In a local classifieds paper, there is a guy selling a 67-68 mustang 8inch rear end for $100. The 74 wagon i am buying has a 6 and 3/4 rearend and that is not gonna work for me, as i plan on installing a 2.3 Turbo. What will i have to do to make it work? Will it need to be narrowed? is it 4 or 5 lug? If its 4 lug will my pinto wheels work? Is that an oddball rear, as it going to take dfferent bearings or something than most?
If it is an 8 inch then it will be from a v8 car which means 5-lug. The 6cyl cars had 4-lugs but none came with an 8 inch. I am not sure but I think the 67-68 mustangs have the spring perches spaced differently than the Pinto / Mustang II.
The 67 and 68 rears are different in a few ways, but are basicly the same dimentions. The 67 ones take different bearings (I think), but all 8" rears take the same 'meatball'. The easy way to tell the difference between these two years is that the 67 will have a lube plug on the rear of the housing.
I installed one in my car when I was going to 5 lug.
They are about 3" wider overall, but will fit into a Pinto with minor work. The outside of the perches are the same distance apart as Pinto ones, but they are narrower and have a different on-center. The Mustang and Maverick 8" rears have a small hole to locate the springs, but I was able to open the perches to use the stock Pinto rubber blocks. Using this rear will limit the size rims you can use. See the link for more details.
From the side the car looked fine, but looked odd when viewed from the rear. I switched to a Maverick rear.
The 67 and later 8" rears are much more common because of their width. Many Mustang owners used the rears from the earlier cars to help install wider tires.
From the prices that I have seen, 100 bucks is top dollar for that rear DEPENDING on the gears. Most likely it has 2.79's in it. If it has 2.79's, bad brake parts, and lots of rust you might want to make a lower offer.
I used my stock Pinto e-brake cable and it works, but could be better.
IMHO: If it has good gears (like 3.0 or better), and they are in good shape, you MIGHT want to get it for the meatball and look for a direct bolt to a Pinto housing assy.
Bill
http://www.fordpinto.com/smf/index.php?topic=953.0
This is the Maverick rear, but i had the 4 lug Pinto axle in it when the photo was taken:
A 9 inch would be better and thats what id like to have since there are more options for gears, positracs, brakes (i want rear disc), etc but i am afraid of the cost. LOL. Ill have to have one narrowed, which sounds expensive, and no one around here that i know of narrows axles (im in a city of 200,000). For those of you that have had an axle narrowed, what did it cost?
Define "better".
There are NO 9" rears that will even come close to bolting into a Pinto, so if you can't modify it yourself you are looking at paying to have one done, or paying for one that has been done. There might be more out there for them, but it seems the price is "out there" too.
Rear discs will need fab.ing no matter what rear you use; on either the rear or the brakes.
The 8" rear is fairly big for a Pinto. Not too much room left over under there in a stock car with the 8" installed.
The 8" is a very durable unit, and they do very well in the lightest car Ford ever put one in.
Trac-loc's are avilable new for about 500 bucks by themselves, and starting at about 700 installed with gears in a meatball.
I never had one narrowed.
Bill
and to think i have 3 of those 8 inch rear ends to play with. all four lug. one has 3.55 gear. one with 3.40 gears and the last with 3.00 gears.was thinking on taking my spare axles down and have new ones made with the 5 lug pattern
As far as having a rear end narrowed you can plan on spending about $750 or more. Housing ends run about 70 to 100. hen to have the housing done is about 250 for labor. Next comes axles at about 350 or more for the pair. It can add up quickly. I HAVE found a 9" that is a direct bolt in for my wagon. I ahve a 1959 Ranchero and the 59's had the narrowist 9" ford made. I picked one up from a local salvage yard and it will bolt right in. Pad to Pad is same as the Pinto. They're out there they just take a little effort to find. I have read somewhere that late model Explorer rear disc are almost a direct bolt on to the 9" although I still have not confirmed this rumor. Will let you know when I do....Rob
:sorry: Bill, I must apollogize. The 9" I have is not a bolt in. It is about a half inch wider at the pads than the pinto. The biggest issue I found was not the width but the actual mounting pads. If I dont use the spring dampeners and bolt the housing directly to the leafs, I could get away with bolting it in. But this would push the leafs out a quarter inch on each side not to mention it would raise the back end of the car an inch. I want to drop it, not raise it. What I cmup with was to take some 1" lowering blocks and mill them out to fit over the dampeners. Simmilar to wht Bill did with his mounting pads. Next I have to modify the dampener brackes to accept the wider U-bolts required for the larger diameter axel tubes. I found a 79 Lincoln Mark V at a local wrecker with rear discs. They are the same calipers and brackets found on a Lincoln Versallis but the bolt pattern is larger. I got the Versallis rear roters and found tht the axle flanges from the '59 9" were too big to fit into the roters. I put the axles on a lathe and turned down the flanges to fit and also replaced the studs with longer ones to accomodate for the thicker roter vs. drum. The caliper bracket that bolts to the housingand holds the axle in place was positiond for a coil over car. When I bolted it in place the caliper was right up against the leafs. this would surley not work, back to the shop to drill a new mounting position on the bracket. OK, this all said and done, it's time to press on the bearings with the redrilled brackets in place. BANG! another issue. The certer hole that the axle goes through is to small for the 59 axles at the flange. Easy fix, make hole bigger! Fixed! Ok, Now I have a 9" with rear disc and a 5 lug bolt circle. Not a lot of cash output but plenty of aggrivation. Any one that wants this set up for there Pinto, Contact me and I can give details. I may Post a thread in the comming weeks with all the photos and details of what was done. Once again Bill, You were Right and I apologise for opening my mouth without trying to complete the whole thing first. Take care.....Rob