The rear you want has a front drop-out center section, not a rear cover. Be
careful of the 4 bolt pattern. It is true that some 8" Ford rears had a
4x4-1/2" bolt pattern, but most had a 4x4-3/4" that will not fit. It looks
right, but isn't. Take 2 pieces of paper with you. #1 is a bolt pattern
from your spare- cardboard is better- with holes for the lug bolts. The #2
piece is Felpro RDS 13270, the carrier gasket. You will need a new one
anyway, so buy some now. Without the gasket, the carrier, where it bolts to
the housing, is a symetrical oval, 3 bolts top & bottom, 2 on each side,
approx 11" wide, 9" high. It came on Mustang II's also, as well as pickups,
& full size cars. The ones from trucks have more splines on the axle, & the
axles are larger in diameter, thus, stronger.
Aren't there any salvage yards left with an old guy behind the counter,
chewing a cigar, who sends Bubba out to the green car next to the tree?
Any 4 lug rear is better to re-drill to the correct pattern than a 5 lug.
Posi is a waste of money unless you drag race. A rear end in a car is less
likely to have water inside than the one laying in a pile. Around the DC
area, you should not have to pay over $150.00 for a complete unit. The most
common ratio is a 2.80. 3.00's are harder to find. 3.50 is very hard to
find.
Just some misc. thoughts
Jim Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Fitzpatrick <Paul_Fitzpatrick@parsons.com>
To: mgb-v8@autox.team.net <mgb-v8@autox.team.net>
Date: Wednesday, November 25, 1998 8:14 AM
Subject: Ford Rear Axles
>
> Last weekend I went to several of the local area salvage yards to
> determine availability and cost of a Ford Maverick rear end. >
read in several articles in the past that the Maverick four lug axle and the
ratio of 3.0 or
> 3.2 to 1 makes this a good choice to narrow for the MGB V8 conversion.
> My questions are:
> How do I recognize a Ford Maverick rear end (drum to drum)in a pile of
> rear ends? Is there identifying casting or other part numbers to look
> for and where is the location on the rear end assembly of these
> numbers? Is there a part or tag number that indicates the axle ratio?
> What year(s) rear end am I looking for? I assume the Mercury Comet
> rear end is the same as the Maverick, are there any others? Is the
> axle I am looking for have a removable front pumpkin section or does
> it have a rear pan? Is there any other info I should or need to know?
> Any comments on what is a fair price to pay for the complete (again,
> drum to drum) rear end?
> Lessons learned so far: I found that the salvage dealers basically
> just want to know exactly what year and kind of car you have that you
> are trying to buy the rear end for and immediately have trouble if you
> tell them it is not going into a Ford Maverick or whatever. Also, I
> initially asked for a rear axle and they assumed I only wanted the
> right or left axle out of a "drum to drum rear end". I saw just about
> every year and model Maverick ever made. I'm sure the yards had what
> I need, I only have to figure out how to ask for it.
>
> Thanks, More questions than answers.....Paul
>
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