I just swapped my factory Ford/Spicer rear end in my '51 shoebox for an 8" from a 65 Falcon and thought this may be helpful to anybody doing a similar swap in the future. 1.The new U joint for the Shoebox driveshaft to the new 8" ford yoke is Neapco # 1-2173 2. The 8" pinion yoke location is only about 1/2" different than the stock yoke no need to lengthen the driveshaft 3. The 65 Falcon rear I have measured WMS to WMS 571/2" most charts I've seen list them at 58" so Im not sure if they are that accurate but I'm glad mine is narrower. 4. The stock Falcon leaf spring perches/pads were placed at 43" apart instead of 42" for the Shoebox and the spring pads themselves are considerably wider than the perches /pads from the factory rear and wouldnt work correctly. I Simply cut the stock pads off and used a set of pads from Speedway Motors Part number 545-85090 $12.99/pair. 5. When I welded the new spring pads onto the 8" housing I set the pads at the same pinion angle as the shoebox housing was (which according to my digital angle finder) was pinion up 3* when spring pads were level and 42" center to center on the locating holes. Again I thought some may find this useful if searching for information when doing a rear end swap on a 49-51 Ford shoebox using a Ford 8" Rear.
Hey thank you for the post, gona do a swap from stock to 8" in my 55 ford soon,always good to have some idea from people that have done it.Thanks.
cool, always good to use the 8" because of good dimensions and easy to change gear ratio. this subject comes up fairly often so, it is good to hear what you used. got any pics to post, even after the fact as it looks now?
Hi Russco Thanks a lot. That is good information, to have. This winter i am swapping to an 8" in my '49 Coupe and there is a lot of info to find about putting in the 8" but not a lot about the driveshaft, so once again, thank you. Happy new year. Mark
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