I'm currently attempting a 350 swap for my 54 belair and have been having trouble finding a donor rearend to swap out the closed driveline. I have been told many different rears that will work and almost too many to keep track of. I found a rear out of a 64 F100. 9 inch with 3:55 gears open diff. Will this rear work in my 54?? Sent from my SM-G988U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I think the F1200 rear will be WAY too wide, 10 bolt out of a Nova is what I used,,, yea stop laughing they might exist./ I would go with a 8.8 yea its a ford but you were already to use one anyway,, Mustang, Explorer they are all over the junk yards,,, or order a new 9 inch from Currie $$
55-57 Chevy is the most common swap that I know of for those cars. Guessing anything out an an F100 is way too wide. Needs to be about 60” outside wheel mounting surface to surface if my memory is correct.
I used a rear out of a ‘57 Chevy and it was a very straight forward job to do Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I used a 77 Camaro diff using lowering blocks drilled to center the rear axle. Plenty of clearance. I also have a 4x4 S-10 diff available but have yet to measure the width of the rotors to the frame clearance, looks close. Also, S10’s use metric studs, so either two sets of lug nuts or change out the studs.
Online I got a rebuilt 2WD S-10 rear end, new bearings, 4.10 R&P & posi on my doorstep for $800. Correct width, had the perches welded on and fitted to original style springs. Using a Camaro V/8 5- speed/235 I6 it's Fun to Drive, very pleased with the result. Note; a S-10 4WD rear is 6" too wide. Dyno Dave
My son, ( dual quad 55 ) here on The H.A.M.B. used a 1955-57 Chevrolet rear end in my daughter-in-laws 1954 Chevrolet two-door sedan. He used a Posie's spring kit to make life easier. This spring kit puts the rear end in the proper place, regarding front to rear placement.
Tri 5 Chevy 1st or 2nd gen camaro 4x4 s10 Nova Granada tri five and camaro bolt in S10 is the right length but perches need to be moved nova fits Grenada is correct length no clue on perches I’m sure there’s more, but this is what I know. If you use the stock springs the center pin locator bike needs to be drilled off set a bit to center the wheels in the wheel well
just my opinion but you have 2 choices that will do the trick, both mentioned. 55-64 is practically a bolt in, 61" flange to flange as i recall. If you go HP, then the Explorer 8.8 is the ticket at 60" flange to flange. Prob. here is the offset pinion, but most say its no big deal, just puts the ujoints at the max level. I did the 8.8 on a 40 chev. but did center the pinion by using the short axle off another rear end. Strong, cheap fix with a lot of gear selections.
Yep, did the same thing in my '37, '40 and '46 Chevys. Just drill another centering pin hole in the spring plate and you're ready to go. I have always used the stock springs, if in good condition, and never an issue, even with some HARD street racing.
Hi. Good luck with the T350. I purchased a recent rebuild locally and used a 57 Chevy pickup rear end and had to flip te spring hangers to fit my 45 Chevy coupe. Turned out the 350 had a leak down problem where the converter would begin a leak down if it sat for more than a day and this would cause an overfill in tranny and fluid would seep out the spedo housing fitting. Biggest mistake I ever made and nobody locally has a clue how to fix it. Biggest POS I ever had. Jimmie
Rear end needs to be roughly 60" wide, drum to drum/axle flange to axle flange. Personally, I'd stay away from the S10/Blazer 4 X 4 rears as they have a 7.5/7.5/8" ring gear, and if you get a little abusive with it.............Nova/Camaro or Tri-Five rear ends, unless you don't mind mismatched wheel bolt patterns or having them re-drilled to match. We used a 56 Chevrolet rear end in the 51 Business Coupe, and re-drilled the spring locator pin hole 1-1/2 inches forward, and 1/2 inch inward to re-center the pin so the wheels/tires fit the wheel well. What transmission do you plan on? With the "28" long" transmissions (Powerglide, TH350 w/6" tailhousing, 200-4R) a midsized, 70's, GM driveshaft will fit; with a 9" extension housing TH350, a Tri-Five shaft will work. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
I used a 56 Chevrolet when I did one in 65. Drilled pads to get the wheel centered better. Works great with stock wheel/tire combo..
I have one of a 63/64 Impala rear end waiting to go into my '52, correct length but need to add perches as well as remove all the stock brackets.
55-57 Chev fits great with a simple relocation of the centering pin hole. My 51 Canadian Pontiac (which is the same as a Chev underneath) has been running this setup since 1976. I did have custom ubolts made up.
60/64 F100 nine inch rear is 61-1/4 inches wms to wms. Perfect for my 48 3100 but probably a tad wide for a 54 car unless you plan to run some real ugly wheels that look more like front wheel drive wheels than hot rod wheels. Plus unless you spend a couple hundred bucks changing the bolt pattern you are going to end up running Ford truck 5 on 5-1/2 wheels. It can work but you are going to have to do some head scratching on the wheel and tire choice. One more thing to consider, Wider axle in a car with a very low wheel well opening means that you most likely will have a fight getting some wheels and tires on the rear end at all. Do it wrong and you will be the butt of that tire change on the back of a 54 Chevy story that gets told at a few hot rodders beer and burger sessions. It isn't unknown to have to take the shock loose and put a bottle jack between the frame and axle to get a tire off those with the wrong combo. 55/64 Chevy car is 60 inches wms to wms. First generation Camaro is 60
I used an '83 G-body [mine was a freebie cutlass 10 bolt] in my 50 delivery. It was too narrow for a common offset wheel so I used American torque thrust in 15"X8.5". They have a built in 1.25" positive offset. Even so, I had to "clearance" the inner wheel wells with a BFH in spots and roll the outer lips. Everybody told me the little 7.5" 10 bolt would explode behind my healthy 406 SBC with a 4 speed. The guy I sold the car to blew the transmission but the little 10 bolt survived.
I have a Lincoln Versailles rear end in my 54. This next month I am switching it to a Ford Ranger rear. They are nearly the same width with the 8.8 gears. After 3 years of trying to make brakes work on the Lincoln rear, I am giving up. The Lincoln rear was the hot set up when I started building this car, but it is not today. Trying to get the brakes to work correctly has been the worst mechanical experience I have had in my life time.
8.8 ford with 31 spline axles from an 01 explorer was, if I remember correctly, 1/2” wider than my 50 pontiac. Welded new perches worked perfect. But, not ols school if that is your desire.
The least expensive route would be an S10 rear of width is correct, if you think you might over power the rear, then use the Ranger rear or Explorer, whichever is the best fit width wise. The axles can be redrilled for your bolt pattern, that of course adds to the cost. So those who worry about the 7.5/7.65 rear of the S10, it’s basically the same one used on F-bodies with LT1 engines and maybe even later with the LS1 engines, making 290 HP and above. Yes, the 8.8 is stronger, but do you need it for the additional cost to do the axles?
Wouldn't it depend on what your looking to put under the back , tire size ? I have a 2nd gen Camaro under mine but I have 205/75r15s on OEM steelies & I'm close to the fender , may have to watch if I go up the 215 or wider ( check offsets) . Measure stock rear from backing plate / backing plate , some look like they got 5" between wheel & fender , I'm got about 2"-3" space with Camaro rear . Good luck !
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