I've got a late 70's Ford 9" rear end and have the third member out of the housing. I'm trying to get it taken apart and rebuilt with new bearings and clutches. Can anyone give me a good estimate of the time evolved for to do this. I've gotten quotes from 2-6 hrs labor. At $100.00 an hr. there's a big difference.
No way someone can completely disassemble a 9" , clean all parts, r&r all the bearings, go inside a Trac-lock set up , and re-adjust pinion depth and back lash, in 2 hours. If I had to pay $100 per, I'd learn to do it myself. They are about the easiest rears to do. I did my first one when I was 19. Does that help?
I started with a 12 bolt when I was 16, then another when I was 19, and didn't get to mess with the Ford rear until I opened my shop. But now I can do one pretty quick. If you have a press already, you need a bearing separator, dial indicator and magnet, a couple torque wrenches, and maybe some hand tools you might or might not have. And a way to clean parts. And possibly make a few little tools to help, like something to hold the case firmly, and maybe some tubes to press bearings on without damaging them, and something to hold the yoke still while you torque the nut.
Was recommended to a shop in Portland who does rear ends all the time and quoted 3 hours plus parts. They did all of a friends corvette rear ends for him. While I have a press , dial indicators and torque wrenches, I don't really have the time because of several other projects. I think I'll use them, thanks
I used Paden drivetrain in Portland. They rocked. It was cheaper than the tools to set up my 10 bolt. they also had it done sooner that what they said.
Dutchman in N.E. Portland narrowed a 9in. in my '36 coupe for me several years ago. Good, family owned firm. They do it all; mild to wild.
i've been told this is a good piece to have to set up a rear. https://www.amazon.com/Richmond-Gea...509852326&sr=1-1&keywords=richmond+gear+video
For the WA folks, if you can convince him to do it, Scribner Welding in Kent is who did a 12 bolt for me. I think he'd rather work on the 9" stuff than the gimpy GM diffs. Bill is his name. 253-852-6088
Not to hijack the thread, but since the OP apparently got the info he was looking for, I'll add some further "what's a 9" cost?" info. About 2 years ago I was looking for someone to rebuild and modify the 9" in my '57 I was building for cruising, not racing. Narrowing the case was the problem I was having finding someone experienced. I was looking for someone heavily experienced, not just a shop that had "done one before". In the beginning of my search I was having no luck as I was asking the local street rodders for recommendations, then someone on the Hamb recommended I ask the racing crowd in Amarillo, and it wasn't long before I found a shop called Sinister Racecraft, right here in Amarillo. Before I found him I had talked with shops in Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Dallas and got quotes of 1700. thru 2300. As soon as I walked into the Sinister Racecraft shop, I knew I found what I was looking for as this guy builds racing cars from the ground up, so narrowing a 9" was no big deal for him. I should emphasize they built mine for cruising, as he told me he normally would use different racing components that were not necesary with my low 300hp ot drivetrain. Anyway, he narrowed the case 3/4 per side, changing to late big bearings, new 3:50 gears, Yukon trac loc, 31 spline axles, and changing to a taller yoke to suit my (1" too short aluminum) driveshaft. Cost was right at 2000. The only problem I have had with it was my mistake when I initially used a sythetic gear oil instaed of conventional with an additive. The synthetic was causing a little noise that changing to conventional immediately eliminated.. 14000 miles later, I'm still a happy camper.
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