Hello, I have someone with a really nice '57 Ford car 9" for sale, he is asking to make an offer and I have no idea what to offer him. I know they are sought after, what would you offer for a complete one, drum to drum?
You can’t be both buyer and seller. Is there an issue that inhibits him from putting an asking price on it? Offer a Cnote. Now you’ve set the table so to speak.
To me, they arent that desirable. Repops of the round back housing are available and unless it's from a wagon, it's got junk 28 spline axles that are weaker than axles from an 8 inch and a light duty 2 idler gear differential. He's probably hoping you don't know that. With the many 8.8s out there, it's not worth what it used to be.
x2 what @onetrickpony said. Moreover, what are *your* requirements? -If having a traditional roundback housing is important and you're willing to either accept the 28-spline axles, or pay for 31-spline axles and center chunk, and probably new drum brake parts, then offer him maybe $100-200. -If performance on a budget is your goal, then the 8.8 rearend offers posi and disc brakes for cheap. FWIW, I prefer the late '70's'- '81 truck 9" rearends. They're more plentiful (read cheaper) and have bigger 11" brakes.
Ya can get a killer set up from Quick Performance with axles for about 2K…pick your gear..you’ll be spinning both tires..and have 31 spline axles
I have been running a 59 9" rear in my avatar pic for 20 some years. Blown hemi for power but really not that much rubber on the ground. Guess i have been lucky all these years.
If you have a need for it and are going to use it, you should already know what you're willing to pay. If you're buying it to pimp and make a buck, you can't offer him market value. Do you even know there is Small bearing and Large bearing housing ends in the 57 to 59 housing runs? They also use different brakes between them.
I sold a bare housing several years ago, all I could get for it was $100. It was the normal car small bearing. I have a wagon large bearing housing in one of my cars, it's not for sale...
"What do you mean by "really nice" ? Gear ratio? Traction Loc? Here's some good reading about 9 inchers. 1957 ford 9 in rear - Search (bing.com) Read about the 9 in. brakes also. 1957 ford 9 in rear brakes - Search (bing.com)
When I started my ch***is business in the late 70's we had a couple large salvage yards in the area loaded with 57-59 Ford cars. They would the take rear ends out for me and I'd pickup dozens at a time, dis***emble them clean them, de grease them and use them for my customer ch***is. Used to narrow them 2 inches by cutting the right side and using 61-64 short side axles. Local shop would rebuild the center sections and my favorite trick was 61-64 rear brakes as they were a bolt on, bigger and parts easier to find. Then the reproduction 9 inch rears became available and I got them first from Currie and then John's. No more fighting rust, grease and used parts.
They’re a bolt-in for early Falcons, Comets which makes them desirable. For a run of the mill performance small block the 28 spline axles are fine. To the right person I’d say $300-400.
$300 seems to be the going rate around here. My Father-In-Law just picked one up for his Falcon build. It's a nice thought but by the time all is said and done, all he's going to have left is the housing, which he could have just bought new for about the same price.
Tell us what kind of car and what engine and trans you plan to put with it. Thats the first requirement for making a good choice. If you need to modify it and change the gear ratio and add posi..........you might as well start with a later model stronger unit and perform the same mods. I bought 3 9" rears in one day from different sellers and gave about $150 for each of them. People were asking more than that for some I didn't buy. A complete with brake drums unit for $150 is a good buy.
We went 210 MPH with 28-spline axles. Check the gear ratio before making an offer. If you don't need to change it, buy it.
Sorry if my earlier reply wasn't clear. I'm a fan of 28 spline 9 inch axles in light cars. There is no need to go stronger if it's not needed. But I have seen several sets of 57 axles that were just pure junk. The blank they were made from was extremely rough. They were nothing like the axles from later 8 or 9 inch rears. Ford made lots of improvements after 57. And most newer 9 inch differentials, even the open ones, have 4 idler spiders to connect the 2 side gears that mate with the axles. The 57s I have broken down only had 2 idler spiders with a single cross pin. So, to me, the only value there is the housing and that's only if you want the round back for the looks. All of that changes if it's from a wagon. They are much stronger, like the later units. But I still think that the value is down from what those were worth in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There are many more options for both looks and performance.
I had a '58 Ford wagon back in the day with the big-bearing 9" in it (built FE and manual trans) and lost count of how many third members and axles I broke and that was with street tires. And this wasn't clutch dumps either, it was the first-to-second shift that broke them. OEM was 28 spline axles and the WAR case which simply doesn't have the strength of the later housings.
They were sought after mainly because of the width. Some guys don’t mind dumping 2k+ in a rear axle for new some guys yank em out of junk, change some seals and rebuild the old brakes I guess some think we’re all building drag cars. Hard to beat that old 9 for a cruiser
My 57 big bearing housing is equipped with a Strange nodular center, Detroit Locker, and 31 spline aftermarket axles. No issues. Yeah, it needs a lot of upgrades to survive some abuse!
If strength and the "roundback" look is important, the 57 Ford F100 housing I used for my roadster is the beefiest of all of them. The days of getting a cheap (and strong) plug and play nine inch from the wrecking yard are over so the fact of life is, regardless whether drag racing or not, some money is going to need to be pried out of those tight fists. Believe it or not, because of the offset of my wheels, this housing needed to be widened slightly on one side.
I duno, sometimes I think 9 inchers are overrated. Depending on what you start with you might as well get a Quick Performance or Currie and have all new. For a few dollars more you could have a QC
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