conversions

[V6 JOSE]

The weather here today, is sunny, with a high temp of 83 degrees, but I don't have an Alpine to work on. WAAAAAAHHH!!!!

Jose

 

[TerryB]

rear

I feel your pain Jose. I don't need to do any work to mine but want to. I do know of a 8" rear end from a Maverick for sale, would that be a good one for the V6 conversion? I am collecting parts and hope soon I can get the kit for your V6 kit. The same guy has a 9" for sale also, is that overkill?

 

[RootesRacer]

I do know of a 8" rear end from a Maverick for sale, would that be a good one for the V6 conversion?

The maverick used 5 lug axles, so if you go this route, you will have to ditch your 4 lug wheels or have 4 lug up front and 5 in the rear.
The ideal 8 inch is one from a mustang 2, or V6 pinto since it will have the correct bolt pattern allready.

The same guy has a 9" for sale also, is that overkill?

Yes, 9 inch is way heavy and way overkill.

 

[Bill Blue]

The 5 lug setup is bad news, sort of. You will have to have the axle narrowed (applies to all 8" axles). This requires the purchase of one new axle. Four lug or 5, they probably cost the same. That leaves one 5 lug. You can have one of the holes filled and redrill the hub to 4 lug, or buy another new 4 lug axle. Probably would be the cheaper. I think I paid $125 for an axle from Moser, but that was a few years ago.

A viable alternative is to go 5 lug front and rear. Jose did this on one of the cars he built to get a wider selection of wheels. You still would have to buy one rear axle.

Bill

 

[V6 JOSE]

I feel your pain Jose. I don't need to do any work to mine but want to. I do know of a 8" rear end from a Maverick for sale, would that be a good one for the V6 conversion? I am collecting parts and hope soon I can get the kit for your V6 kit. The same guy has a 9" for sale also, is that overkill?

Hi Terry,

I have a customer that has a Maverick 8" in his Alpine and he says he likes it. It has been too long ago for me to remember if all the Maverick 8" rears had a five bolt pattern, but my customer had the pattern in his, changed to the 4x4.25 Alpine pattern. As Bill Blue has stated, you can have the front hubs drilled with the five bolt Ford pattern. If you did, it would give you a much larger selection of wheels you could choose from. It cost me $50.00 per hub, to have the five bolt pattern put on the hubs.

I don't think you would have to get another axle, because I had mine shortened and I was able to use the axles that came in the rear end I had. I have had several customers say that the shop where they sent their rear end to have it cut, had told them that they needed another axle to be able to cut to fit. The Alpine rear end, which you will try to duplicate in dimensions, is pretty narrow, so I would get it and see if you really would need to get another one.

The 9" rear end is pretty hard to make fit because of it's size, plus you don't need that strong a rear end. The Alpine is a light car and the V6 doesn't have the torque a V8 of larger dimensions would have. It also is heavy and draws a lot more power than would the 8".

Jose

 

[Mod_Squad!]

On the 8" rears be a little careful if you want to swap out the gearing for another ratio. There are at least 2 different 8" ring and pinion setups. There is an early style and there is a later style. I have the later style 8" rear end from the Mustang II as Jose recommended. I bought a different ration R&P for it without knowing that there are at least 2 different setups. Anyhooo....just double check. When I had the rear end modified I shipped it off to Moser with my specs and had them put in all new axles. I'm not sure if anyone can cut down the longer of the 2 stock axles and roll new splines onto it.
Have Fun,
Bryan