Like this side view: /U\

[tomslik]

hey, how about a junkyard trip?
caravan/voyager rear springs...
the hanger brackets unbolt from the body easy (both ends)...

[Riley]

Originally Posted by F&J

Most people might just go with an aftermarket leaf spring set like from Posies.

But I think you are on a tight budget?



I was going to suggest tossing the upper helper spring set, and then pull off some leaves from the main stack. But it almost looks like the springs are made from very thick leaves. So, it could still work with the Mustang rear mounted on TOP of the main stack, but it would still be stiff. Mounting the rear end on top of the springs will lower the truck a lot.


Perches; I can't see if you can cut off the chevy perches and re-use them. They likely are cast steel?? You could buy some aftermarket perches made for leaf springs, or you can make your own from short piece of very heavy wall square tubing. You would cut away one side and end up with a !_! shape and then cut C shapes on the opposite sides to wrap around your axle tubes.

Like this side view: /U\

That's a pretty good iead J&F. I could probably do that. Thanks for the reply.

[Riley]

Originally Posted by tomslik

hey, how about a junkyard trip?
caravan/voyager rear springs...
the hanger brackets unbolt from the body easy (both ends)...

That sounds interesting. I may look into that.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by Riley

I want to put in a 1979 mustang rear end in underneath that old truck.

Isn't the Mustang rear end a 4 lug rear?
Have you looked at how small the axle bearings are on the Mustang ?

[OneMoreTime]

What I do is take a piece of heavy wall square tubing and using a hole saw in my drill press and plenty of cutting oil cut the radius in the tube to fit the axle and weld my perches on where I need them to be..run the press at the slowest speed possible and use a light but steady pressure..takes a bit to do this but it works..Get the angle for the pinion inclination correct before you weld though as that is critical..

Sam

[Bob88]

Originally Posted by OneMoreTime

Get the angle for the pinion inclination correct before you weld though as that is critical..

Sam

Don't mean to hijack his thread, but I have a question. What's the procedure for setting the pinion angle?? Thanks.