late columbia in a 34 ?

[cas3]

i have a later columbia i'd like to use in my 34. rough guessing with a tape measure it looks like if you use a straight spring, like 40 or so, instead of the curved 34 spring, it puts the axle location back where it should be, due to the different lengths of the spring hangers in the axle. any one done this? i searched lots of old threads with no luck. also, 3" wider wheel track, look goofy? thanks, skip

[Tom Walker]

Im doing something similar. Looked at doing exactly that, but changing rear crossmember for straight spring put me off.

[35fordtn]

I just had John Connelly do a 34 Columbia for me. He does great work. I had nothing to start with and simply send him the RH axle housing and he supplies the rest.

[cas3]

hmm.. i forgot, the cross member is curved too. i have the original rear end, but i hope not to have to cut it up as they are not as easy to come by as the later stuff.

[Angledrive]

Just grind the front edge of the 40 spring to fit up into the cross member. If the body was off the chassis you can cut the cross member. I've done it both ways. Sometimes you have to slot the spring hole in the cross member to fit. Wheelbase stays the same.

[Andy]

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The 42-48 Columbia's would be too wide and look pretty bad.

[cas3]

angle drive: my frame is laying on its side out in the barn. i went and looked at it after tom reminded me of the curve and thought the straight spring would not fit. now you say a little massage and it may fit, i'll go stick a spring in there tomorrow. meantime, i remembered a rear end in my junk pile drug home many years ago, so i dressed up and went out for a look. high of 5 below zero today ! so, i see its a 33-34 that some one cut off the torque tube /drive shaft and radius rods with a hacksaw !! how long did that take? anyway, i studied some more and learned some may not have the inner pinion bearng- not good. round flange on tt bad , scalaped flange good. have to go look again tomorrow. that would solve the width and mount problem, now will the colombia mount to the early carrier?

[Angledrive]

My good friend Paul Garrigan aka Rumbleseat had a columbia in his 34. I think if you do a search you will find a post on how he did the conversion. My 34 has a 39 rear and since it is channeled I still had to reverse the rear wheels so the tires don't scrub the body. Here is a pic of 32 pickup I am building for a friend. Has a 34 chassis and I cut the cross member.

[cas3]

rumbleseat only has posts on y block stuff. no colombia.

[hotcoupe]

this is going in my `32, no modifications to cross member/spring. contact johnny stooksbury.
tom

[1932 V8]

I recently bought this little pickup. It has a later Columbia in it. I don't think it looks bad ??




These are the only pics I have at the moment .When we got the truck I rolled around under it kinda, but not enough to tell you how they put it in? I can tell you it is in the stock location front to rear, because the wheel is a little forward in the fender like a stock truck .

[Ray in La Mesa]

Just a bit off topic, I've got a '28 A roadster pickup with a '46-'48 Columbia. It has a 4" wider track so the stock wheels sit right inside the fender lip. Most people don't notice but if you're looking you can spot it. i really love being able to split the gears in the mountains.

[cas3]

hot coupe, that thing is gorgeous,looks expensive too, but i must call mr stooksbury. nice 32 pickup there, rear end seems to fit fine

[G.M.]

I have converted almost all years V/8"s for Columbia rears. It's been so
long ago (20 or more years) I don't remember all the derails. I did build
a fixture on my 5/8" steel plate work table that I can weld the right
Columbia housing after cutting down back to the exact length for that
year. I did at least 20 for myself and others. The only pictures I found
was one of a 34 shortened, welded back together and welding in the tube
for the shackle bolt and a heavy hunk of steel for the shock. The other
picture is behind the seat of my 33 phaeton where I mounted the controls
I made for it from a gas switchover valve that is for dual gas tanks. G.M.

[Angledrive]

cas3, you didn't dig the hole deep enough

I found this, which I believe may be the info requested. I have no record of where I got this, or date it was posted....
Since you asked: My Columbia is an electric/vacuum unit from a '46. The Columbia overdrives are wider beginning in '35 and are wider than the ones used in late '32 thru '34 Fords.
To make everything fit was fairly simple once I got into it. Changed the complete center section (with the 3.78:1 rear end gears) to a '35-'48 since center sections beginning in '35 are wider and the '34 won't accommodate the wider gears. (Some guys machine shims so they can retain the stock, and narrower,'34 center section. I've never done this, but understand it's being done frequently.)
The wider '35-'48 center section makes the stock '34 axles too short by 3/8" on each side. I used the spider gears from the '46 and made longer axles using the '46 axles and shortening them so they were 3/8" longer than the stock '34 axles. This required machining a few new threads and lengthening the taper and keyway. Sounds like a lot of machining, but only took about 40 minutes to set them both up and machine everything.
The right '34 axle housing was cut about 4" from where the right wishbone connects. Using the outer section of the '34, a friend grafted the right side inner axle housing (with the Columbia section)to the outer section of the '34 so the newly created right axle housing is exactly the same length as the stock left axle housing. The stock '34 wish bone bolts up on both sides as do the brakes and backing plates previously used. Then it's simply a matter of bolting everything together. It's worked good so far.... and that's been somewhere around 100,000 miles. Hope it stays glued together on the runs planned this summer. .....rumble seat

[cas3]

hi, i did dig deeper, and found this link on the hamb, thru google. http://www.flatheadv8.org/rumblest/intro.htm very nice read, now book marked, and thank you very much for your effort to write down all your years of experience for us newbies. anyone who hasnt read this, check it out!! now, back to my dilemma, i've got the good (?) 34 rear, and the cut up junk one drug up to the shop door. good one turns on the frozen tundra, the other does not. sitting a long time, most likely got water inside. i took the colombia apart, and it too had some water in the bottom, ring gear got pitted a little, but the rest is really good. its a shame, the axles are perfect, and will soon rust in my barn here in the swamp. i've talked to both john stooksbury in tn, and john conelly in ca, and currently moving to az. shop to reopen in a few weeks. shortening the housing does not seem to be a big deal, and if you stay with the 34 center section w/shim, thats easy too. GM thats a different idea you did, looks like it worked fine too. today i will tear down the 34 rears to see what i have, and spread some more old 600 wt oil on me and the floor. 378's in the columbia now, and since most of my driving is on 35 mph county rds, i'm hoping there will be 411's in the 34. i do not plan on a big fire breathing monster motor, just a healthy 59ab, and mostly old man driving habits. thanks all for the replies, skip

[cas3]

heres a link on 32-34 rear end mods i stumbled on by accident. i thought i'd link it here for folks thinking about different options. back to my project soon, out of town now. enjoy, skip http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62678 note they do not talk about the banjo bolts clocked different