Hello, new to the forum, but not to the sport. I used to race a 67 fairlane back in the eighties and then got into CJ-7 jeeps and still am. Getting back into cars,l starting with a maverick. I used to know a older guy back then who use to race a 351C maverick and told me that a rear from a 58' ford is a direct bolt in, spring peaches and all and the right width, other years may work like 57' or 59', also station wagons that year. Thats my tip for today.:bananaman
That is correct but finding them is not easy. The wagons and Rancheros had bigger axle bearings and are highly sought after.
early 'Stangs had 52" housings too. If I recall correctly, the 71-3 'Stangs with a 351C had 9" also. I cut down a 9 for my Mav out of an old stub nosed Ford van (69 or 70 I think). The nice thing is to find a 52" housing and use axles out of a late model Mav. They drop right in.
I think only the 65-66 stangs had a 52 inch. 67 went up to 54. Could be wrong though. Dont matter they are still hard to find.
if i remember correctly all v8 stangs from 69 on had a 9 inch. the 71 on was about 2 inches wider at the flange.
Plenty of 69-73 Stangs had 8" rears. As for an "easy 9" rear"... Almost as easy as bolting in a 57-59 rear would be to do what Ford did in 65... Take the 8" housing from your car, cut the axle tubes out off of the center, then weld a 9" center into your 8" axle tubes. Then slide your 28 spline 8" axles right back into your new 9" rear. Then you have an identical 28 spline 9" rear to go back in place of your stock 8". Ford did that to make the 65-66 K-code and Shelby 9" rears, rather than re-tool an all new 9" housing.
65-70 had 52" housings. 71-3 had 54" housings. My dad has a '70 with a factory 52" housing (factory 302/c-6 car). I know the c-6 is a wierd combo, but that is what the build is. 54-56" housings are a dime-a-dozen down here. I cut the tubes down and use factory Mav axles in them. I think this round I'll go with a 33 spline Moser axle this time.
65-66 = 52.25" 67-70 = 54.25" 71-73 = 56.00" 57-59 = 52.25" Granada/Monarch = 52.25" Maverick = 51.50" All have 43" spring centers and will interchange. Rim backspace needs to be adjusted though. A 71-73 Stang rear will allow use of late model rims without needing spacers.
Back the truck up please........ I would like to see proof of the 302/C6 combination. An FMX transmission is possible, there were exactly 14 of those installed in 1970 Mustangs with the F code 302-2V engine. Code X on the door tag. There are also three different axle widths for 1965-70 Mustangs like was mentioned above. Generally speaking 1965-66 Mustangs needed the K code 289 engine to get a 9 inch (this includes Shelby Mustangs). 1967-68 Mustang and Cougars would have to have any of the FE engines. *The 1968 Mustang with J code 302-4V and GT option are rumored to have had 9 inch axles too. 1969-1970 Cougar and Mustangs needed a 351-2V or bigger to get a 9 inch rear. Boss 302 Mustangs and Boss 302 Eliminators were the exception. 1971-73 Mustang and Cougars needed the H code 351-2V or bigger engine to get 9 inch rears from the factory. There are also 28 and 31 splined axles within the 9 inch rear ends too.
OK, C-6 was available in late '70, and you could order a Mustang in 1970 just about any way you wanted it (they had major issues with sales). So what does it matter? My ol' mans '70 fastback is not a collector piece by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it a "rare" car. Its a factory 302/C-6 4bbl car that was ordered to appease the horsepower freak that got the thing in 1970. If you knew the right people, you could, in essence, get just about anything you wanted. And, with all your vast knowledge, expalin how I personally owned a 1968 Mercury Cougar with a 302, factory 4-spd, and NO power accessories? According to the build plate, the car was made by the way of special order. My Cougar also boasted a factory 9" rear with 3.50 gear. Why someone wanted a Cougar quite like that is beyond me, but that is what they got. I'm glad I got rid of that rust bucket, but I miss the old turd from time to time.
1968 Cougar with 302 and 4 speed transmission, without A/C or power steering - no problem. Could be had with either a 2V or 4V engine. A 9 inch rear end? you would have to prove that one to me. To an untrained eye the 8 inch and 9 inch rear ends look very much the same. Again, the FMX transmission is often mistaken for the C6 transmission. Small block C6 transmissions did not arrive in a Mustang until 1971, and then only behind a 351 engine. There were no 302-4V engines in 1970 Ford Mustangs, unless they were the G code Boss 302 engines, and those only came with 4 speed top loaders. You are mistaken, and Kevin Marti proves it in his Mustang by the Numbers book. All Mustangs coming out of San Jose, Dearborn, and Metuchen from 1967-1973 are accounted for and the statistics are in the book. Is it possible that the 1970 Mustang in question had some modifications done prior to your father taking ownership? By someone other than the Ford Motor Company?
Just a side note about 9inch rears. my cousins first car was a maroon looking 69' grabber maverick with a six clyinder and a nine inch rear. How rare was that?
We know Ford didnt produce a 302-4v in 70 but perhaps the dealer installed prior to delivery. Old fart that used to work for us wrenched at a Ford dealer through the sixties and early seventies. He was full of stories about the mods they did right of the truck. Complete axle swaps. induction set ups even tranny tweaks. Miss him a lot. RIP Pete.
My Cougar was an unmistakable 9" rear. the best way to tell is the need to use a wrench on the bottom 2 nuts for the 3rd member. On the 8", they are accessable by a socket. The Cougar was a late production model with the "shelf clearing" 9" rear in it. Stated by the tag on the 3rd member when I started digging in on the car. You've got to be kidding me with the untrained eye bit (lol). In early '67 you could get a 52" 9" rear until production started to really roll out cars. Then the 54's took over. I will give you that one. And yes, a dealer installed 302/4bbl carb was available in 70. The big push was the Cleveland motors. The 302 was downplayed then, even though Ford knew better. And you could actually order a 302 4V as an option, but as I stated before, you had to know somebody to get it. As far as oddball cars to roll off the production line, I ran into a real deal "boss hoss" Maverick a few years ago. No motor, no trans (obviously), but the proper codes proved it to be a real "campaigned" Boss 302 powered Maverick from 1970. This car still had the altered floor patterns for the "crashbox" 4 speed trans. The car also had the heavily modded rear suspension and the cage in it that appeared to be a hundred years old considering what we use today.
You just had to pay a dealer... You could get anything with enough money, however 'dealer installed' doesn't count as 'stock' or 'production' in any way, shape, or form. Again, if you saw such a car, it DID NOT come from the "production line", nor does it fall into any catagory of 'stock' Maverick. Even if it was sponsored by Ford, which is highly doubtful, it was still built by an outside shop. Also, what class of racing was this car "campained" in? There was no factory sponsored class of racing, that allowed a Boss 302, where a Maverick was raced. I call
