So I am the proud owner of a ford 9in with disc brakes and a mini spool all for a 75 t-bird that I had planned to turn into a demo car. Now my question is what length does the rear end need to be to fit under my car?(70 coupe) The rear end is from said t-bird and so I know that I will have to get new axles and cut it down but to what length? Anyone else swap a rear end from a t-bird? If so what are some of the difficulties you had with the swap?

 

The dimensions of your rear end are in the FAQ section of this forum. You may be able to get the axels from the tbird rear cut and resplined if they are the big axels and I think they are.

 

That is great news! Thank so very much for the info! Have you personally done the swap from the t-bird or know of anyone who has?

 

No I haven't and don't know anyone that has. Once you have the dimensions you need you should be able to get the housing shortened, the axels shortened/resplined and the spring perches welded in the right place and you are done. Of course the Tbird gear ratio will be crap so a new set of gears would be nice. While you are in there might want to do a posi. Rearends can get expensive.

 

And spools are VERY hard on stuff on the street. Tires in particular. They don't like to go around corners.

 

Thats good to know about the spools woody. I was not familiar with them until the guy offered me the trade. I dont PLAN on driving the car very hard, but what I plan and what happens are very different. 67t the spool is to make up for the lack of the posi, at least I hope thats what the function is and thats how it was explained to me. As far as gears go, I am thinking of going 3.55 gears with a t5 swap. This seems to be a very common set up and it seems affordable. Hiboost, what part of WA are you from?

 

I live in Chewelah. About 35 miles north of Spokane. About the spool, you CAN run them on the street but you wil have to be careful going around corners. The spool won't allow the inside tire to stay stationary while the outside one pivots around it so it causes a bind that can break axles, gears, u-joints, etc. You will get a wheel hop and the inside tire will chirp going around corners.

 

Is there anyway to reduce this effect on axles, gears, etc? Or am I stuck with it? Would reinforcing these parts reduce or eliminate this problem? I know roughly where Chewelah. I am from Moses Lake so I know what your neck of the woods is like.

 

I would not run a spool on the street. It is not made to function on the street. It is made for straight line racing.

 

Not really. The problem with reinforcing stuff is that you just transfer the problem to the next weak spot down the line and there really is no way TOO reinforce them short of running big dollar aftermarket stuff and if you are going to do that it would be cheaper just to buy a posi carrier and have it installed. The best way really is to not run the spool but other than that just be concious of what you are doing with your right foot.