I'm doing something about my rear end soon. It's an 8" 3.00 open. I see 3 options:
SN95 8.8":
I did a little searching around here and I saw a lot of people complaining about the explorer 8.8s, so I guess if I go the 8.8 route it will be with one out of an SN95. How much wider are they than a '66 8", and what is involved in the swap? Price? Disc brakes are nice.
9":
Where would I get one? Obviously from a junkyard, but from what vehicles? I would probably have to rebuild it with a new LS or locker and some new gears, so price becomes a concern. Disc brakes probably won't happen with this option. Some people would say I need a 9", some would say not.
Rebuild current 8":
I would go with either a locker or limited slip unit from some aftermarket source, and probably 4.10ish gears. This would probably be the cheapest route, but I'm wondering if it's the best idea. Disc brakes are out with this one.
The car is a '66 fastback, ~300 horsepower through a tremec 3550. I'm going to put the wheels from a 2001 V-6 mustang on there (16" aluminum with 225/55/16 goodyears). I need to get wheel adapters to fit them on the car regardless of what I do with the rear, so the width of the rear isn't a huge deal unless it eats up more than 1.25" of backspacing per side (the width of the adapters for a stock 8").
What should I do, and how do I do it?
SN95 8.8":
I did a little searching around here and I saw a lot of people complaining about the explorer 8.8s, so I guess if I go the 8.8 route it will be with one out of an SN95. How much wider are they than a '66 8", and what is involved in the swap? Price? Disc brakes are nice.
9":
Where would I get one? Obviously from a junkyard, but from what vehicles? I would probably have to rebuild it with a new LS or locker and some new gears, so price becomes a concern. Disc brakes probably won't happen with this option. Some people would say I need a 9", some would say not.
Rebuild current 8":
I would go with either a locker or limited slip unit from some aftermarket source, and probably 4.10ish gears. This would probably be the cheapest route, but I'm wondering if it's the best idea. Disc brakes are out with this one.
The car is a '66 fastback, ~300 horsepower through a tremec 3550. I'm going to put the wheels from a 2001 V-6 mustang on there (16" aluminum with 225/55/16 goodyears). I need to get wheel adapters to fit them on the car regardless of what I do with the rear, so the width of the rear isn't a huge deal unless it eats up more than 1.25" of backspacing per side (the width of the adapters for a stock 8").
What should I do, and how do I do it?
