REAR SUSPENSION AND PROPER REAR GEARING

After talking to Charlie about the rear suspension and rear end for the T, Charlie recommended I contact Pete and Jakes to get some parts prices. I chatted with Jason at Pete and Jakes, who provided a couple of options. Charlie and I discussed those option and landed on the following set-up. We're going run ladder
bars with a 40 Ford style low-arching traverse spring. Here's a breakdown with Pete and Jakes Part #'s for the Ladder/Traverse Spring Rear Suspension:

Model A Ladder bar kit PN 2011

40 Ford style spring PN 3058

Brackets PN 5019

Rear shock kit PN 1070

Rear Crossmember for traverse spring PN3016

On Charlie's recommendation, I also inquired about rear ends with both P&J and John's Industries. 

Both Jason (@P&J's) and John (owner of John's Industries) very helpful and really took the time to base recommendations on my intended use. After discussing what I intended to do with the car, which was simply cruise it, both gentlemen encouraged "highway gears". Their rationales were almost identical. I'm building a light car using a 425 ci engine that normally came in a heavy car. Heavy cars generally were equipped with 2.75-3.0 gears. Knowing the car would be about half the weight of its original car, Jason and John both strongly advised I go with something close to factory gearing since that was what the engine was originally matched to. I based my discussions on the fact that I'd be running a 30" cheater slick. In looking at the cost differences between posi and an open rear, I was quite surprised that Jason suggested that the open rear end was a great option versus a posi. Unless I was planning on drag racing or desperately wanted to leave "twin black marks", he felt that the posi was overkill and actually might make the car less forgiving, should it break loose when jumped on. He recommended a 3.00 or 3.25 gear, so that RPMs would be in the comfotable cruising zone at highway speeds, ultimately recommending 3.25s. Having the same conversation with John, netted his recommendation to go with a 3.00 gearing so that cruising at 70 would put me in the 2000-2200 range. I was quite surprised that two such knowldgable guys would recommend freeway gears. What neither one knew is that I had a 12-bolt one-legger from a 66 Riviera at my disposal but had looked beyong it figuring I wanted both posi and steeper gearing. Wrong on both counts. We're going to go with the 12-bolt as long as its width works in our favor (It was originally purchased for my 29 roadster).

Here are the number for both gentlemen should you need some sage advice
from two guy who clearly know their rears from a proverbial hole in the ground.
Jason @ Pete & Jakes: (800) 334-7240

John's Industries: (800) 332-2450

THE T BUILD IS STARTING BACK UP.

I had a great chat today with my wife about the roadster build. I told her I wanted to wait until we got back to Austin or at the very least have the roadster built in Austin rather than here in Denver. So although my parts pile has grown nicely in the time that I've been here, the roadster isn't going to be built anytime soon. The good news? Instead of initiating the build of the roadster, I'm going to start back up on the T. Instead of continuing to collect parts for the roadster, I'm going to have the chassis built for the T. A quick call to Mercury Charlie, and we set a plan in place. I'm going to be calling Pete and Jakes this week to check prices on their ladder bar type rear coil over suspension. Once I have that price, I can call John's Industries and get a price quote on a complete 9" rear end. Then with those parts ordered to be received at Mercury Charlie's, Charlie will start setting up the frame for my 425 nailhead/Turbo 400 combo. This is going to be fun.

A VISIT WITH MERCURY CHARLIE

Had the chance to spend a couple hours with Mercury Charlie today at his shop in North Austin. We covered a lot of ground as Charlie and I always do. It started with the new Mercury Charlie Mercury shift knobs which we will be carrying on our HotRodshiftknob.com site. And before long, the conversation came around to T's. Charlie revealed that he's going to build another T for this year's Lone Star Round Up. He shared a few details and let's just say if he does half the stuff he talked about, it's going to be badass. He also talked about his intention to offer a line of custom-built perimeter frames specifically for T's using the stance of his old T as the starting point, which had a 13" kickup in back and a 3" Z at the firewall.  I'm strongly considering having Charlie build my T's frame since it was his T that started me down the path to owning one and Marty is not too keen on T's. We talked about rear suspension and Charlie's preference is to use traverse springs, as he found the coils on his old T to be less than ideal after trying several different shock/coil combos on his old car. I shared my plan to used my 425 nailhead, Turbo 400 and 12-bolt rear in my T and the only part Charlie questioned was using a 12-bolt, explaining that the Ford 9" is not only much stronger than a 12-bolt, but far easier and less expensive to repair in the unlikely event that it ever needs repair. His final point was that a 9" can be built to exact specs, as in width and gear ratio -- with all new parts-- for a relatively affordable price. And lastly, he mentioned that he can get good prices through his supplier, John's Industries. As usual, I enjoyed the hell out of our visit and Charlie's willingness to share his POV. A really good day, filled with good company and valuable information.