I bought what I thought was a vintage 289 car and found later it is a inline six car with a 289 installed.

Problem now is the car has 4 lug axles and I bought 5 lug wheels to upgrade. My fault for assuming, but is there an easier fix than changing out rearend and front hubs?

 

There is not really anything easier that I know of, and I have looked. Your going to have to change out your axles, and most likely entire rear end, and your front wheel set up. I am in the same boat as you. The weak 7 1/4 rear end I have on mine has already blown up and had to be rebuilt. I am in the process of converting the rear end to a Ford 9 inch. It will look a little wierd for a while with 5 lug rear wheels and 4 lug front wheels. The rear end comes first, and then later will be a nice set of front disc brakes with the 5 lug front hubs! Best of luck to you!

 

no way around it... do this: http://www.networktechs.com/mustang/DSCN0747.jpg you can kinda see the size/strength difference of the 2 axles... I'll take a better pic of them side by side maybe soon before I finish putting the new one on. I also went with front discs: http://www.networktechs.com/mustang/DSCN0620.jpg

There is no shortcut! Do the rear axle and the front there is a shortcut where you buy the new hub and basically all the other pieces for your front. Sometimes tie rods are needed and sometimes spindles.

You'll also need to take a GOOD look at all suspension related parts. This is a VERY expensive project to do it right like I'm doing but so many people cut corners. Those are the scammers that just sell the car so they don't care about the quality.

 

what year is it?

 

It is a 66 hardtop