a friend was on vacation in florida and seen a 68 cuda. wile talking to the owner he was told it had a ford 9 inch rearend. Wy he didn't use an 8 3\4 I dont know but I was thinking if he found a driveshaft the right length is there a u joint that would mount it in? Or would he have to have the driveshaft cut and a new end put on it? Again i don't know wy a ford insted of the 8 3\4 but my mind always wants to know how things are done.

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YESTERDAY I COUNDNT SPELL MATANIC TODAY I ARE ONE.

My guess is that the fellow had the Fo&@ 9 inch "on hand" and saw that he could make it work. As we keep seeing, there is a lot of flexibility as far as getting different types of rearends under a leaf spring Mopar.

Some sware by the 9 inch. (some sware at it!)
It is a "drop-out carrier" type unit and it does have a lot of gear selection and HD parts availability. It is cool that the pinion assembly bolts-in from the front and the pinion head has a front support bearing. These units are well excepted and can take lots of torque.
Too bad I'm such a "true blue" Mopar man, if all the HD 8 3/4 (742, big yoke, clutch posi) center sections I currently have magically turned into HD Fo&@ 9 inch units, the value of my collection would triple, have you seen the prices they get for those 9 inch center sections?
DD

Doug,
Around my area of Florida, a 9 inch ford, drum to drum, is about half the price of an "A" body 8 3/4. Thats if you can even find an 8 3/4. I'm going to an auto swap meet tommorrw ( 80% gm, 15% ford, 5% Mopar), I'll bet there will be at least 20 complete Ford rears for sale, and a bunch of third members.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

but is there a u joint that will put your driveshaft to it ?

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YESTERDAY I COUNDNT SPELL MATANIC TODAY I ARE ONE.

Some 8" Ford axles are a drop in replacement in an A-body as far as width of spring perches. Of course the 8" is not as strong as the 9" but it's good enough for most slant sixes and is not too heavy. It's a cheap non-permanent modifiation which might look like the 8 3/4 at first glance. I like the looks of the banjo type housing. The 8" Ford is the removeable carrier type like the Mopar 8 3/4. These go for $60 at the local pick-n-pull. I rarely see an A-body 8 3/4 in a salvage yard for a price that I can afford, plus those have the 4" bolt pattern which require new axle shafts for better wheel choices.

Which Ford rear ends are the easiest to use in an A-body? Specifically a 1964 Valiant, with 5 on 4" wheels. (Sorry guys - I'm not particularly brand-loyal when it comes to simple upgrades.) I'm planning a disk-brake swap and would like to change out the rear at the same time to have common wheels/tires all around. A little more brake at the back (vs. 9" drums) wouldn't hurt either.
I understand that the Ford bolt pattern is the same as the Mopar 4.5", but the registers are different. With that in mind, can we still use the same wheels on all for corners?

I got my 8" Ford from a wrecked '71 Dodge Dart that had a 318 ! I didn't measure the spring perches, but they look to be original to the Ford car that the axle originally came from. Mavericks and Granadas are good donor cars for 8" Ford for the A-bodies. I don't know what driveshaft modifications are necessary as I also got the driveshaft that was being used with the 8" Ford. I didn't have to make any modifications to use the 8" axle.

As with the 9" Ford the 8" has several alternative brake options. I believe some of these 8" axles were used on '60s Ecoline vans with beafier brakes. I think most Mopar 8 1/4" axles from a salvage yard will have stronger brakes than the 8" Ford. Currie and other companies have some brake parts for the Ford 8".

I like the looks of the smooth "banjo" axles, the 8" isn't supported by the aftermarket as well as the 9" Ford (no axle has the support of the Ford 9"). The Mopar 8 1/4" axle is a good match for your A-body, you can find an 8 1/4" from a police car and get a Suregrip in the deal. I think the police cars had 2.94 axles.

I'll probably continue to use the Ford 8" as they are abundant and cheap, and it's not a permanent modification. The 8" is relatively light and is plenty beafy for most slant six needs.

Tim,

Do you have any idea what the 8" weighs, or how it compares to the 7.25" or 8.75" axles? I am contemplating using an 8" for my next project car.

Thanks,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

The 8" Ford axle from the Granada is 3/4" wider then the standard A-body axle. The spring perches are in the same location. They use 3" U bolts, so 8.25", 8.75", 9.25" shock plates are needed. The 7.25" driveshaft should bolt on with an combination U joint. I would suspect that they weight about the same as the 8.25". Street Rodder has an article on the available drum brake packages for this axle in the current issue (two Ford, one Currie). There are several disk brake setup available, one from CE, one from Currie and there are most likely others.

Hmmmm ..... my son has a Mercury Monarch, same thing as a Granada. But is has the serious highway gearing, 2.76 or so. Too bad we had to have his parts Granada hauled off after the "harvest".
I think the Lincoln Versailles based on the Granada had a factory rear-disk setup available some years, but I understand it wasn't that good.

The Ford 8" center section from a Pinto wagon is supposed to have 3.50 gears.

I have a Ford buddy who had 2 of those at one time. They weighed about a bazillion pounds.

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A buddy of mine with a '66 Mustang weighed his 8" 2.90 open center section at 55 lbs.

My 8.75" 2.94 open is 69 lbs. 3.91 SG is 75 lbs. 8.75" A-body housing (bare) is 40 lbs, and the small-bolt axles w/brngs are 33 lbs. 10X1.75" brakes are another 20-25 lbs - total around 175.

I bet the 8" with regular drums is around 25-30 lbs lighter than an A-body 8.75".

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Correction, the 10X1.75" A-body brakes are about 38 lbs, both sides with drums, so the total A-body 8.75" axle is 185-195 lbs depending on your center section.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988