Here's my new '66 Coupe I picked up. The previous owner did not know much about the car. All the work was done by a "Mustang shop". It's an original 6 cylinder car. Now it's got a 302, C4, 5 lugs, and front disc brakes. Runs and drives great. First thing I did was swap out the 14" Magnum 500's with some 17" Torque thrust II's. Next thing I want to do is ID the rear end so I can get some steeper gears in there. I'm not sure if it's a 8 or 9 inch. I'm in the middle of a Trickflow H/C/I swap on the fox so I don't have much plans for this one at the moment. More pics to come.
Photo 1 - The 9” rear ends have a removable “hog-head” center carrier and is about 10” from the bottom to the top stud. The 9” was introduced in 1957 and ran to mid 80's. Photo 2 - The 8" rear was use from the 60's to the late 70's, top to bottom stud is about 9". Photo 3 - 8.8” rear’s have a ten bolt inspection plate on the back that’s about 10” from the center of the top bolt to the bottom bolt center. The 8.8” first saw service in the 79 Crown Vic. and in 1980 for the F100/150. Photo 4 - The 7.5” rear was first put in the 78 Fairmont. It also has a ten bolt cover but measures about 9” from top to bottom bolt.
Easiest way to differentiate between an 8" rear chunk and a 9" rear chunk is to try removing the very bottom nuts behind the pinion carrier. If you end up having to use a box-end wrench, CONGRATULATIONS!; you've got a 9" axle. If you can get them with a ratchet/socket.... it's an 8".
Some new pics I took at a local car show. I haven't had anytime to figure out the rear end yet. But It is nice to actually drive a car and not work on it!
