Way back in February 2003, we sang the virtues of the Shoebox Ford, praising it as a plentiful and affordable alternative to early Mercurys, which are getting pretty scarce. We then spent three issues following along as Scott Guildner and his crew at Guildner Customs in Van Nuys, California, chopped the top on a clean '51 Ford that was obtained on eBay. Once the lid was lowered, the Shoebox's inner custom started to show, but it was still a long way from achieving "the look" that makes a truly well thought out custom shine. Building a wicked sled is all about proportion, so if you chop the top to achieve a sleeker look, the car should also sit in the weeds, as any self-respecting custom connoisseur can tell you. Being that this car is going to be a flathead-powered, traditional '50s-era cruiser, Scott knew that a modern airbag system or Mustang II-style front clip wouldn't look right, so he turned to the traditional suspension drop specialists at J&M Enterprises and picked up one of their Jamco Engineered Ultra-Cruise Suspension Kits. Scott had never installed a kit from J&M before but had heard that their hardware was well engineered and all-inclusive; we decided to follow along as he swapped and dropped the Shoebox frontend.
As it turns out, the suspension on '49-51 Fords is already ahead of the game, as they feature the company's first independent frontend on a passenger car. Before that the Blue Oval always relied upon a variation of the tried-and-true solid axle and wishbone-style front suspension which graced everything that rolled off the Dearborn assembly line since the days of the Model T. This early IFS setup made a pretty basic transition from the early days of automobile technology to the post-WWII ear, however, as it utilizes kingpins similar to those found on pre-War suspension designs rather than the ball joints we have become accustomed to on more modern cars. The only difference is that kingpins only allow travel in one dimension: right or left, while a ball joint allows the suspension to move around more fluidly as the car goes over bumps in the road. For this reason the Jamco kit served our purpose very well, as it not only includes drop springs but new control arms designed to utilize ball joints, as well. There are several different levels of Ultra Cruise packages available, from the starter setup, which includes drop springs and the ball joint conversion, all the way up to the deluxe kit, which has everything needed to update your suspension, including the parts mentioned above plus new spindles, disc brakes with vented 11-inch rotors, a new master cylinder, specially designed gas shocks, and new drop spindles. Scott figured that if he was going to tear the old suspension off, he might as well go all the way, so we went with the deluxe kit and never looked back.
Surprisingly, the most difficult part of the entire process was removing the old parts, because they were practically welded to the frame after half a century of use and abuse. Eventually everything came off after liberal doses of WD-40 and a heavy hand on the breaker bar, and the mounting points on the rails were cleaned up and prepped for the new gear. The parts bolted up smoothly in one afternoon and the disc brakes worked like a champ. No power tools or welding were necessary, so just about anyone with a little mechanical ability and a decent set of tools can tackle this project. Follow along as we install all the hard parts on the frontend, and stay tuned next month when we'll drop the rear with a set of J&M shackles and leaf springs to complete the look.
