Hot Rods 9" Rear Have the Right Look?

Have the whole rear set up for my project. It came with the project. Bought what I think is theright motor 331 Caddy and getting a 37 Buick tranny. Now I'm second guessing using a 9" rear. Not sure I'll get the "look". Trying to get it to look like a Bonneville / Rolling Bones style.

What do you think

Have a 57 Ford rear shortened and redone by Currie
buggy spring
SoCal ladder bars

 

Well I think that they ran @ B-ville in '57 if that helps.

 

Guess you have a point Beaner

 

Them guys build a nice car but the sun doesn't rise and set at their command. I actually have an article about a hemi powered car that they built in "their style" that is painted and has a Ford rear if that helps. They even let the guy caravan with them.

 

Really.................. I guess a Hot Rod is what you want it to be

 

It is probably going to sit so low no one will know.

 

That rear is traditional with the WWI helmut back cover. I would not let Currie touch it. Find a local drag race fabrication shop, they'll have the alignment jigs to do it proper and they will work with you about welding the brackets etc in place. You have to have all the bracketry located on the housing befor the ends are welded. Once the ends are welded then you will warp the axle tubes if you weld shock mounts etc. Currie will want to make a buck on this, they'll nail the housing ends and ship it out without the slightest concern for you or your hot rod. I have at least three currie housings come thru my shop that i have had to redo because they are just filling an order and could give a rats ass if it is what you really need or not.
Check with local drag racers, walk thru the staging lanes when the quicker cars run and ask them who to get the work done by. They will give you the straight up advice.
You notice that i also do that type of work and i am not offering to do it for you because to do it right the rear has to be done right along with the car. It can't be done with longdistance phone calls and scribbles on piece of paper, ok?

 

That and the simple fact that 57 Ford nine inch rear ends have been put under hot rods ever since the first batch of 57 Fords got wrecked and went to the wrecking yards. Probably not long after the mechanics at the Ford garage who were hot rodders had one on the hoist and studied it a bit.

Dead nuts reliable and the simple fact that repair parts are readily available at most real parts houses and if you did blow the ring and pinion you can usually find a third member that will get you home without much hassle.

And you have it and don't have to lay out a lot of extra cash to get it going is a major factor.

 

I think it is already set up from the way it is described in this thread and another.

Hey if you must go quicky I have a line on an open octagon axle quicky up in New England. It is just the center and you would have to fab axles (no biggy they are just steel octagon stock) and come up with a pair of roundy round ends also no biggy I think the fella is into old roundy rond stuff. It is a tuff rear made to take a real beating and it is inexpensive. I'll never get it if you want the info, too heavy and too far to ship for me.

It would be way cool under a highboy, everyone behind could see the axles spinning when you were going down the road.

 

Yes the rear is set up and just needs to be assembled and attached

 

Yep, that's what I read. The rear end is already set up and already has pretty much the same setup that I plan to use under my Model A.

His whole dilemma centers around the simple will the mouthbreathing hoard think a nine inch is traditional enough and cool enough or should I replace it with what the other guys think is the must have cool rearend to please them?

I'd say that dead nuts reliable and the ability to swap out third members and gear ratios easily is pretty damned cool in it's own right.

 

What Mr48chev said for sure!

When I got my car it came with an open ended stock 55 chevy rear end. The rear end that had been in there before had been one of those olds possi units that I didn't get when the car came to Canada.

When I was deciding on a rear end I put a nine inch right away because they are super reliable and the parts are available if I need them and I am far from home. In my opinon they also looks period correct because I used an earily model 9 inch housing that resembles the olds rear end in its shape. I say use what you got man.
J

 

If I had a 10-spot for all the rear axles I've done...

This not 100% "gospel" oj. It takes a real dumbass to warp an axle tube. They're out there, make no mistake about it, but I've never seen an axle tube warp by welding a braket to it. It's easy to overthink things, but a rear axle is probably the most "digestive" part in the car. That thing will make mush out of lots of stuff. It's also very forgiving and keeping things straight is far from rocket science. Axles can be off by a 16th and you'd never know it. I agree that straight and true are where it's at and that a solid rod with a couple pucks makes life easy. Unless it's some el-cheapo housing tube that's like 1/8 wall, weld on brother. If a squirt gun warps it, it's not worth having under a car. CLEARLY not able to handle the launch of a 3000# hot rod either

Just sayin bro...

 

Well, here is one i fixed Friday, it is a 12bolt bolt that some guy stuck under a '56 and welded the pads in place. The one side is ok but he lingered on the other other side and the pics tell the tale:
the 1st pic is the warped end, rewelded. Look at the alignment of the end compared to the tube, it is out of alignement by over a hundred thou. It is ugly but now deadnuts straight and the tires will track true.
The other pics show how the alignement jig works, the carrier bearings are replaced by machined spacers, the alignement bars is H11 tool steel, 1.440 diameter. I have machined adaptors for most axle ends, the one for this axle i had to make. The ends get welded true to the carrier bearings, not the axle tubes.

Highlander, i know your standards of workmanship, the original rear would not have been acceptable to you. You have to remember, i am a crusty skeptic because all that ever comes into my shop is junk and needs to be fixed badly. That is why it is here.

 

Gezz wish we could command the sun but would rather be able to control the out come of the election. Trouble is like most politicians who say things and don't know what they are talking about you don't either. Every hot rod we have built has a v/8 quick change and the only one so far with a hemi is Dennis Varni's tudor which also has one of those dreadful patina'd paint jobs.

 

The first hot rod rear end that I learned about was the Pontiac/Olds rear. It was state of the art gasser rear. The 9" was readily available at that time but in my memory it was not the hot lick for a gasser as the Olds rear. My shaky memory doesn't see the 9" Ford as the big option until it earned it's stripes in the NASCAR community.

Personally I think the 9" would be an excellent choice but I'd be looking for an Olds rear to narrow just because it was the choice of champions in my youth. A lot harder to find and less gear ratio options and probably more expensive to build due to it's rarity but to me an Olds rear was the bomb back then.

 

Paul, I'm not sure how correct you want your entire car to be, as this is your first old-time build...

You maybe should put up a pic of the modern round tube X member in the frame, as well as the type of rear spring crossmember that is in the frame now.


What I am getting at, is do you want the whole underside to be old time, or can you settle for some modern looking structure under there? I've noticed that very few people at our shows out here, ever bother to look that far under the car to see the middle of the chassis.



Since Rolling Bones 1A is here, you might get some install tips on the QC after they see what rear crossmember you have.. by the way, I'd tell your body guy to hold off on putting the rear floor in, until you decide on maybe doing a QC.


Edit: ...and add some pics of your old rear trailing arms, as it sounds like they are 35/36

 

Frank,
The rear cross member is a flattened 32 cross member. And yes the floor will be after I'm sure what rear. the K member is the tubular type.I probably misunderstood what you had asked me.

If the axle ends up to be the only thing that is not old time.I'll save forthe right set up and sell all this stuff to help fund the build

 

I have a champ quickchange center and some gears in excellent condition just the center no bells or axles if anyone is interested i will sell or swap..


Paul the ford will be fine and IMO right up your alley for what you wnat to do with hte car whats the with on it? I have a Bronco rear aswell was going to put it ion my car but then i seen the light.... We`ll talk more next week. DOnt make quick decisions and DO WHAT YOU want dont let someonelse f it up on ya

 

Like I said, they're surely out there. Like everything else, logic and common sense is getting lost on some hot rods these days. It's one thing to talk the talk, but very few of us simply walk the walk without talking at all. In my cobwebbed memory, the most common rear axle that came to me with mouthbreather syndrome was a GM, either 10 or 12bolt. Yet I did also have to fix a Dana 60 once. Heavy duty is an understatement reagrding the Dana, but Imagine my surprise to find the housing ends off by 3/16 on one side and a bit over 1/4 on the other...IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS That afternoon the ol hillbilly I fixed it for handed me another $50 at the track. "That ol bitch is leavin straight now by golly! Here, take that, and thanks again!"

Some guys could fuck up free lunch.

On topic, I've noticed over the last several years that a QC has to be standard equipment now. In the mags they're almost common. Sorta like holes in everything combined with bomber seats. Just sayin...

 

So far we don't know the "Built As" date of the car in question. My '30 Roadster wiil be built as I would have in 1962 if I had the parts and skills at that time. No 1963 bits or pieces, I want it to be a 1962 time warp, I'm planning to run a Ford 9 inch in it, just need an early housing. Bob

 

Bob, some of the new 9" housings are round-backed like the oldies. They're also pretty afforable and come without rust pits and worn housing ends. Just sayin...

 

Keep that 57 under it man, its traditional as all get out. Plus it looks cool and you'll never break it.

 

I don't recall the guys name but he has an early '30s dodge coupe, hemi powered and its red. The article claims that it is one of yours and that he has caravaned to B-ville with you once or twice. I am thinking it must be in a Hot Rod from the last couple of years they are the ones currently donating magazines to my thinking room. Your beef is not with me it is with the magazine that published the article.

It should be noted that I did not insult you or your style. If we must hurl insults if you can learn what I have forgotten you will do well.

 

Ha beaner you just love that article for that guy's hat

 

Wow! Sounds like political mudslinging and bullshit stories. Thank God the election is next week then it'll all be over!

 

If I could just be president for one term. The parties we could throw, I mean talk about a club house.

 

Cool!

Beaner gets my vote!

Uh, that is if the government is buying the beer.

 

At least it would cost less that the current one. Vote!

 

I think you may be referring to my 33 Plymouth Coupe (HRM June 2010). I caravanned with the Bones in 2009, but the car is all owner-built in Maryland (and has a Ford 9-inch rear).

Jim Ireland, AKA Irish Jr.