4 To 5 Lug Swap

The last guy I saw buy an 8 inch rear end had to give $250 for it. Another option you'd have for that price is an 8.8. It's easier to find an 8.8 with limited slip and the later Explorer rears come with disc brakes. I'm in the middle of putting an Explorer 8.8 in my 68 coupe but I'm not finished with it yet.

Wether or not it will hold up to the 302 depends on how you want to drive it. If you don't plan on having sticky tires or hard launches and you just want to cruise, the 7.25 may last a while. I had to buy new leaf spring perches (@$40 ) and although I ground the factory spring perches out of the way myself to save some money, I had a local machine shop weld them on for me for $50. When I got the rear end home, it sat perfectly on the leaf springs just like it was made to be there. I'll have to find a way to hook the parking brake up and take care of hooking the brake line up, but that isn't a huge deal for me because I am putting all new brake lines in my car anyway. New brake lines are probably not a bad idea on any car that is almost 50 years old anyway. I really wanted to go to 5 lug and I'm having to redo everything on my car anyway. I'm not sure what I'd do if I were you. If your $$$ and mechanical inclination is thin, I guess you could keep the 7.25 and see how long it lasts, but you'll still be stuck with 4 lug and small brakes as long as you have it. An 8 inch should be a complete bolt in as long as it comes out of the right car. If you aren't picky about the rear gear ratio or having positive traction, that may be the way for you to go. I didn't want too low ( numerically ) of a gear because I plan on using an AOD transmission.

That makes the 8.8 look better and better if you have to do all that work anyway. Old iron is scarce in the boneyards in my neighborhood.