I have a nine-inch housing and a third member and I was planning on reusing my current eight-inch axels. Outside a gasket, what other parts will I need to complete the swap?
If all is in good shape, you can also use your old brakes (backing plates, e-brake cables and all) and drums as long as you have a small bearing nine inch. If it were me, I would install new axle seals for some cheap insurance. Also, be sure to check ahead of time to make sure your drive shaft doesn't need to be shortened, when it comes time to swap in the nine inch I found for my '68 (an original '68 Mustang 9 inch) mine will need the shaft cut since it won't slide far enough into the trans. So I may just hold off until I do the auto-to-T5 swap and do it all at once, but check yours first before you get the car spread all over the garage floor. Good luck!
i got new oil seals, and I also do plan on reusing my brakes. According to a ford diagram though there seems like theres quite a few things that go between the end of an axle and the drum... I'm assuming all of this will just carry over with my 8 inch axles and brakes?
Also, i think my case is a small bearing one, is there a quick way to be sure?
All the parts you see in the manual as far as brakes go, come off in one peice after you remove the brake line (use a tubing wrench!) and remove the four bolts that hold the backing plate on, and pull the axles. Also, I wouldn't worry about having a big-bearing rear, since they're getting scarce these days, but all you need to do is measure between any two bolts that hold the backing plate on, if they're the same it's a small bolt rear. You really don't need that many parts, but I'd still be concerned over the driveshaft length first.