versailles rearend problems with fitment

[nemlio65]

Hello;I thought I was on the road to reassembly but yet another snag.I put a 1977 lincoln versailles disc brake rearend in my 67 fastback.That went fairly well, I thought.After getting the tires on and lowering the jack I noticed the drivers side is siting low and in and passenger side sits quite high and out around 3/4 of an inch.see pics and please advise.I took it apart monday and looks to be assembled correctly,but it still lines up with more on the passenger side.My dad thought swaping the springs around might help,any ideas?Just a side note I measured the inside of the wheel wells and they match at approx 14 inches.

 

[68EFIvert]

I agree with your dad. Did you get new springs in the process of putting in the new rear. I did the same conversion you did and replaced the springs at the same time. I ran into the same problem, may have been even larger gap difference. I contacted the spring supplier and let them know of my problem and as a last resort removed the springs and swapped them to the other side and it fixed my problem. The springs looked identical while on the floor.

The only other thing I can think of is loosen the bolts for the rear shackles and see if the car settles a little then retighten. Even drive around the block with the bolts slightly loosened. You may have a bushing that is binding on the one side. I hope this helps.

Darreld

 

[nemlio65]

Darreld;Thanks for the input.The leaf springs where solid originals still stiff with a nice ride hieght.Heavy duty prothane shackles and front bushings.I was going to do the swap around b4 getting new springs.Drive train not in, so no buzzes around the block as yet.

 

[downpiped]

Just wondering, what size wheels ya got on the back? Im putting my versailles rear in my 67 fb next week? Is the versailles rear really narrower that you can notice a difference? Oh and where do the seals go, theres an inner and an outer right?

 

[96 DOHC Cobra]

Are the wheels a matched set (width and backspacing)?

 

[302 coupe]

the spring perches on my versailles rear were not centered. Measure from the perch to a reference point, like the caliper bracket or something and compare. I ended up cutting off the perches, then welding on some new ones to center it up. This is not uncommon among these rearends.

 

[nemlio65]

That's funny I had the same question about the inner and outer seals too.It's not very clear in the versailles shop manual.Anyway,inners go inside axle tube and outers are in the end cap that the caliper bolts up. On the rear I'm running 265 50 15 dunlop qt qualifiers.the wheel are 70's american racing 200s fron 15 by 7 and rear are 15 by 8.5 all have a 3.75 back space.Once I get the rear squared away it all should fit very nicely.

 

[nemlio65]

here's another angle

 

[302 coupe]

those wheels and tires will be sticking out past the fenders, might be your style though. Good luck.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

s the versailles rear really narrower that you can notice a difference?

Yes, absolutely. The Versailles rear is the same width as the '65-66 Mustang and '57-59 passenger car rears(52 1/4" flange-to-flange). It will move the rear tires inboard by an inch per side when put under a '67-68 Mustang(stock width is 54 1/4").

 

[htwheelz67]

I think its closer to 3/4 inch per side, funny when you look up dimensions on versailles rears there are differences depending on where you look. I have one with new everything going in my 67 after my 408 goes in, I have some tmc HD leafs which will go in as well so I am interested in these problems as well.

 

[nemlio65]

Ok,I'll keep you posted on the progress of this build.This weekend I'm going to try swapping around the leaf springs to see if that helps.

 

[nemlio65]

Swapped the springs around with same bacic result...... high on right sige and wheel hangs out approx 3/4 inch.car has no motor or trans and has sub frame connectors installed.Could she be twisted? Would frame shop be next move?

 

[65ShelbyClone]

Did you try measuring the perch-to-axle flange length on both sides?

 

[ultrastang]

I think its closer to 3/4 inch per side, funny when you look up dimensions on versailles rears there are differences depending on where you look. I have one with new everything going in my 67 after my 408 goes in, I have some tmc HD leafs which will go in as well so I am interested in these problems as well.

There is around 3/4" wheel flange to wheel flange width difference between the installation of the Versailles in a '65/'66 Mustang body or when installed in a '67-'70 body. The Versailles will be ~3/4" wider (overall) than the stock '65/'66 Mustang rear. That translates to 3/8" perside difference (wider).

In a '67-'70 Mustang, the Versailles is ~3/4" narrower (overall) than the stock '67-'70 rear end. This means it will be ~3/8" per side narrower than a stock '67-'70 rear end (overall).

Aside from being offest to one side a little more than the other, Vesailles are also clocked on the spring perches a little differently than other Ford rear end housings. Depending on how high or low your Mustang sits, you may have to add angled shims between the perches and leaf springs to get the 3rd member's companion flange at the right angle to be in a direct line with the driveshaft.

 

[nemlio65]

I've got to measure it against a stock 67 rear spring pearch placement.So the versailles is askew and 3/8" jumprd to the right compared to a stock 67 ? Proper repair would be pop off spring pearches and realign or mod?

 

[nemlio65]

Leaf spring shackles are misaligned,so now I've got to measure key chassis points to make sure unibody is true.Does anybody have the specs as what those measurement should be.

 

[downpiped]

So is that why the rear is off centered? or is it the perches?

 

[nemlio65]

I've been doing some mearsuring. Off the bat, the right side shackle mount is about 3/8 shorter than the left.So that's hanging up the leaf spring preventing the body from dropping the way down.The pearches on the Versailles housing , seem like they will be fine , I've got to check pinion angle once I get leaf springs squared away.

 

[nemlio65]

After measuring a few body points it's come to my attenttion that the left side spring shackle mount is 3/16" short of the right .The right side measures within factory spec at 52 3/16".: