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Our Tie rod sets for the ’49-51 Ford and Mercury improve the steering system 3 ways. We have to remember that were Ford’s first IFS cars, and they improve on their designs like any manufacturer. In fact, the relocation of the inner tie rod position on the center link is something that Ford did on their ’52 and later cars. Our set allows that advance, which minimizes bumpsteer, on the earlier cars. We also go to a much longer lived and more stable idler arm. It uses needle bearing rather than plain bushing for a decrease in steering effort as well. A sloppy idler arm is the primary cause of sloppy steering, so this is a major improvement. Finally, the original center link did not have a replaceable rod end, causing you to go for expensive rebuilt units. Ours uses the same tie rod end as the outers, and is replaceable, saving the center link. By the way, the tie rod ends used are common to ’35-56 Fords, so supply should remain OK for the future.

The ’49-51 Ford has a rather unusual steering box with the gears meshing at a 45° angle, and it turns opposite rotation to almost any modern box. We’ve had our hands on 14,000 mile museum cars that had a half turn of slop in the steering! It appears that the 45° design causes a sloppy mesh that no rebuild really cures. The answer for both the slop and rotation direction problems is the ’67-78 Volvo 140 series manual steering box. These are getting harder to find, but can be sourced thru Volvo specialists advertising in Hemmings Motor News. We try to keep some Volvo steering boxes in stock, so if you cannot find one locally, it’s worth asking for one when you order the adaptor. The box is a very nice aluminum casting with needle bearing for friction reduction. The original Ford pitman arm fits the box simply by filing out the Ford “skipped splines” that were on the Ford box, and the spline count and angle fits perfectly! Our bracket bolts to the box and frame. Borgeson makes the 11/16-40 U-joint to connect to the column. You will need to add a horn button to the bottom of your dash when using this set up. Flatheads with tube headers, small block Fords, and Small block Chevys all can use this box. There just isn’t any power steering set up that will work with the Flathead, including the fact that our frame stubs will not accept them.

Continuing with the ’49-51 Ford, we also offer a power rack kit using an ’89 to ’96 Cavalier rack. It will NOT work with Flatheads, and either the small block Fords or Chevys will require a dual sump oil pan to fit. (See our ’49-51 Ford Builders Guide for specifics) The steering hookup u-joints are provided in the kit. The angles are tight, so a column that ends as close to the firewall as possible is needed. Column shift automatics are OK, but a column shift manual is not. An all stock column shift manual trans Flathead works only with the Volvo conversion above.

Our frame stub works well either the small block Ford or Chevy. The Ford will need a dual sump oilpan, while the Chevy rear sump is OK with the front mounted rack used here. Neither will need the firewall cut, but since the trans on these cars was very small, plan on reworking the spot welded trans cover on the front floor in order to mount either engine. The ’51 cars came with automatics and much larger trans tunnels, so the fit is easier.

The ’49-51 Mercury power steering kit uses a ’68-76 F-100 pickup box. The bracket fits both the frame and the box directly. The most common steering hookup uses a u-joint splined for the new box on one end and the column on the other end of the same single U-joint. Vibration isolation is OK with a modern tilt column, but a rag joint will work better to avoid a “buzzy” steering wheel if you rework the original column and steering wheel to fit. Our kit retains the exact stock position of the Mercury pitman arm, which fits directly to the F100 box with no changes. The only problem with this set up is that the F100 box is several inches taller, so the column angle is flatter than stock. It works fine with lowered modern seats and a tilt column, but not with stock Mercury seats and column. For that combination, Opie’s Hot Rod Parts (937) 704-0956 makes a similar bracket that lowers and rotates the same F-100 box so that the original column angle is preserved. It does require a special pitman arm that they can supply.

Repeated efforts have refused to yield a power rack set up for the stock ’49-51 Mercury suspension. When the rack is located properly, it gets in the way of suspension travel and engine oil pans. Our frame stub works quite well with the rear sump Chevy engines, small or large blocks. Fords don’t fit well since their front mounted oil pumps get into the rack. The Chevys fit well in either the original IFS using Opies brackets, and just as well in our stub using our tubular style engine mounts.

The ’54-56 Ford rack kits are a nice fit. We have used them with small block Fords and Y-blocks, but have not with Chevys. The same column hookup advice above for the ’49-51 Fords mentioned above goes here as well. The ’57-64 Fords have a tubular engine and lower control arm mount crossmember right in the way of a properly positioned rack and pinion. Be wary of rack kits that are said to fit! Gearheads Company has a reworked 605 Saginaw steering box swap that works well on these cars.

Our power rack kit for the Mopars uses the ’89-96 Cavalier rack and tie rods. We have a complete kit for the ’46-48 Dodge and Plymouth that works very well indeed. We also can provide a more adaptable kit that can be used on the other ’39-53 Mopars by following the instructions and exercising some engineering ability

We do offer a “universal” power rack and pinion kit for the ’37-53 era GM cars. The term “universal” implies that you must have the skills to make it work on these cars, while we supply info in the instruction that explain how to properly place the rack. We suggest you call for a set of instructions first to see if your skills are up to the job.

We carry a nice selection of disc brake kits from ECI for the Chevys, Fords, Mercurys, and the Mopars. Plydo also offers a line of Mopar disc kits. The Ford kits are all a direct bolt on, while the ’49-51 Mercury disc kits require the spindle to be machined. We purchased enough original spindles so that we keep them in stock for the MANDATORY exchange with yours, rather than tour having to wait weeks for them to be done. We don’t list all the Chevy kits for lack of space, but can get them easily as part of your order.

Your new disc brakes will require a dual master cylinder to prevent the brakes dragging. We make a frame mount unit for the ’49-51 Mercury, and sell ECI’s weld on units for the ’49-51 Ford (please specify manual or automatic trans). There just isn’t space for an under floor power unit unless you get a hydraulic one from No Limit Engineering. For a vacuum boosted unit, you will need a firewall mounted master cylinder and pedal assembly deal from No Limit or ECI. Beware of salvage units, since they often require alteration to the pedal arm length to fit, and many rodders are unaware of the effect that has on master cylinder performance.