Best genuine ford cross steer for model A?

[28fordroadster]

Model A frame, roadster cowl, 8BA mounted far enough forward to mount 29 cowl without cutting the firewall. Two choices of cheepo headers. I'm going to mount the radiator 1.5" forward to clear the truck fan. I have a dropped main spring on a 33-36 axle. I have 42-48 square back spindles.
What are my choices for cross steer steering boxes that are stock ford?
I am considering cross steer because of the dwindling availability of the F-1 box
Thanks for your help

[chuck stevens]

hamb

[deuce lover]

35-48

[tubman]

Originally Posted by deuce lover

35-48

Shouldn't that be '37-'48? A lot of us have spent a lot of time an effort replacing '35-'36 steering gears with the much improved later units.

[cas3]

Cross steer and model A should not be in the same topic in my book

[Mart]

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It might not be possible to use a complete 37 up box and column. The A frame is pretty narrow and if you project a straight line back from the potential site of the box back to where the centre of the steering wheel wants to be I think you will find a cylinder head in the way. I'm not sure about it, I mention it so you can make some checks. If universal joints are required you've just stepped into street rod territory. I set up a 33 with 39 cross steer. It was very tight. The box had to be recessed into the frame a bit and I had to cut a scallop out of the steering column jacket where it passed the head. These were stock heads too. Most aluminium ones would have been worse.
You might need to keep looking for a f1 (or f100?) box. 37 Hudson or Nash boxes adapt well also.

Mart.

[Flathead Fever]

I own the Mitchell Muffler Pickup built by Dave Mitchell, the inventor of the glasspack muffler. It has'41 Ford cross steering that works real nice. Possibly the first Model A Ford with it. Definitely the first one with glasspack mufflers. It was built during the War or right after in 1946. Mitchell had a welding shop during the War and then changed it to Mitchell's Roadster Shop in 1945 and then Mitchell's Muffler Shop. It's a strange car, it was never originally a pickup, it was an early '28 AR roadster "car" cut off at the top of the deck lid and a Studebaker touring body grafted on the rear. The purpose was that when the top folded down it disappeared behind the seat. It has rare late '25 T bed on it. It took second place in the pickup division at the first Grand national Roadster Show in 1950. Right after that it was repainted black and a '50 Olds and Hydramatic installed. The firewall was moved back so the space behind the seat for the disappearing top was lost. It won the Pasadena reliability Run and tired for best appearing car. It was in a lot of Magazines in the early 1950s. Wally Parks drove it for the first ever road test of a hot rod.

Mitchell welded a bracket below the frame and blended it into the frame. Then he welded a plate with bolts to the inside of that bracket so that from the outside you did not see any bolts. The front axle he built himself. He pie cut the ends and laid them out to form the drop and welded it back together and then filled in the back of the axle to reinforce it. At the time the only dropped axles were the Dagos that were drop hammered and looks a little crude. His welds are still holding up.

[deuce lover]

Originally Posted by tubman

Shouldn't that be '37-'48? A lot of us have spent a lot of time an effort replacing '35-'36 steering gears with the much improved later units.

You're right .I put in starting at 35 as he asked for cross steer.We know that its best to replace the 35-36 with 37 on up.He got his answers on the HAMB

[Rodrelic]

37, knuckle

[russcc]

A lot of sage advice here. I would place a wanted ad for an F1 box. There are still some out there. Having built a '29 high boy roadster on '32 rails with F1 steering there is probably no easier way that also looks right and steers great.