Technical 64 Fairlane rear 8 inch narrrowing 1"

Good Morning,
The previous owner narrowed the factory 8 inch in my 64 Fairlane to fit some custom steal smoothie 15x8 deep dish rims. They look very nice however I have purchased some deep-dish Cragar s/s that have a set back spacing that wont work with what I have. I only need to narrow it one inch and I understand I can easily take a 1/2 " of spline off each axle, but I was wondering about the housing? What is the minimum you need to take off the housing to be able to weld new ends on? Or am I better off going to Currie and see if I can recoup any of that price by selling my existing narrowed rear end (housing and axles)? My existing 8" is 52.5" wide axle flange(wheel mount) to axle flange(wheel mount). I need to go to 51.5" to make the Cragar work. The PO said the axles are Dutchman or speedway but I cannot confirm that.

Thanks for looking

 

It's probably simpler to get another housing and have it narrowed to the right size than try to work with something that has been reworked before. Dutchmans is in Boise now but their axles aren't that spendy.
The same shop can probably shorten your axles the required amount if they haven't been heat treated on the splines. If they are heat treated it is rough on lathe bits.

 

Yukon sells cut-to-fit axles. Splines are about 8 or 9 In. long. I used one when I narrowed a 8" for my Model A. I narrowed it enough to center up the center "bulge" of the rearend. 8" axles taper down outboard of the splines so the splines can't be lenghtened... but you probably know that.

Lynn

 

post pics of car & new wheels - using the same tires that are on old wheels?

 

Thanks for the reply's! Going with the same size rim and tires. 15x8 P265/50R15

 

Stock width on a Fairlane IS 52.5" so.........PO didn't narrow it any(unless its an 8.8 or something)
You SURE you can't just roll the inner lip on the rear fenders to get the clearance you need?
I can't see anything worng with just cutting off both axle flanges and then re welding them on. Not gonna warp if you use some sanity while welding. Too short to warp. I would look at the rolling I mentioned...........there's at least a1/2 to 3/4" to be gained on each side.
You DO know how to roll the lips right?!
6sally6

 

I would measure the rear end and check if it has any pinion offset and take all of the cut on one side. Even if it has no offset now, a 1" offset wouldn't change anything. Some factory setups have several inches of offset. A 1/2" cut on each side would be a lot harder than necessary.

 

I understand wanting deep reverse wheels. More is better in my book and I've done a lot to many vehicles to get what I like. That said 1/2" per side isn't much gain for the cost your looking at to start over. Have you thought of going back to the wheel supplier and getting rear wheels with 1/2" less offset and just living with that?

 

I would pull the axles and grease the splines, reinstall them making sure you have enough spline to remove 1/2" without the splines bottoming out. An option is to find another housing and shorten it to the proper length.

 

Did that long ago, sawed both housing ends off, shortened each side 1/2", welded them on as straight as I could, cut the axle ends on a chop saw, put it together, and it worked just fine for many miles.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Stock 8 and 9 inch housings all have a short and a long axle. You cant take an inch out of one side and achieve anything except to fit the tire under one wheelwell, unless you move the spring pads. You can absolutely take a 1/2 inch out of each side but you need a bar and dummy bearings for the carrier and housing ends and probably the assistance of someone who has shortened a housing because the housing end orientation has to be established before you ever cut the ends. We make a longitudinal mark from housing end along housing for about 6-8 inches. Cut the ends off INBOARD of the axle seal location, take your 1/2 inch off the end that you cut, taper the housing and diff end for welding penetration, insert bar/ dummy bearings through housing with ends properly oriented to your scribe marks and tack every 90 degrees. Weld between tacks skipping from front to back with opposing welds until the gap is filled. Repeat on other side. Its a lot of work that requires straight cuts on the housing. I promise you cant weld the ends on straight without a bar, dont even try. I think you need to check your dimensions again. IF you only need a 1/2 inch a side you definitely need to roll the fender and/or flatten the lip rather than try to shorten the housing and axles. To be sure on dimensions, you can remove the entire rear end housings, place your mounted tires/wheels in wheelwell where they need to be, then measure from wheel face to wheel face. That way you know what your housing dimension is flange to flange. That's a lot of work for a 1/2 inch a side. If you take more than 1/2 inch a side off the housing, you may not be able to use your stock axles, because as mentioned earlier the axle tapers outboard of the splines on 28 spline axles and you wont be able to lengthen the splines ( a machine shop operation anyway), so that means you'll have to buy axles. In addition, the outboard forward wheelhouse on Fairlanes, Falcons, Mustangs tapers in and will be where your tire tries to rub in addition to the lip interference.

 

Been shortening 9" rears since '75, have seen some cobbled up stuff. A friend brought me a large bearing 57 rear that had been shortened 1" per side using the stock axles. The axles were ground down at the base of the spline, to avoid any interference. They had around 3/4" long splines, and looked like gears on the ends of the axles. Wish I would have kept them, just for laughs.

 

1/2 , as everyone has told you major work just to loose an inch . WTH , I’d probably do the same if not more to gain an inch , I suppose !

 

Its funny some guys think there way is only one correct way to do stuff. Ive shortened a few rearends & axles in my time. You check the straightness by placing the assembled rear with two matching bare wheels in a Known to be straight H beam. If you have 4 contact points on each rim its straight. However do this place the rear in the H beam before you take it apart. and chuck a axle in a lathe. You will be amazed how far off the factory ones already are. I don't mess with the splines on axles. I turn down the amount I want to shorten near the big end. leaving a 1/2 inch stub. the drill out the hub and bearing end to make it a press fit. Press them together and turn a v groove at the parting line. and weld that groove.

 

I like the rims on it WAY better than Cragars, but it ain't my car.

 

Thanks again for the reply's,

52.5" stock width might be true if you are talking housing flange to housing flange? But not axle flange (wheel mount) to axle flange (wheel mount). I can't seem to find the exact factory specs on this but its obvious what I have and what I have seen before. It is not an 8.8 or a 9 this I know (I'm not that green. I have talked with Currie and they say they have the factory specs for pinion offset (which is close to center) and spring perches, and all they need is wheel mount to wheel mount measurement. I love the reverse offset look .Its in my blood. But Cragar does not have custom back spacing options for these so here I go. Great advice on the grease on the splines! I think I might go for axles and housing and hope the housing and axles I have might work for someone else down the road. I hear you guys. 1/2" on each side for what I want? What can I say? My uncles ran 427 Galaxies back in the day with deep dish Cragars and in my mind its the baddest look ever.

 

Soooo rolling the fender lip is NOT an option?!
Interesting!
6sally6

 

Rolling the fender lip will easily gain 1/2 in per side

 

I apologize. My inner wheel wells are already rolled to clear the rims (very tight) and tires I currently have. The Cragars back spacing are approximately 1/2" different than the steels I have on., thus the need to narrow 1/2" on each side. Seems like a lot of work just to gain the one inch but I couldn't find custom backspace rims that I liked. And the ones I did find the price was almost the same sometimes more.

 

I understand where your going why your doing this. First move is to pull your axles and see just what you have to work with. If they are in fact replacement axles most likely you'll have no problem with spline length. If there's going to be an issue with them I agree with just building a complete new housing unit and selling off what you have. Spend a few extra bucks and have less time down.

 

Thanks Wizzard.
I'm probably stuck with going with Currie because I'm finding out no one close to me has the correct alignment tools to weld new ends on the housing. Hopefully there is someone out there with a 64 that likes the steel deep dish look and they can bolt it in. Rims and all

 

What part of the Country are you in? This housing stuff is pretty standard work for Rod Shops. I will say Currie is a very good choice though.

 

I'm about 3 hours north of Currie in California. Even have a friend that lives about a mile away form them so I hope I can have it hitch a ride we he comes up. I'm close to Pismo Beach CA

 

radius the wheel wells so the tires stick out like we did in the 60's! LOL

 

I have four 64 fairlanes in my hoard. and one 63. We had cut the wheel openings on one to put on bigger tires. It was mostly bondo and screen wire so We didn't give it a second thought.

 

Love those little 63's!! My favorite Fairlane body but MAN! are they narrow. Need to lose the shock towers to swap in almost any engine!
Love to see some pictures along-the-way!
6sally6

 

The 63 is a more door so to me its a parts car. still has the 260 engine. I think I paid $25 for it 27 years ago.

 

Too bad!............(its a more door!) I think its the "T-Bird" style fins that make me sorta smile. Kinda like FoMoCo decided to slip in a car with a set of fins 8 years later..just to see if anyone noticed!
6sally6

 

What's not to like?!! Suhhh-wheeeet!

 

The 62 fairlane had fins also. and a 59 ford had fins too. The 60 had horizontal fins and the 61 galaxie had fins much like the 63 fairlane. I prefer the 64 fairlane it looks like a shrunk galaxie. the 65 fairlane in my opinion was a dam ugly car. the 66 and 67 I liked.