Just wondering if a stock 1951 Ford F1 rearend will hold up to a to mildly built small block Ford, for normal driving situations. Is this rearend a dana 44? I was just going to use what I had for now to save some money for a different rearend down the road. Thanks oldiron73.......
Should be strong enough. I put 20,000 + miles on one in my 48 F-1 with a 472 ci and 425 ci Cad motors with no trouble. Swapped for a 9" to get away from the 3.97 ratio to a 2.90 in the 9".
It should be a Dana 41. Not a lot of gear-swapping options. As long as you're not burning out at every traffic light you should be fine.
The rears are pretty tough and should hold up if everything is in good order. Look at the lower right web on the back of the housing for a cast "44" or "41". From what I've heard Ford changed from using the dana/****er 41 to the 44 sometime around the 51/52 model year. Biggest issue is the low gearing. As 48bill said, stock was 3.92, but mine came with the optional 4.27:1 Not real good for daily driving. I swapped in a 9" 3.50 as soon as I could.
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