Mustang Cobra IRS in an A-body
First off, please bear with me, I'm a big fan of all Makes of cars and IRS.
Here's a Mopar w/ Ford T-Bird IRS
http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/01/09/1966-dodge-dart-irs-project-journal/
I have a 65 Barracuda and have thought to drop in a Cobra IRS also. I also own a Cobra IRS with a chunk of floor pan still bolted to it. I've also dropped a Cobra IRS under my 66 Mustang. I'm not sure how much clearance you have under your car for tires. Considering the Cobra rear is 2" wider per side if you used the same wheel dimensions you have now but with that 2" extra backspacing you should be fine. The 66 Mustang rear end was 57.25" wide. I decided to use the 03 Cobra wheels, 17x9s and flare the fenders.
My first idea was to beef up the Cobra unit but swapping out the 8.8 3rd member for 9" section I was going to mod to bolt in the same way as the 8.8. But, the 9" housing is just too big and the pinion is off-set too much to keep the 3rd member centered and tranny lined up with the pinion yoke. Too many variables and more work for little gains.
Oh, and centerline of the pinion is offset 1/2" to the passenger side.
http://hubgarage.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/905142/quarter_flare_detail.jpg
http://hubgarage.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/905150/rear_flare_with_IRS_shot_detail.jpg
This guy took a Cobra IRS and custom built control arms and had half-shafts cut to size for his corvette. It ended up being 52" wide. I was worried about messing with the geometry of the setup so I decided not to go this route. The Corvette owner is a cool guy, answered a lot of my questions.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2659577
I know this isn't a Mopar but I have a thread on a Vintage Mustang site with some good info I gathered you might find interesting.
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/showtopic.php?tid/1505776/post/2032153/hl/cobra+irs/fromsearch/1/
Here's another Mustanger who narrowed a Jaguar IRS to fit inder his car
http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/JaguarIRS1.html
This guy did a Lincoln Mark VIII into a Mustang
http://s308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/stangtjk/?action=view¤t=Img_0621.jpg
There are other options for IRS, you might be interested in.
This is a custom built IRS based off the T-bird IRS to fit in an MGB
I wanted to do something similar to this by modifying the Cobra IRS to mount into the factory 66 Mustang front leaf spring mounting points. Now that I have everything bolted in I might use my car as a jig to do this eventually.
Factory Five based off the T-bird
I love the outside-the-box thinking these guys use in their kits. Reminds me of remote control cars.
321IRS
321IRS.1
Other ideas include newer 300, Charger, Challenger and even Viper IRS but they all seem way too wide. I believe the 300 IRS is 65" wide, and the bolt pattern is ever so slightly off from the 5x4.5 pattern.
First off, please bear with me, I'm a big fan of all Makes of cars and IRS.
Here's a Mopar w/ Ford T-Bird IRS
http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/01/09/1966-dodge-dart-irs-project-journal/
I have a 65 Barracuda and have thought to drop in a Cobra IRS also. I also own a Cobra IRS with a chunk of floor pan still bolted to it. I've also dropped a Cobra IRS under my 66 Mustang. I'm not sure how much clearance you have under your car for tires. Considering the Cobra rear is 2" wider per side if you used the same wheel dimensions you have now but with that 2" extra backspacing you should be fine. The 66 Mustang rear end was 57.25" wide. I decided to use the 03 Cobra wheels, 17x9s and flare the fenders.
My first idea was to beef up the Cobra unit but swapping out the 8.8 3rd member for 9" section I was going to mod to bolt in the same way as the 8.8. But, the 9" housing is just too big and the pinion is off-set too much to keep the 3rd member centered and tranny lined up with the pinion yoke. Too many variables and more work for little gains.
Oh, and centerline of the pinion is offset 1/2" to the passenger side.
http://hubgarage.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/905142/quarter_flare_detail.jpg
http://hubgarage.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/905150/rear_flare_with_IRS_shot_detail.jpg
This guy took a Cobra IRS and custom built control arms and had half-shafts cut to size for his corvette. It ended up being 52" wide. I was worried about messing with the geometry of the setup so I decided not to go this route. The Corvette owner is a cool guy, answered a lot of my questions.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2659577
I know this isn't a Mopar but I have a thread on a Vintage Mustang site with some good info I gathered you might find interesting.
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/showtopic.php?tid/1505776/post/2032153/hl/cobra+irs/fromsearch/1/
Here's another Mustanger who narrowed a Jaguar IRS to fit inder his car
http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/JaguarIRS1.html
This guy did a Lincoln Mark VIII into a Mustang
http://s308.photobucket.com/albums/kk355/stangtjk/?action=view¤t=Img_0621.jpg
There are other options for IRS, you might be interested in.
This is a custom built IRS based off the T-bird IRS to fit in an MGB
I wanted to do something similar to this by modifying the Cobra IRS to mount into the factory 66 Mustang front leaf spring mounting points. Now that I have everything bolted in I might use my car as a jig to do this eventually.
Factory Five based off the T-bird
I love the outside-the-box thinking these guys use in their kits. Reminds me of remote control cars.
321IRS
321IRS.1
Other ideas include newer 300, Charger, Challenger and even Viper IRS but they all seem way too wide. I believe the 300 IRS is 65" wide, and the bolt pattern is ever so slightly off from the 5x4.5 pattern.
