Technical 64 Fairlane rear 8 inch narrrowing 1"

Not relevant for sure, but I lived in Santa Maria for school, Shell Beach and SLO town. Went to School at Poly...I know for a fact that’s where God is from and he is at the beach right now.

 

My Dad was born in raised in Santa Maria and I was raised and still live in Nipomo. You're right this place is awesome unfortunately people are finding this out and its getting pretty crowed. You probably went to the Paso Robles fair then. Just went the other night. Wow

 

Update just in case anybody was interested. I went for it and had Currie make me a housing with axles to match. Anybody needing a Ford 8" that has been narrowed to 52.5" wide axle flange(wheel mount) to axle flange(wheel mount) I will be posting it on CL and the cl***ified section on here if possible. Took the rear end out this evening and man I wish I had a lift! I have built many early Broncos when I was younger and now I think I should have worked on cars then and Broncos now, so much more room underneath for us drive way mechanics.

 

I'm trying to figure out wheels/ axle narrowing for my wifes 63 Mercury Meteor. What was the back spacing on your smoothie wheels? Might be interested in your axles and housing.

Chris

 

Pinball,
The rear rims are 15x8 , back spacing is 3-1/16. These deep dish rims (reverse offset) were made custom for this 64 fairlane with the width stated above. The housing is the the original fairlane housing and was narrowed at a professional shop in the Sacramento area, not a garage job. I am good friends with the original owner and he is not sure if they are dutchman, yukon, or speedway axles. Feel free to PM me and I can send what ever pics or info you need. The third member is a one legged 3.55 ratio. I was planning on keeping it but I decided to order a complete posi unit for two reasons. 1. I don't want to ever have to take this out again lol. 2. the ring gear feels just a little loose to me. I am however keeping my brakes.

 

I thought that's why they made air shocks, so you didn't have to cut anything. Of course part of your education was learning about sharp edges and hot exhaust systems.

 

A motorcycle jack is your friend when lifting and moving axles .

 

Thanks for the info, the wheels we are looking at come in a minimum backspace of 3 1/2, so your setup won't work out for us. So close!

Chris

 

i have shortened a few 9 inch ford housings by cutting the axle tube from the center section then grinding a small taper on the end of the tube and repressing them into the housing that way you get a strong housing and do not have to purchase new ends you can also make a support to weld on the axle end inside the housing to make it very strong then have your axles resplined and you are good to go

 

sorry for the second post but this way will not work with only one half inch per side this is for mostly three plus inches per side thanks

 

Long overdue update.
New Currie housing, axles, and quick performance 8" trac loc.

 

I'm surprised you got that much rubber inside those fairly small wheel wells.
Tire must be pretty close to the leaf spring?

Nice looking car you got there.

 

I'm surprised that since you were buying everything new that you didn't upgrade strength-wise to the 9"

 

Thanks RmK57

Actually I have plenty of leaf spring clearance.
However it is very tight in the wheel wells.
Before I ordered the housing I measured about 15 times with a few straight edges and got the tire centered pretty good after pounding in the inner wheel well lips even more than they were.
Rolling the outer wheel well lips gives you nothing with this body style.
I also found a tire with a higher speed rating hoping the stiffer side wall would help and in my case it made all the difference.
They rubbed just a bit on the inside with the older tires I had and now no rubbing at all. Even with my wife and three kids in back.

 

I debated going 9" over and over again but with the bigger diameter housing the 9" has, you have to change out the u-bolts and modify or make new U-bolt plates. This also would affect my drive line length. They do make a 9" housing that tapers down to the fairlane size but it is a grip!
I'm one of those guys that believes the 8" can handle more than most think, if it is built right, but I agree the 9" surp***es it. I don't plan to launch at 6500 rpm with slicks but that would have been *****in.

 

Mike I read all these posts and have narrowed quite a few rears myself also. I did narrow a 9" 1" on each side for a customer too. You made the right choice's in your project. Nothing wrong with an 8" rear either. It works, you are happy and the car looks good. Congratulations now enjoy the ride.

Pat

 

This is what I did on my 1962 Comet for clearance. I'm using a 8" Maverick housing, 56.385" wheel mount flange to wheel mount flange. I'm running 14x6 Torqthrust D with 235/60rx14 tire size. about 3/4" outer clearance all the way up, axle jacked to rubber bump stops. I also will be using an adjustable panhard bar to improve handling & side to side movement.

 

I dig the Cragars....so how much HP are you throwing at that 8”?

 

A panhard bar was going to be my next move if I couldn't stop the rubbing. Polyurethane leaf spring bushing and the traction bars seemed to help quite a bit.

One thing I missed, only because I have never seen it happen, was the alignment pins in my leaf springs are quite a bit smaller than the holes in the leaf spring perches. Maybe because I have aftermarket springs but when I ordered the housing I wish I would have picked up on that. Probably something I can fix if I get any movement but hopefully the u-bolts hold tight haha.

As for horse power, I only have a 289, gt40 heads, and Edelbrock RPM set up so not much for now. The next step in my project is the engine. The original plan of putting in a 427 HR is out the window which is a bummer but I'm glad I don'y have to cut out the towers now.

I have a 1968 302 complete motor that has not been touched. I'm on the fence on either keeping it 302 or go to a 331. The machine shop fees are ridiculous anymore making the **** 331 option very appealing. All that to say I'm probably looking at 350 to 400 hp depending on the route I take.

 

The 8" is torque limited, HP doesn't enter into it. Ford didn't install it behind anything larger than the 302 (except for some late-'70s 351W that were smogged down to 302 power levels) so as long as you're not doing drag launches with sticky tires and/or in a heavy car and/or aren't running a hot 350"+ motor it will live, even behind a four-speed. The weak points are the spider gears (correctable with an aftermarket diff) and long term, the pinion bearings. The latter is what doesn't like the torque from larger motors and is why Ford didn't use the 8" behind them. Ford did have trouble with the pinion bearings on the early versions, the late '60s/70s are better. They use the same 28 spline axles as the small-bearing 9".

 

I went through at least 3 differentials in 68 302, 4-spd Ranchero. It was an 8 inch axle. I was 17-18 years old at the time, it was actually my dads car and the vehicle I learned to power shift on. I used to just torture that poor thing.

 

Depending on cam and compression I bet that 289 is around 300 plus HP or more. I ***ume your running a C4..
I’m in the same boat..trying to decide if I spend the $$ I don’t have on a custom 9 inch for my Falcon or upgrade my center section..lots of folks say 300-350 at the wheels with an auto they will live...300-350 at the wheels is getting close to 400 at the crank..again it’s the old..guys running 11’s with an 8” and a guy blows one up on the street

 

I dig the Cragars....so how much HP are you throwing at that 8”?-- Reply: My wheels are American RacingMy engine produces only 320HP net @ 5700 rpm. Too much torque is the enemy. The torque figure is 340tq net @ 4000 rpm. So, yes, if I drive this car like I was 15 years old again I would have to carry grease sweep & a broom, LOL! I have no intention of drag racing my car, quite the opposite. It is being put together as a tribute to the early days of road racing. Aggressive driving will be tempered in a fashion. Shifting, throttle application, etc. won't involve a lot of "yanking" on the shifter, instead maintaining traction (and safety), cornering technique, smoothness, elapsed time, fuel mileage, etc... In reality, my car will be used for roadtrips, an other twisty road adventures. I call it Combat Touring. Kind of like a endurance rally only with myself & the wife. We've been doing this for decades in various cars set up in similar fashion. We love exploring the northwestern parts of the USA &, as much as possible, avoid interstates. Sooo, preserving the hardware is part of the adventure. I will be running 3.00:1 open gears, wide ratio T 10 (1965 Falcon trans), minimal interior (will have sound deadening), no back seat, instead will be used for storage/luggage. so on, etc...Beating the @$*&! out of the drive train will not be part of the program. Now, the 8" housing has weak spots. Where the tubes meet the 3rd member housing is the biggest issue. One of the things I do is add bracing not only to the outside but also put some bracing in side the housing near the end of tubes. When all is said & done(welding), I will put housing on a home made jig & true the diff before final installation. Oh, I also have a 3.40:1 traclok 3rd member custom built for drag racing. I may put that in on occasion to play around locally, But again, no intentions of dropping the clutch @ 6000 rpm.

 

I had a '64 Comet with a pretty leaned-on 302/4-speed and never broke the rear... and I beat the hell out of that car. But this was with 225/60-15 tires on the street, no slicks or side-stepping the clutch. I did have the original pinion bearings start to fail at around 150K miles though...

 

I agree with what you guys are saying about the 8" but time will tell. I know of two of the "old..guys running 11’s with an 8inch". One of them actually runs it in his '69 mach 1 but these are drag racers that probably have a few tricks up there sleeve. I read about a aluminum pinion bearing housing but just stuck with the cast iron one. My old open carrier and this new one from quick performance is the '67 type housing with the stronger rib design for what it worth.

The car has been converted to a C4 and I have no plans to change. In fact its still on the column because the factory look is what I like.

Hopefully the engine project won't take too long and we can all wait and see how it last. If it break it breaks. I have busted a few 9" third members in early Broncos in the past so they break too.

 

Are you running traction master traction bars? How do you like them? Any wheel hop?

 

I ran an 8 inch Ford in my old 65 Comet convertible and broke about 6 chunks before I went with a 9 inch. That was drag racing it in the late 60's. I shot the pinion out through the top of the housing which tore up the floors and took out my brake cables. That was with a 4 speed and a 5.43 gear.
The **** 333 rotating ***embly I bought for my 65 289 block required no notching. I got it from CNC Motorsports. The only additional work was to have it balanced to my flywheel and balancer.
This is for my SEGA super stock project. It's a 65 Comet wagon. It has a 57 Ford wagon housing with Yukon axles.

 

I am not sure what brand these are but I do not have wheel hop and these really helped the side to side movement. Not like a panhard bar but they do help.

 

They look like the old over ride bars that early Shelby's used. Heard they work pretty good to.

 

They are still available. Traction Master bars. Info for the guys who may be interested.
I'd consider these a step in between ******* bars and the Cal-Trac or Smith Racecraft ******in bars.
http://tractionmaster.com/