I picked up a Caddy500 and 400 trans to put in my 51 merc and I'm trying to find a rearend to match... I need a very low 3.0? or 2.9? that will be around 60-61" wide.... Maybe I can buy a ring& pinion set for my factory mercury rearend but I have read about problems with the axles in a stock merc rearend being problematic? Can anybody shed some light on this for me?
try to find a 9 inch from a country squire wagon. There plenty strong but I ve also heard stories that they won't hold the big Cad either from alot of hard use
The chart shows your Merc at 61" wide. If you want to stay to the same bolt pattern maybe the 57-72 Ford Pickup would be a good choice at 61.25"
70-81 camaro/firebird rear axles are 60" wide. Most had a ratio between 2.80 and 3.00. They are cheap and pretty strong.
Ive used F100 rears and IMO it isnt worth it, yes you get the bolt pattern but they are all highway screamer gear ratios (that I have come across). You can obviously swap out centers and this and that, but now you are getting more involved. One spare is nice though, I will say that.
In my area ... if you look at the 67/68 up to 72 F-100's ... a good many of them were automatics from the factory. Quite a few have 3.25 rear end ratios and some even with 3.00 Another reason to get as late a F-100 rear end as possible ( up to 72 ) is the later ones have self adjusting brakes ( something I like having ).
Really? There is a 68/auto near me for $500. Truck is crunched but good for steering box and maybe rear? Might be worth another look!
I will keep a 68-72 pickup in mind, thanks! Why doesn't anybody use the Dana 44 rear end and swap out the ring/pinion???
"Some" 71-72 Ford pickups came with a Dana 60 9 3/8" RP with 5x5 1/2" axles. They were mostly GSA ordered and are pretty rare these days . Ratios were most likely 3:50 and 4:10. not to sure of the spline count on the axles though. Another thing to consider is that the 51 Merc. was a Dana 44, basically the same center section that Corvettes used with their manual trannies, autos were D-35. Another option is the late Exploder V/8 4x4 rears 8.8" R&P and 31 spline axles with disk brakes,can be narrowed and redrilled for 5x5 1/2"
Early T-brids 58-63 NOT SURE BUT 64 -66? have a 9" that are 59" wide and have fairly tall gears. This rear end is great if you are planning to run skirts and want a deceant size tire that will not rub on your skirts. The only neg is you will need to drill the axles to the 5.5" pattern or change wheels.