Still too long, so here is the last part. This one deals with the camber issue:
You will also have to change the axle camber. Our reference shows 90 kingpin inclination on '28-'34 Ford axles and 80 on '35-48. 1949-59 Chevy is 40, '37-'48 Olds is 4~5/60 and '49-52 is 50, That is a sampling of only a few of the differences. All it really shows is that you have to bend the axle.
One way to figure how much to bend your axle comes from Ace Brake & Wheel Service, 1415 25th Street, Bakersfield, California 93301, Owner Fred Ousley, suggested a method to save the owner a small fortune in shop labor, if he could find a shop willing to do it. He said that to bend the axle a half to a full degree was relatively easy. The trouble comes when bending a substantial amount; the kingpin caster will wander, you sort of chase your alignment all over the axle because of the extreme pressures needed to bend it while in the car.
His method is to place the axle in a vise with copper jaw covers, preferably a large vise, lay a straightedge horizontally from the inner kingpin hole edge on one side to the opposite kingpin hole edge. Level the axle with a bubble level. Next, assemble the GM spindles on the axle and place a level on any machined surface that is true to the brake drum axle center. This could be the machined surface for the backing plate or the bearing locating surface on the spindle end, The spindle will visibly point upward but you will need the level for measuring how much to bend the axle until the bubble hits level,
If you are lucky enough to have or find a dropped axle that is really sway-backed, no problem bending it. Place the axle in a hydraulic press, belly up, and place wood blocks wherever the axle touches the press. We used a 250-ton press that wouldn't take no for an' answer, but a smaller press could easily work. Press equally along the axle between the spring perches to straighten out the axle. At the same time the kingpin angles are lessening due to the axle bending. It's trial and error any way you bend it, so level the axle, replace the spindles, then check with your level after each time you bend.
Once you have leveled the axle, then you are ready to twist it so the hole centers on the same plane. Four steel rods, about a foot and a half long, are pressed into both the kingpin and spring perch holes, Looking at the axle from the end shows any twist in the axle. If you are going to run parallel wishbones, don't worry about the twist of the spring perch holes. If you are going to run a stock type or split stock type wishbone the spring perch holes must be parallel. If not, the stock wishbone will not fit without forcing and will misalign the kingpin holes. The split type will bolt on with no problem except when the wishbone ends are bolted to the chassis at equal points in height, they will twist the axle.
We left the axle in the vise and used a 24-inch adjustable end wrench over the spring perch boss to twist the axle. It bends easy, so be careful. If the perch holes are parallel but the king-pins are not, secure the axle at the perch bosses and grip the kingpin boss with the wrench and bend in the right direction. Eyeball with rods in place, or just use a level on the kingpins when using a parallel wishbone setup where the perch hole misalignment is not important.
With the new axle installed, alignment is the standard procedure most competent front end shops can do with no problems, little time, and little money.
Ken Mitchell, the front end alignment man at Haberfelde Ford in Bakersfield, gave me more information on beam axles. Ford beam axles are made of Canadian steel and are tempered. It is the temper that gives the axle the life to hold alignment. When the axle ends are heated too much it draws the life out of the steel and it becomes a dead axle. A live axle, when being bent, will be moved 2~ to 30 past the desired angle because of spring-back. A dead axle is easy to bend and will bend right to shape, no springback. As easily as it bends to shape, the car weight and road bumps will bend it back out of shape, pronto. Ken recommends bending any beam axle out of the car if it needs more than a half degree camber change. He uses right and left hand benders called 'crows feet," These should be used when changing camber on a dropped axle when only the area between the spring perch boss and kingpin boss is being bent. You can preheat the axle end to about 3000 F., but not enough to make the metal change color. When the axle changes color, it loses its temper, and becomes soft. If you have a dead axle it can be retempered by a professional heat treating shop,
________________________________________________________________________________
Now, the question is, do you REALLY want to go through all of this to use your Chevy brakes, or would it be easier to plunk down $ 300 for an axle already built with the proper camber and all so that they just bolt on?? I don't know what your time is worth, but I would rather spend the money and get the right axle to start with.
Don
