I just returned from a 300 mile round trip from a guy's house to pick up
a V8 F body K frame and a supposed 8-1/4 rear end. The guy has a 78 Super Coupe( 1 of 35 that both has factory T tops AND is a genuine Super Coupe), a 76, /6 ,A833 OD powered Volare 2 door, as well as a customed out 48 Dodge panel with 318/904 power with a Volare front suspension under the front, so I would THINK he knew what he had. Anyway, the price was right, but as it was already dark when we loaded the stuff into the back of my Dakota, and my 10 year old was getting to be ants in the pants anxious to get home. I looked at the rear once I got home, and it is definitely an F body rear. I can tell this by the weird spring perches that these cars had. Anyway, its axle tubes flare out to a larger diameter as soon as they leave the center housing, and it is definitely a larger case than the 3, 7-1/4's laying in my dog run, but the cover has 10 bolts and still has kind of that stop sign shape to it. (On the 3, 7-1/4's that I have the axle tubes are the same diameter full length) I thought that all 8-1/4's had an oval cover, no?? It also does not look like the 9-1/4 cover that I have left over from my old Ramcharger. And heres the kicker; the tag says 2.2 on it. Yes, I wire brushed it off and double checked it twice. (And NO, I am not using the 2.2 tag as any reference to the diameter of the ring gear, either.) This car must have been an absolute dog, as the 2.9 in my Dip is no speedburner. The Dip HAS an 8-1/4,with its typical oval cover. Also, this rear that I just got has the HD finned 10" drums that outweigh the non finned 10 inchers on my 7-1/4's probably 2 to 1. So is this a 8-1/4?? (And YES, I know that just because it has HD drums, that also isn't really a good ID point for a rear end) Can I put a more performance oriented 3.23 or a 3.55 in this housing?? What sort of pitfalls can I expect in doing so?? Is it worth it or should I add it to my pile of to-be-taken-to the next- swap meet pile?? I know that that 2.2 ratio won't work very well in my car with my planned A833 OD swap. At least if the OD is ever to be of any use. And no, I'm not building a Bonneville Salt Flats speed record car (HAHA!)

'Stop sign' type 7 1/4" with 10 bolts in the cover started in like 1980 in the FMJ bodies...
Even my mom's Durango has an oval 10 bolt cover on it (yes, I crawled under there to see if the 3.92 anti-spin might bolt up to my Feather Duster..like she'd never miss it...lol)

-D.Idiot

The cover on this thing is kind of a hybrid 7-1/4 - 8-1/4 cover, it is rounded top and bottom and the sides look stop sign shaped.