moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
hi Y'all
since i have nothing but time on my hands to rebuild the cuda i have been looking at all angles to the rear end dilemma i have. my car is a SBP 7&1/4 peg leg rear. i initially wanted to go mopar 8&3/4 but was told by a few as well as in my internet musings that this was cost prohibitive. at $500 for an empty 8&3/4 A body axle housing on ebay i started looking for alternatives. so i started looking at the Phord xploder 8.8 specifically the 95 and up one with rear discs. i also looked into a phord late style 9" so this is what i came up with.
the xploder is a good idea with some goodies to make it a good swap candidate. it comes with good gearing options, most have a sure grip differential, it is the large mopar bolt pattern, and 95 and newer come with disc brakes. this rear is ideal for use with the newer style american racing styled wheels like on the mustang GT with a back offset on the older mopar this may just be the ticket due to its wider track width.
the cons i found are that it doesnt have a pinion snubber, so alternate traction aids need to be used such as traction bars. you will need to come up with a bastard type U joint to make the drive shaft work, plus figure out how to adapt te parking brake cables to work off the disc brake rear. additionally you will have to change the location of the spring perches and or narrow the rear if you dont like its track width.
the ford 9" is also a good idea, as it is a bullet proof design, and will work well narrowed and set up with a 4 link and coil springs for a drag car. my buddy offered me one complete drum to drum with center chunk from a 74 mercury montego. i found out that speedway motors makes the 31 spline axles in ford/mopar as well as chevy bolt pattern and sells these in different lengths and you cut to fit on the splined end. the outer axle bearing carrier flanges are available as weld on for $75 a pair. so theoretically you can cut down the nine inch to the width you desire, add your flange ends, spring perches and viola ford 9" under a mopar
the cons to the 9" setup are the afore mentioned pinion snubber that you can negate with a set of traction bars. the speedway cut to fit axles are $200 per side without studs. plus the bastard u joint and parking brake snafu.
this led me back to the mopar 8&3/4" rear end. i located an empty housing out of an old C body which i am still deciding on purchasing for $50 i checked out mancini racing and found that i can purchase new stock length A body axles SBP and BBP with the Green bearings and studs installed for $150 per side. mancini also sells the axle flange ends for $75 for the pair, and spring perches for $11 each. a local axle shop i found can narrow the rear to stock width for $200
this is a little pricy for some folks at $647 and i havent found brakes to go with it yet, as i am torn between going with a disc conversion or staying with drums. plus i still need to find a center chunk #742, or #741 are the castings to look for as they offer the most gear selections. additionally i can scratch off the $75 for the axle flanges if the axle shop can put em in a lathe and cut the weld off then they can be reused. this drops it to $572 without the center chunk.
the benefits with doing this swap are that with some stock parts swapping after the axle is narrowed everything is now a bolt in, and you dont need to be an engineer to make it all work. plus it keeps it all mopar.
now before i jump on that C body housing i may wait for a few more of the local police auctions to run in my town in hopes that a nasty old C body will be dragged out of somebodys back yard that i can get for cheap. i can pull the complete axle with chunk, brakes, U bolts, and shock mount plates which i will need for the conversion, and scrap the rest of the car to get back some of my money, if it works out i am thinking a $100 C body, remove axle, drag rest across scales at scrap yard and get back $150.00 what was left of my 74 dart 4 door parts car along with the slant sick engine and tranny from the barracuda fetched me $158.40 in scrap metal.
now keep in mind this is not the end all to this type of debate. i personally am wanting a stock width A body rear axle under my car, my personal preference. as well as not wanting the old lakewood style slapper bars hanging under my leaf springs as i feel these look tacky, again my preference. id prefer an adjustable pinion snubber from direct connection.
feel free to reply to this post. i think the narrowed C body axle is the way i am going to go but i'd like to hear what y'all did to solve this problem for your A body.
Matt
since i have nothing but time on my hands to rebuild the cuda i have been looking at all angles to the rear end dilemma i have. my car is a SBP 7&1/4 peg leg rear. i initially wanted to go mopar 8&3/4 but was told by a few as well as in my internet musings that this was cost prohibitive. at $500 for an empty 8&3/4 A body axle housing on ebay i started looking for alternatives. so i started looking at the Phord xploder 8.8 specifically the 95 and up one with rear discs. i also looked into a phord late style 9" so this is what i came up with.
the xploder is a good idea with some goodies to make it a good swap candidate. it comes with good gearing options, most have a sure grip differential, it is the large mopar bolt pattern, and 95 and newer come with disc brakes. this rear is ideal for use with the newer style american racing styled wheels like on the mustang GT with a back offset on the older mopar this may just be the ticket due to its wider track width.
the cons i found are that it doesnt have a pinion snubber, so alternate traction aids need to be used such as traction bars. you will need to come up with a bastard type U joint to make the drive shaft work, plus figure out how to adapt te parking brake cables to work off the disc brake rear. additionally you will have to change the location of the spring perches and or narrow the rear if you dont like its track width.
the ford 9" is also a good idea, as it is a bullet proof design, and will work well narrowed and set up with a 4 link and coil springs for a drag car. my buddy offered me one complete drum to drum with center chunk from a 74 mercury montego. i found out that speedway motors makes the 31 spline axles in ford/mopar as well as chevy bolt pattern and sells these in different lengths and you cut to fit on the splined end. the outer axle bearing carrier flanges are available as weld on for $75 a pair. so theoretically you can cut down the nine inch to the width you desire, add your flange ends, spring perches and viola ford 9" under a mopar
the cons to the 9" setup are the afore mentioned pinion snubber that you can negate with a set of traction bars. the speedway cut to fit axles are $200 per side without studs. plus the bastard u joint and parking brake snafu.
this led me back to the mopar 8&3/4" rear end. i located an empty housing out of an old C body which i am still deciding on purchasing for $50 i checked out mancini racing and found that i can purchase new stock length A body axles SBP and BBP with the Green bearings and studs installed for $150 per side. mancini also sells the axle flange ends for $75 for the pair, and spring perches for $11 each. a local axle shop i found can narrow the rear to stock width for $200
this is a little pricy for some folks at $647 and i havent found brakes to go with it yet, as i am torn between going with a disc conversion or staying with drums. plus i still need to find a center chunk #742, or #741 are the castings to look for as they offer the most gear selections. additionally i can scratch off the $75 for the axle flanges if the axle shop can put em in a lathe and cut the weld off then they can be reused. this drops it to $572 without the center chunk.
the benefits with doing this swap are that with some stock parts swapping after the axle is narrowed everything is now a bolt in, and you dont need to be an engineer to make it all work. plus it keeps it all mopar.
now before i jump on that C body housing i may wait for a few more of the local police auctions to run in my town in hopes that a nasty old C body will be dragged out of somebodys back yard that i can get for cheap. i can pull the complete axle with chunk, brakes, U bolts, and shock mount plates which i will need for the conversion, and scrap the rest of the car to get back some of my money, if it works out i am thinking a $100 C body, remove axle, drag rest across scales at scrap yard and get back $150.00 what was left of my 74 dart 4 door parts car along with the slant sick engine and tranny from the barracuda fetched me $158.40 in scrap metal.
now keep in mind this is not the end all to this type of debate. i personally am wanting a stock width A body rear axle under my car, my personal preference. as well as not wanting the old lakewood style slapper bars hanging under my leaf springs as i feel these look tacky, again my preference. id prefer an adjustable pinion snubber from direct connection.
feel free to reply to this post. i think the narrowed C body axle is the way i am going to go but i'd like to hear what y'all did to solve this problem for your A body.
Matt
