[barberboys]

hi all new to forum and will have plenty of Qs and hopefully as many answers...

The truck was giving to us by our father/grandfather he bought the truck in 1994 and he last drove it in 2003 we pulled it out of his "garage" this past weekend and brought to the house. After getting the front wheels freed up from the rust we put a battery charger to the started and after a few trys and filing the point in the distributer we got her to fire up but had no brakes except the e brake but we drove it around the neighborhood anyways.

we plan to rebuild a 70s 350 out of a camaro with a t350 along with mustang 2 front end... we are looking now into finding a rearend for the truck we have one out of a 2003 trail blazer but not sure if itll work out what rear ends are common for our application

 

[barberboys]

also any information, links to other build threads, and sources for parts will be greatly appreciated... we have done some looking around on speedway, pro's picks, ebay, craigslist, jegs and summit.... oh yeah the throttle got stuck wide open in the vid

 

[gearheadslife]

Brothers Chevy & GMC Classic Truck Parts : 1947-87 Original & Custom Classic Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


tons of vendors on here
The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - Powered by 67-72chevytrucks.com

they cover 47 up.. but a lot of venders go back

 

[455olds]

Nice truck and welcome! I would just measure the current rear end and find what is close and strong enough.

 

[dsraven]

hey welcome.
just a thought, but have you thought about installing an ls engine? you can buy a whole donor car for cheap and then you will have fuel injection and some decent mileage plus overdrive so you can afford to drive it. that seems to be the way a lot of guys are going now. not saying the old engines are dinosuars, but the newer ones have a lot going for them. there are quite a few engine swap sites that are dedicated to the ls swap. plus, no carbn to meddle with. just get in and drive
I ahve a 57 gmc and used a ford 8.8 rear end from an explorer. they are almost as tough as the ford 9" was, and easier to find. they aslo came in the ford ranger if you find the right one. they have rear discs as well on some of the units. the only thing is you haveto redrill the axles and drums/rotors for the chevy pattern. not that tough to do, then use some wheel studs that match whatever you are running up front.
I used the total cost involved mustang11 front end. it is pretty beefy, but I have heard the heidts front ends are tough too. just be carefull which one you pick because some are builf from alot thicker material than others. do he research and it will pay dividends. also be vary carefull about the install and get the angles etc right on, or you won't be able to get it lined up proper when you are done. part of it is getting the rake angle you want. put the frame on a jig or at least on stands that won't move around. use a digital level and have a good welder put it together. heidts has a blurb online about angles etc to make it work right.
have fun

 

[barberboys]

well we decided to go with a 8.8 out of a fox body mustang for a couple of reasons the rear is within 1/2 inch of the original its a strong rear end and pretty easy to find also it has the mounts on it already for a four link setup ... now we just need to find some 5 lug axles to match the mustang2 frontend that ups just delivered looks like ones out of a ranger will do.

motor has been order 383 from speedway $3500 blueprinted and dynoed 420hp 450tq should be more than enough motor for the truck ... transmission is at the shop now getting looked over t400 and will get a 2400 stall

 

[dsraven]

did you get the mustangII with a ford pattern? what does it have for brakes on it?
if you google ford 8.8 there is lots of info on that diff. I'm not sure what mustang you got it from, but some of them had the big diameter axles. I used a sway bar setup from a ranger with 8.8. it fit the diff which in my case has an offset pumpkin (not sure on the 'stang, but explorer has a short axle on one side) so it is harder to find a sway bar that is offset. the explorer sway bar didn't fit with my 4 link/air bag set up. the ranger bar goes in front of the axle where the explorer goes behing. as with everything there is a large diameter sway bar and a small diameter. i got the small because thats all i could find. i figure i can always upgrade later if required because the basics will already be there.

 

[barberboys]

yes we got the ford pattern ... we acctually are now waiting/looking for a different rear because the one we got only has a 7.5 ring gear.... we are going with coil overs and wont be running a sway bar as we will run the 2 top links at an angle towards the middle of the crossmember that will be fabbed up and welded in

 

[dsraven]

don't triangulated 4 links still have sway bars (stabilizer bars)?
check out the tag on the donor axle, it will have all the info about thr guts right there on the tag. google the ford 8.8 differential and check out the hemmings motor news article, very informative. the ranger station also has a good write up on what years came with what options etc. look for one with the big axle shafts, disc brakes etc

 

[barberboys]

well got a little more work done ...

tacked in the plates to box in the frame (firewall forward for now) then mocked up and tacked in the cross member and spring pockets using the measurements from the kit and threw on a control arm and spindle ( lower control arm hasn't arrived yet its on back order) then we reassembled the fenders and threw on a wheel to check to see if the wheel was centered in the fender well, after taking a few measurements we found that we needed to move everything forward 9/16" which we did and began welding everything in

Oh yeah the motor came in yesterday:thumbup:

 

[dsraven]

looks good. did you get the 4 degree antidive angle on those "hats" (upper control arm mounts)? they have to be lower at the rear compared to the front. also, when done, the upper control arm is supposed to be parallel with the lower control arm, which is parallel with the floor at ride height. I used a pice of tubing with threaded rod inside it to take the place of the spring. that way I set the lower control arm parallel to the ground (digital level) and could control it there with the tubing. it is easier to get the upper control arm parallel that way. actually a hot rod builder here in calgary told me that it is prefered by most to have the upper control arm slightly angled down towards the frame.that way when you go over a bump the wheels actually tip in some at the top rather than out-less chance of fender rubbing that way he says. did you check pout the article online from heidts? good theory there.

 

[dsraven]

hey, just as a disclaimer, that was all just info for you to consider. I am not trying to pick your work apart. looks like you have done a great job so far, and managed to keep a clean garage (???). just would hate to see you weld it all in and find out you can't get the alignment within specs. i had mine in and out about a hundred times, mostly because they shipped me the wrong crossmember and i am too dumb to have figured it out. they sent me a crossmember for the generation truck before mine. lots of cutting and welding to get it figured. wouldn't wish that on anybody.
have fun with it. send more pics, we all like to see the pics!

 

[barberboys]

we will have to check out that write up from heidts... yea i know what you mean when i helped my father try to correct the bump steer on his ffr cobra it wasn't all that fun

 

[dsraven]

that aticle from heidts is from their tech tips and is called understanding independenr front suspension. I tried to copy and paste it in the reply but couldn't get it to work. it is pretty informative though, and worth a read. it is only a couple pages and has pics and everything...I will try to attach it but this will be a first for me. we'll see if it works.
have fun, send pics. I'm curious to see how your mock up looks.

 

[timothale]

Mustang rear info .

You can build an 8.8 mustang disc brake rear in a wrecking yard with donor parts. If you start with 4 lugs, you can pull the axles out of 2 ranger 5 lug rears, ranger uses a long and short, mustang both are the same length . Then find a mid 80's lincoln town car and the rear disc brakes bolt right on. When ford offered the mustang with 5 lug 4 wheel disc, they just got parts in stock from other vehicles. 5 lug mustang disc rear ends are hard to find, but easy to build. I have done a couple in the u pull it yards.

 

[timothale]

welder Series info

Welder series in canada sells weld it your self hot rod and suspension parts and complete kits. They have lots of U tube video's and very good information on how to Install the M II suspension in their catalog and on line. I have a milling machine, lathe, Plasma, welders, etc and fab most of my own parts but there are some things that are easier and cheaper to buy considering the time to engineer and cut .

 

[dsraven]

totally agree. there are lots of 8.8's in the wreckers. just a note of caution though. it has been said, not by me but by some knowledgeable differential builders online, that problems can be encountered with high horsepower engines using wrecker axles in this sort of configuration. they say that the axles get a "set" rotationally, and when they are installed in the wrong side, like when you use one from a wrecker that came out of the other side of the vehicle compared to what it will be placed into, they tend to break under high load. I have never heard of it, but then i don't travel in those high horsepower circles either. just a note for consideration. worse case scenario, buy a new aftermarket axle for that side.

 

[dsraven]

I have some welders series stuff in the rear of my '57. it is really nicely patterned, cut and welded. you can save a few bucks by doing your own welding if you want. delivery is 10% of the cost of the item up to a maximum (to calgary anyway, not sure of out of country stuff). I would highly recommend them. check out the online catalogue. I had some questions and they got back to me right away by phone. i was impressed.

 

[barberboys]

yea the guy we bought the first rear from didnt realize it was a 7.5 (niether did we until we looked at it the next day with some light) and he has a ton of mustang parts and we have been waiting for the next rear but we couldn't get a hold of him for a while ... finally he called the other day said his mom died and he we get the other to us by this weekend ... i have been keeping my eye out for 93-01 explorer as well as the width is close enough and they have the 31 spline 5lugs but i think 3.73 will be to high for a nice cruiser

 

[timothale]

explorer rear

the V 8 explorers are stronger, the best one for higher horsepower and have the internal drum emergency brake design, a better brake , just a little longer to do a brake job.