hello, i was wondering if my current stock diff would be able to handle a strong 351w in a 65 coupe. i want to put some gears in right now just for some fun (3:1 are getting boring). but i dont want to waiste money on something ill end up replacing. thanks a lot.
Im no rearend expert by anymeans but I would be willing to bet that a strong 351 will tear the stock rear apart. This assuming that you are lauching hard, burning out or anything else that puts undue wear on the rearend. I'd say get a 9 inch...
The 9 inch is definately the way to go but if you have the cash but an 8 inch should work just fine. Those are suppose to be pretty strong too from what I understand... please correct me if I am wrong. A 9 inch will cost quite a bit once you add everything into it so see if it fits your budget.
Kevin
you can get a 8 incher to be pretty strong as long as you get one of the later style center sections it has reinforcement ribs on it just like the 9 I believe randy's ring and pinion sells these if you ask for the specific type. but you cant touch the strength of the nine.
If you have an automatic, the 8 inch rearend should last you for awhile, unless you have a 450 hp 351w... You can also probably find a posi differential for the 8", pretty cheap. If you plan on racing with anything stickier than street tires, I'd go for the 9 inch with 31 spline axles. A 9 inch rear with 28 splines is a waste of money. If you have a manual tranny, just avoid problems and get the 9".
Just for grins... If you have a hot 351, you'll also want a high stall converter... If you have a manual tranny disregard all references to auto trannys.
What's the torque (not horsepower) out put on the 351W? 8" with 28 spline axles can take up to 400 ft/lbs of torque (I think). However, this is ONLY UNDER 100% TRACTION!!!! An example is my T-5 tranny I am running right now. It can only handle 265 torque and it is being used on a 302 that puts out around 300-330; however, I am running 4.11's so traction under hard acceleration is very hard to maintain. This means that my tranny is never really getting the full 300-330 torque. Get what I mean?