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88 Mustang GT 8.8 in my 65?
- Thread starter Tungsten
- Start date
66gt350
Active Member
IIRC, the 8.8 is 58.75" wide compared to the '66 which had a rear width of 57.25". The biggest part of the swap is removing the fox body rear suspension, and welding in the saddles for the leaf springs and getting the pinion angle correct.
-rob
-rob
It's 2" too wide for a 65-66, unfortunately. You also have to cut off all the coil spring junk and weld on leaf spring preches in the right spot.
It's a very strong rear end, but you can pick up a 2" too wide 9" for about the same effort/price and most likely have it slide right on to the leaf springs.
It's a very strong rear end, but you can pick up a 2" too wide 9" for about the same effort/price and most likely have it slide right on to the leaf springs.
daveSanborn
Active Member
Slim to none.
As far as the 8.8 rearend being wider.... this is not as much of a problem if you use late model style wheels with more backspace.
With a "stock" size rearend, you'll need to add 1" spacers in order to run late model wheels. With the wider 8.8 rearend the spacers wouldn't necessarily be required when using late model (larger backspace) wheels.
Is the 8.8 rearend that you're looking at have the center section/pumpkin "centered".... or is it offset to one side? This could be your biggest problem.
"daveSanborn" said:
If they are offset, it's not by much. My 87 Mustang 8.8 is basically centered as far as I can tell (ain't climbing into the briars to find out) :rofl The explorer rearends are the ones with a big time offset.
"Tungsten" said:
The 9" rears that would be likely candidates would be out of a late 60s-early 70s Ford like a 67-70 Mustang/Cougar, other small Fords, and early Broncos. (?) A lot of those had the spring perches 43" apart like a Mustang and were sorta-kinda the right overall width. I've been offered the chance at several complete 1967-70 Mustang 9s for ~$250....they are a WHOLE lot more common than the 65-66 size.
A 1957-59 Ford 9" is a direct fit for a 65-66, right width and all. Those seem almost as hard to find as a real 65-66 Mustang 9" though. Granada/Versailles/Monarch are also a pretty direct fit, but they are 1" or so too wide.
Dave brings up an excellent point about a too-wide rearend being a plus when you've got latemodel wheels....I've got "get the right size axle" tunnel vision so I forgot all about it. Then again, there might be a reason I haven't found an axle yet? :rofl
PS: If you are just interested in cutting up a 9" to fit, the sky's the limit. Ford put them in every-freaking-thing from 1957 until at least 1980 so you've got lots to choose from. Lately I've heard that they even used them up to the very early 90s in pickups...don't know if that's true, I helped rebuild an 8.8" in an 89 F150...
I've got an 89 LX rear end in my '68. The pinion yoke is pretty close to center so that won't give you any issues. I'm running Bullitt wheels with 5.72" back spacing and also used 94-04 axles that widen it by 1.5". So if you stick with drum brakes and bullit wheels you shouldn't have any problems. If you need to replace your quarters and wheel houses, then you could use the 67/8 outer wheelhouses to pick up some clearance on the quarters if need be.
Don't forget, The stock 88 rear is only 4 lug so if it was converted to 5 lug, be sure you know what axles where used. The 5 lug disk brake axles widen it by 1.5" where as the ranger axles keep the same 88 width.
In regards to cutting off the 4 link brackets and quad shock mounts, that won't even take you an hour. I planned for a whole morning and had it done in about 45 minutes. The brackets are not welded all around so that simplified the removal somewhat.
Don't forget, The stock 88 rear is only 4 lug so if it was converted to 5 lug, be sure you know what axles where used. The 5 lug disk brake axles widen it by 1.5" where as the ranger axles keep the same 88 width.
In regards to cutting off the 4 link brackets and quad shock mounts, that won't even take you an hour. I planned for a whole morning and had it done in about 45 minutes. The brackets are not welded all around so that simplified the removal somewhat.
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"stangg" said:I've got an 89 LX rear end in my '68. The pinion yoke is pretty close to center so that won't give you any issues. I'm running Bullitt wheels with 5.72" back spacing and also used 94-04 axles that widen it by 1.5". So if you stick with drum brakes and bullit wheels you shouldn't have any problems. If you need to replace your quarters and wheel houses, then you could use the 67/8 outer wheelhouses to pick up some clearance on the quarters if need be.
Don't forget, The stock 88 rear is only 4 lug so if it was converted to 5 lug, be sure you know what axles where used. The 5 lug disk brake axles widen it by 1.5" where as the ranger axles keep the same 88 width.
In regards to cutting off the 4 link brackets and quad shock mounts, that won't even take you an hour. I planned for a whole morning and had it done in about 45 minutes. The brackets are not welded all around so that simplified the removal somewhat.
Thanks "stangg" The rear-end already has been converted to 5 lug. The axles used were from a Ranger.
My car does not have late model rims, but I think judging by the stance I could use an inch on each side.
What do you think?
-Jeff
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If your quarters are already rolled then I'm guess it would work, but still be very close when the rear compresses. It would be good if you could throw some spacers on temporarily just to see what the outcome would be before going through the effort of reworking the fox rearend.