Drive Shaft Differences?

[JBird]

Hi,

What are the differences between the 352 and 430 drive shafts? I know they can not be interchanged. My book lists a B8S-4602-B for a 430 but that's a 1958 number.

Someone I know lists a B9S-4602-B for sale but not if it's for the 352 or 430.

I sold mine a while back and a friend with a 59 ragtop w/430 in LA needs a photo of one for a 59/60 430 car or the measurements or description so he can sort through a pile of drive shafts he has to find it.

Any help is appreciated.

jbird

[JBird]

They are shorter.

Hi,

What are the differences between the 352 and 430 drive shafts? I know they can not be interchanged. My book lists a B8S-4602-B for a 430 but that's a 1958 number.

Someone I know lists a B9S-4602-B for sale but not if it's for the 352 or 430.

I sold mine a while back and a friend with a 59 ragtop w/430 in LA needs a photo of one for a 59/60 430 car or the measurements or description so he can sort through a pile of drive shafts he has to find it.

Any help is appreciated.

jbird

I found out the 430 shafts are shorter because the Cruis-O-Matic transmissions have a larger case.

[frank58]

I found out the 430 shafts are shorter because the Cruis-O-Matic transmissions have a larger case.

Did the 430 have a "different" CoM than the 352?

[Alexander]

The 430 had the large-case Cruise-O-Matic, while the 352 had the medium-case Cruse-O-Matic.

[byersmtrco]

I did learn that the "Full Size" Merc case I have is similar or the same as a 430 "large" trans case. I just have the 352 style bell housing and internals. The bell hsg for a 430 is different and I believe the tailshaft is longer. Ford did funny things in those years. Allot of these things were not listed, the guys just had to know. In 1959, they were wingin it stuffing those big 430's in there. They pretty much had to stop the line. I'm sure the execs didn't like that.

[Hawkrod]

I did learn that the "Full Size" Merc case I have is similar or the same as a 430 "large" trans case. I just have the 352 style bell housing and internals. The bell hsg for a 430 is different and I believe the tailshaft is longer. Ford did funny things in those years. Allot of these things were not listed, the guys just had to know. In 1959, they were wingin it stuffing those big 430's in there. They pretty much had to stop the line. I'm sure the execs didn't like that.

I have to disagree with that statement. Ford did have problems building the cars but every part was planned out and nobody was "wingin it". Very few people seem to understand the assembly line process and how it worked. The vehicle assembly plant is a very special place and it is not a Ford parts warehouse. Each part needed to assemble a car is ordered and shipped to the vehicle assembly plant. I think a huge part of the misconception comes from bad data in the master parts catalogs or a misunderstanding of how the process works. The driveshaft for a 1959 or 1960 430 Tbird is a B8S-4602-B. These shafts are 430 only and were not used on 58 Tbirds. The part number reflects the fact that the part was designed in 58 but that does not always mean it was used in that year. Every single part that Ford used to build a car was well documented and not supposed to varied from (you can never rule out the human factor though). Ford could not afford to just build the cars any which way because it would have been impossible to service a vehicle under warantee if they did. Every part for every car was specified and listed so that replacements could be had and repair be made in the field. It is actually amazing how the rumour mill has created this artifical conception of how things were done in the late 1950's. I would venture that very few people building these cars today were old enough then to comprehend how the world was. We are not talking about a world much different than today beyond electronic technology. Eliminate computers from the mainstream and the technology was the same then as it is now. It was not a backwards period in manufacturing and the reality is almost every company that builds cars today does so using the same process' that Ford was using in 1959. Hawkrod

[Dan Leavens]

Hawkrod thank you very much for this. I enjoyed the read and also your perspective on the difference between then and now.
It certainly gives you an appreciation of just how the assembly
lines functioned prior to robotics.

Dano Calgary, Alberta, Canada

[byersmtrco]

Ok you're right. I know that Ford didn't mix & match parts for the assm line. Plus,Ford was really good about casting#'s for year and model fit. It does crack me up when I see a "Numbers matching" Thunderbird for sale on line. Seeing as how they didn't stamp the blocks like GM & Mopar. My TB has a 390, but the int & exh manifs are original. I'd like to see someone prove it wasn't a 352 W/O taking it apart. I guess cyl head casting #'s . . . Maybe, you tell me. The 390 my dad had in there had the orig 352 heads, so even that would match. I just happen to know people who worked for Ford in those years. My great uncles were Ford dealers in Gilroy,Ca for 50 years. Most of these guys are gone now, or in their 80's, but my statement was based on the things they've told me.