Parallel Leaf Springs

[Guest Carl_W_Goss]

Anybody change over the stock rear axle to open drive line with parallel leaf springs? I'm thinking of purchasing a 41 Lincoln Z.

[Tom_Overfield]

Carl,

I didn't do it myself, but I have a 41 Zephyr that it was done to. Looks like they just dropped the original guy, welded some spring attatchment points to the frame and bolted this rear end underneath. As I understand it, this car at one point had a small block chevy in it.

Tom

[Guest Carl_W_Goss]

Chassis engineering has what looks like a generic parallel leaf spring kit. I'm thinking of hooking up an S-10 truck trans in place of the stock trans. I think that'll take some engineering..... :-)

[Tom_Overfield]

How about considering leaving the stock rear end, getting an open driveshaft kit, then once you install the S-10 unit, you can have a driveshaft cut to fit. There are several sources of the kit to convert from a torque tube to an open driveshaft. common enough modification.

Tom

[Phil Knapp]

Question - Why would you choose to install a CHEVY tansmission in a Lincoln??? It would seem to be a LOT more trouble than it's worth!

I installed an open driveline in my 1947 Continental in 1965. I used stock rear springs, hangers, shackles, etc from a 1954 Ford (plentiful in those days) and a 1957 Lincoln rear axle which uses the same bolt pattern as the '47 Lincoln. I have since acquired a 9-inch rear end from a 1960 Ford F-100 pickup, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. These trucks can have with a variety of widths, so be sure that the width matches the original Lincoln rear axle. The 9-inch third member will provide a fairly wide range of axle ratios and are "bullet-proof", making them a desirable choice. The axle spring perches need to be relocated to fit the width of the Lincoln frame.

I used a stock 1957 Lincoln 368 cubic inch V-8 and a 1954 GM dual-range hydrsmatic transmission. That GM transmission was used in the early 1950 Lincolns until Ford made the "Fordomatic" transmission strong enough for use in Lincolns. We drove that car on a trouble free cross-country trip from California to the 1970 LCOC Eastern National Meet at Mt. Snow, VT. We also drove it to the 1970 Western Meet in Yosemite National Park in California, making it the only car to attend both the Eastern and Western National meets that year.

I also used the wider 1957 Lincoln wheels with 1939 Ford hubcap clips and radial tires. That was my daily driver for nearly 100,000 miles in the 1970's.

Check out my Webshots Photo album of the '47 Continental at:

1947 Lincoln Continental (and other Lincolns) pictures from cars photos on webshots

I also built a 1939 Ford Convertible Coupe using almost the same rear axle components in 1963. That was my daily driver until I sold it in 1968.

Check it out at:

1939 Ford Convertible-'Green Hornet' pictures from cars photos on webshots

Edited February 7, 2010 by Phil Knapp (see edit history)

[Guest Carl_W_Goss]

Many thanks for the great post, Mr Knapp. Love those cars! The late 50s Lincoln Axle bolt patterns match the 1940 LZ. And I was thinking of using 1958 Lincoln wheels.

Pre and post-war Lincolns are killer street rods!