Since I'd gotten a pretty good handle on the rear suspension, the next logical step was to head up front and get to work on the frontend. Most of the needed components for this phase were part of the original pile of parts I'd purchased, so there wasn't much in the way of cash outlay when it came to the front suspension. Included in the original purchase were a dropped Super Bell axle, a front spring, shackles, a pair of Pete & Jake's hairpins and bat wings, '37-41 Ford spindles, and a pair of complete drum brake assemblies from a '53 F-100 pickup. I had nearly everything I'd need, other than the appropriate bearings, races, and seals to adapt the spindles to the brake assemblies. For these I headed over to my local parts store (yes, I finally found a local, REAL parts jobber). Once there, a young lady by the name of Minda dove into her catalogs and came up with, quite quickly by the way, all the proper Timken numbers for the project (read on to get the latest part numbers for the conversion), and though only one part number was in stock, she made sure the balance of my order was there early the next morning.
With nearly all my ducks in a row it was time to get crackin'. So let's get busy and take a peek at how the Beater's frontend came together.
