8 inch Ford for my V6 Alpine

[kmathis]

Well, it's been a while since I have been on the forum here. Life happened, and you can't stop that, but now seems things have kind of returned to normal, so it is time to get back at it.
I have the Alpine on the lift and that stock rear axle is going to join its ancestors in the scrap yard. It is leaking oil again through the brakes so out it goes.
I have a Ford 8" sitting on the side of the house; I have sent the new dimensions for the cut to Currie Enterprises and am awaiting my rep to call me so I can take it down there and get started on it. Luckily Currie Enterprises is just a few miles from my home. Anyways
I am going to a 5 lug set up front and rear, with the wheels shown on the attached picture. It will be 3.73 ratio with a Limited Slip third member.
I will give all of the details and photos here, for those that are interested in doing the same. Stay tuned



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[crs]

Welcome back Kelly.

Welcome back Kelly.

 

[DanR]

Missed your Comments

Great to hear you are still working on improving your ride

The 8" will be an interesting piece of work. I like your wheels A bit like mine! (Ron's Wheels)?

 

[Toyanvil]

Welcome back.
I like the wheels, at least the front will be easy to re-drill. Are you coming to the West Coast Invasion?

 

[Bill Blue]

Hey Kelly, glad to see you again. Curious, where did you find the 3.73 gears? All listings for the 8" that I've seen jump from 3.55 to 3.80.

Bill

 

[kmathis]

Welcome back.
I like the wheels, at least the front will be easy to re-drill. Are you coming to the West Coast Invasion?

I will be there...not sure I will have a car to drive by then, but we will see. If not I will drive my truck. either way I will be there.

 

[kmathis]

Hey Kelly, glad to see you again. Curious, where did you find the 3.73 gears? All listings for the 8" that I've seen jump from 3.55 to 3.80.

Bill

Well, you may be right...I thought I could get 3.73s, if all they have is 3.80s, I will take that. I haven't had my first conversation with Currie yet...I hope to hear from my guy there by the end of the week.

 

[Bill Blue]

I think both are good choices, mostly dependant upon your tune. I had the 3.80. With my trans (.79 O.D.) and 185 x 15 tires. It gives a highway rev of about 3000 at 70 mph, which is good, but gives a pretty revvy first and second. When it came time to replace the "chunk" (noisy), I thought a 3.73 might be better. Could not find any. My option now is to stuff different gears into the trans case. That will have to wait until the trans goes belly up.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Bill

 

[MikeH]

Well, you may be right...I thought I could get 3.73s, if all they have is 3.80s, I will take that. I haven't had my first conversation with Currie yet...I hope to hear from my guy there by the end of the week.

I believe, at least for Ford, the 3.73 gear is for the 8.8" rear.

 

[DanR]

Here is some Ratios for the Mutt II's

Axle Ratio Codes for Mustang II:
The various Mustang II’ from 1974 thru 1979 ran 2.79:1, 3.00:1, 3.18:1, 3.40:1, and 3.55:1 Ratios.
NOT ALL, rear axles had 8-inch ring gears. I found some 3:00 & 3:40’s had Locks and one or two of the 3:18 did also. Most of the 3.55’s had locks .

 

[MikeH]

Axle Ratio Codes for Mustang II:
The various Mustang II’ from 1974 thru 1979 ran 2.79:1, 3.00:1, 3.18:1, 3.40:1, and 3.55:1 Ratios.
All rear axles had 8-inch ring gears. I found some 3:00 & 3:40’s had Locks and one or two of the 3:18 did also. Most of the 3.55’s had locks .

Not all Mustang IIs or even all of the V6s had the 8" rear. Some had had a 6.75" rear end. Here is a link to Mustang II rear end info. If it has a removable cover, it is not an 8" rear end. The 8" has a removable carrier.

http://www.mustangii.org/decoder/axle/

 

[kmathis]

My rear axle is out of a 1977 Pinto that had a V6, I guess when they open it up, it will tell the tale. Sounds like I have some good choices though.

 

[kmathis]

oh, it doesn't have a removable cover, so that is good...I would be disappointed if it turned out to not be an 8".

 

[Bill Blue]

oh, it doesn't have a removable cover, so that is good...I would be disappointed if it turned out to not be an 8".

Well, if it is a Ford axle and does not have a removable cover, it is either an 8" or 9". 9" have greater ratio availability, but they were never available on the Mutt II. But who knows what you'll find on an old Mustang. I found an 8" on a Fox body Mustang.

Bill

 

[RootesRacer]

Not all Mustang IIs or even all of the V6s had the 8" rear. Some had had a 6.75" rear end. Here is a link to Mustang II rear end info. If it has a removable cover, it is not an 8" rear end. The 8" has a removable carrier.

http://www.mustangii.org/decoder/axle/

Yes, some mutts and pintos came with 6.75" axles, but none came with anything but an 8" when the original engine was the V6.

 

[Series6]

My project car has an 8.8 with 3.73 and LSD. Came out of a Lincoln Navigator

 

[DanR]

Nick, What year model? Did you keep Disc? What width is the rear stock and if you had it narrowed whom did you get to modify for you?

Thanks,

 

[pcmenten]

An advantage of using the Ford 8" is the drop-out center section. If you don't like what you've got, you can swap it pretty quickly.

I helped a guy swap his Ford 9" in about 10 minutes, going from a 4.11 to a 3.00. It required a new U-joint but was otherwise pretty undramatic.

 

[Series6]

Dan,

Ask Joel at Procraft. I had him do it all. He also put the 4 link together. And I have rear discs.

 

[MikeH]

Yes, some mutts and pintos came with 6.75" axles, but none came with anything but an 8" when the original engine was the V6.

According to the link I posted from a Mustang II site, some V6s came with the 6-3/4" inch rear. All V8s came with the 8" Quote from the link below.

The Mustang II utilizes two different style rear axles. The first axle is used on 4cyl and some 6cyl cars and is a 6 3/4" ring gear integral carrier axle. The second is used on some 6cyl and all 8cyl cars and is an 8" ring gear removable carrier axle.