Versailes 9" swap

I wouldn't put it in front of that motor in your sig. Those rears are even heavier than other 9's. There are many other ways to get discs on a 9''. The reason for the another 9'' is when I was calling around to campanies, more than one of them said the axles taper down funny. I can't remember honestly why, but I remember telling him I wanted to drag race and he was strongly against the lincoln.

the versailles rear is a heavy duty housing, big axle tubes(3" ) and 'big bearing' ends. It is kinda heavy, and probably overkill for the power you're making. You might be better off getting a regular 9" housing and getting an aftermarket disc brake kit. I think Wilwood and Baer make kits that sell for $500 or so. I think its a solid rotor though(kinda thin), but it has aluminum calipers-so it should be lightweight if that is a concern. If you want durability you'll need to upgrade axles on any factory rearend, so don't hold that against the Versailles. Even though I think mine were the same as any other 9" axle, didn't notice any weird taper.

Personally, when I swapped form a 8" to the versailles with the same gear ratio I only lost .04 seconds(average) in the 1/8th mile, so no biggie. I'm thinking of getting mine narrowed a little and I'll probably switch to either Wilwood or Baer discs, but I don't drive it on the street much.

There are also several 'junkyard' rear disc conversions using Mark VII or Explorer parts, should save a little weight plus you'd have OEM reliability and parts availability.

if you want discs and find a good deal on a complete versailles unit- go for it! By good deal I mean less than $300. If the calipers and rotors are beyond repair, just keep looking. Parts are getting kinda pricey. You'll want to change gears in the diff too, they usually came with some crusin' gears-2.50. So figure that into your budget.

golf4283 said:

Is the versailles 9 inch rear-end strong as far as 9 inchers are?? I wan't to swap a 9 inch in cause the explorer swap is too much of a pain. I also want disk brakes so it seems like the best thing to do. Is it a direct bolt-in and is the rear-end strong are my main questions.

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In your 66, the Versailles rear will be 1" wider than you now have. Plenty strong for what you have. I ran one behind my 427. Even with the 2.50's and traction loc. What a top-end The only thing that gave me a problem was the brake lines, had to go down to the local parts house and hunt for an adapter fitting to go from one size line to another. The E-Brake cables may be a different story, I never did hook mine up, didn't need them with a 4 speed and no hills around here.