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Technical How to identify rear end

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by JayChicago, Apr 6, 2019.

  1. JayChicago
    Joined: Mar 19, 2016
    Posts: 9

    JayChicago
    Member
    from Chicago

    Recently bought a 37 Ford street rod out of an estate sale. No file/paperwork came with the car. Tried to get some info from the families of the two previous owners, but no luck with either of them. So now when I work on something I have to first figure out what I'm dealing with. For instance, something as simple as replacing rear brake shoes, what shoes do I order?

    It has an open drive shaft rear end with drum brakes, but what make/year was the donor car? How can I identify the rear end? Not just the differential, but the whole thing, including brakes?
     
  2. A photo might show us more
     
    LOU WELLS likes this.
  3. Gray Ford
    Joined: Oct 18, 2008
    Posts: 491

    Gray Ford
    Member
    from Illinois

    useless without pictures.jpeg Wait ...I'll do it ....


    RATS..Late Again ....
     
    LOU WELLS, stillrunners, BigO and 2 others like this.
  4. Always an issue when you didn't build the car.... Easiest method will be to post pics here, somebody will know.
     

  5. JayChicago
    Joined: Mar 19, 2016
    Posts: 9

    JayChicago
    Member
    from Chicago

    Here are some pics:
     

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  6. JayChicago
    Joined: Mar 19, 2016
    Posts: 9

    JayChicago
    Member
    from Chicago

    Also I see this cast in the differential front yoke housing, best as I can read it: D2SW-C

    And the tag on the differential:
    WEW-C........4JB
    3....50....9....742C

    Thanks for your help.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2019
  7. flamedabone
    Joined: Aug 3, 2001
    Posts: 5,440

    flamedabone
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I don't think it needs brake shoes at the moment, but it does need the brake drums to not be painted red. And, more pics would be nice.

    Good luck with the little car, there is a wealth of information hanging around here.

    -Abone.
     
    BigO likes this.
  8. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Ford 8 inch if you can access the lower bolts that secure the third member with a socket and ratchet.
     
  9. Common stuff.... Ford 9", looks like a late '50s housing, small axle bearing ends, brake parts will be late '50s/60s Ford, about all you'll need to know is drum diameter/width to get brake shoes and a hardware kit. What you have has a fair number of miles left in it.
     
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  10. 31aford
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 108

    31aford
    Member
    from az

    Looks like a 58-59 nine inch
     
  11. The tag numbers don't make sense... The cast number D2 is 72 date, The housing looks like 58-9.

    I believe the axles are also 31 spline by the "dimple" as I call it in center of hub
     
  12. big john d
    Joined: Nov 24, 2011
    Posts: 366

    big john d
    Member
    from ma

    9 inch ford 28 spline axles you may be able to read the numbers off the brake shoe side and get exactly what you need
     
  13. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Last edited: Apr 7, 2019
    427 sleeper likes this.
  14. JayChicago
    Joined: Mar 19, 2016
    Posts: 9

    JayChicago
    Member
    from Chicago

    Thank you all for your feedback. Yes, now that I pulled the drums to take pictures, the brake shoes look good, both sides. And yeah, removing the red paint is on my to-do list.

    I got better light in there and re-read the differential tag. I revised my earlier post above. Tonight I will go to the referenced diyford.com site and see if it makes sense now.

    The cast number on the front of the differential still seems to me to read D2SW-C.
     
  15. Ineteresting….

    WEW-C Ford E200 Van '68-'74 3.50 9 in


    Normally a Van has a real sto0pid offset But the D2 casting make sense for just the third member
     
  16. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

  17. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,796

    Marty Strode
    Member

    The axles are out of an 8", you can tell by the depression in the end, and I would guess the backing plates and drums are as well. If you can get an overall width measurement, it should be easy to figure out the original application.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2019
    RICH B likes this.
  18. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,934

    squirrel
    Member

    measure the brake shoes, see what that size shoe was used on, using a site like rockauto.com

    It's likely a mixture of parts.
     
    Rich S. likes this.

  19. I just dealt with that at work.. The center section was from a mustang and the brakes was from a Maverick on this guys roadster…

    Maverick ONLY drums what a mess. According to the work interchange

    I didn't look thru the "bible " yet
     
  20. Yep, it's a mixture of bits, so I'll doubt that you'll find a 'original application'. But there's nothing there that will be hard to find in terms of repair/replacement parts. 9" and 8" 28 spline small bearing axles can be interchanged as long as the brake backing plates follow the axle 'offset'.
     
  21. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Beanscoot
    Member

    "Recently bought a 37 Ford street rod out of an estate sale. No file/paperwork came with the car."

    I'm surprised nobody's said it yet, but maybe don't spend any money or effort on that car until you get it registered (or whatever it's called in your state) in your name.
     
  22. JayChicago
    Joined: Mar 19, 2016
    Posts: 9

    JayChicago
    Member
    from Chicago

    "No file/paperwork came with the car" just means I didn't get any record of the build, no receipts/pictures/notes/etc. that should have stayed with the car. I did get good title, with VIN matching the original serial number stamped in the frame.
     
    classiccarjack and s55mercury66 like this.
  23. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Beanscoot
    Member

    Okay, that's good news.
     
  24. mgtstumpy
    Joined: Jul 20, 2006
    Posts: 9,214

    mgtstumpy
    Member

    As a side issue since that housing doesn't have a filler plug on the rear, check the pumpkin for a filler plug in the side. Had a friend build a 9" for his 32 with similar housing and only realised that the filler plug boss on the pumpkin was blank and hadn't been drilled and tapped for an NPT plug. Just saying, he had to remove an axle to fill with oil. However then he had no way to check the oil level, He later swapped pumpkins over to one with a removable bung so he could check oil levels.
    upload_2019-4-7_15-21-37.png
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2019
  25. Happydaze
    Joined: Aug 21, 2009
    Posts: 1,903

    Happydaze
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Small point, maybe, I don't recall ever seeing or seeing a discussion over the use of pieces of box section as pictured as lowering blocks. Might be susceptible to being crushed. Maybe not. Admittedly it does appear to have a pretty substantial wall thickness, but it is still nevertheless an unsupported rectangle.

    Chris
     
    26Troadster and mgtstumpy like this.
  26. That sure looks like an 9-inch Ford to me. But the easy check is to see if you can get a socket on those lower bolts for the third member. If you can, it's an 8-inch; if you need to use a wrench, it's a 9-inch. In addition, the ribs on the third member also look 9-inch like. 8-inch have a bunch more ribs, at least the ones i am familiar with seeing.

    Concur that it has 8-inch like axles, probably the 28 spline small bearing which are able to interchange with 9-inch small bearing.

    Agree, although those blocks are also really more like spacers since it is spring under and they are functioning as lowering blocks. The main forces are trying to stretch the U-bolts, when a large bump in the road moves the suspension. Given the wall thickness of the blocks vs height, I don;t think it will ever have a problem. Welding caps on the ends would be an easy fix.
     
    Hnstray likes this.
  27. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  28. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,709

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    That tag may not belong to that axle or diff. It may have just been put on due to it having the correct ratio on it. No way that is an 9" out of a van, it looks like a 8" out of a mid sized car. As was stated, the lower two bolts on the chunk can only be taken off with a wrench, not a socket, because the pinion sits lower and blocks those two studs. D2 on the housing is 72, I think Maverick 8", which is a popular swap due to it's width. The chunk could be out of anything, but it is a post 67 model because that is when they changed the drain plug from the housing back, to the carrier chunk.

    I've got a 66 Fairlane rear under my car, it has the plug on the rear of the housing, my chunk came from a 74 Maverick, plug on it, so I have two fill plugs I can use.
     
  29. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,934

    squirrel
    Member

    the shape of the housing (viewed from the rear) is 9", the 8" would look more "square".
     
    Hnstray likes this.
  30. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,136

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    If you would just try and put a socket/ratchet on those lower bolts we could put all the speculation to rest at least as to whether it is an eight inch or nine inch rear.
     
    427 sleeper likes this.

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