Well after much thought and gas money spent, I have decided to go a different route on my fb. Problem one is axles bending to often, problem two is the ratio is to low for my liking. So after consulting with Blake Qually at Pineapple Racing and Jeff Clark at Jeff's Auto, I have come up with Plan B. Ford nine inch with a 3.80 gear ratio, i figured this would solve all my problems plus add much need weight to the rear of the car, What do you thinK?

Just kidding I make a little joke. Plan B is an 84-85 GSL housing with the larger axles. Also I will be running a rebuilt posi 4.08 SE center section. I got the new bearing pressed on earlier this week and assembled the rear end. I am hoping this ratio will be a little more street friendly then the 4.44's. also the 4.08's will nearly match up with a T2 driveline and get my speedo back on track.... Anyways that is what i have been upto. There always seems to be one more project to go before i get to the FMIC

 

i like the ford better.

 

Yea if i was looking to bastardized my car the rest of the way, I probably go that route. But its my daily driver for the next 3-6 months. Can't have it on blocks any longer than necessary.

 

Shoot man, you can run .488s on the street. I was using a GSL-SE gear box for the nice 5th gear ratio. CJ

 

well fix the hood///////


ha ha ha ha

 

Wrx-7

 

If i remenber right there used to be a black, white, yellow first gen running around with a hood scoop,, Just trying to be cool like the honda kiddies.

 

yeah. then he put some stupid vents in it and changed the color. kids these days!

 

got it painted eh does the angle iron blend in pretty well now?

 

Just so there is no confusion, please let it be known that what you are doing is contrary to my advice. The "large" axle rear ends are not stronger than the "small" axle kind because the housings are weaker. It is the housing that prevent bending loads on the axles...the kind you get when drag racing, for example.

If you are having the same problem repeatedly, it is likely that your current housing itself is bent, so any change in rear end will "solve" the problem for a while. But, if you want to get serious, you need to reinforce the axle housing.

Here is a picture of my reinforced 83 (small axle) housing, which took repeated 9K RPM launches with wrinkle wall slicks, driven by a peripheral port 13B.





If there is enough demand, I would consider making some nice ready-to-weld-on axle reinforcements as a kit...

 

Thats true that is exactly what you said. I did weld a piece of angle iron from spring perch to spring perch over the top of the center housing. I put a bunch of kerf cuts in it to conform to the shape of the axle housing. I know it is not as good as a piece fitted to the back as in your example, but I dont have a full shop..

I would surely buy a piece of channel fitted for the back of the housing.
So i did follow your advice, just not exactly the same way.

BTW. Why extactly are the larger housings weaker? When i had both rear ends side by side the only difference I could see is the ends of the houjsings are quite a bit bigger for the 84-85 models I did not measure it or anything, but to the layman they appear identical save the bearing races.
Thanks Chris.

 

It's just the gauge of the wall.

 

Ah okay. I don't care if it's pretty; just that you did something to strengthen the housing. From your earlier post, it sounded like you just went with the bigger axles as the only measure. One thing to be careful of, however, is that your welding did not distort the housing. I usually pre-heat the housing with an acetylene torch and then stitch weld with lots of time for cooling. The problem with a piece of angle trussed in that manner is that it will expand and contract along it's length as it heats and cools, bending the housing one way or the other. You're probably okay, but if you continue to have problems let me know.

 

just about done

 

[QUOTE=Blake]Ah okay. I don't care if it's pretty; just that you did something to strengthen the housing. From your earlier post, it sounded like you just went with the bigger axles as the only measure. One thing to be careful of, however, is that your welding did not distort the housing. I usually pre-heat the housing with an acetylene torch and then stitch weld with lots of time for cooling. The problem with a piece of angle trussed in that manner is that it will expand and contract along it's length as it heats and cools, bending the housing one way or the other. You're probably okay, but if you continue to have problems let me know.[/QUOT

Thanks, that is what i did I tacked down the ends, and quench each area as I welded with wet rags, No weld was more than one inch long, and just took my time and spread the welds arounds. I hope this is the end of my problem. There is still room to weld one of your braces on the back of the housing, now if i could just get 24 more people to sign on
Thanks
Chris

 

Quenching is not always a good way to prevent deformation. First, if quenched quickly it promotes the formation of Martensite (reaching waaaay back in my Engineering/Metalurgy education!) which is much harder and more brittle that you will want a housing to be. Secondly, I THINK I remember quenching welds as being something that can propagate stress crack from the uneven contraction in the heated metal. One of the traditional ways to straighten (or bend) a housing is to heat one side, which then contracts more than it expanded and stress curves the metal. Attaching welds to one side may do this which is probably why Blake preheats before welding.

 

Good luck on the swap. But I have to admit I plan on blowing my rear end up and then moving to a ford 8.8. You were right in your first thread there is no betterway for high hp. Downside is weight

 

I read in a thread that at least the ford 9 inch robs upwards of 40 rwhp, seems like a lot. When i have to start moding my car that much maybe its time for a different platform to start with.

 

*cough*3rd gen *cough*

 

9" rear ends sucks anyway, 8.8 is way better

 

ha interesting...I have never heard that. Guess I will have to produce a little more hp then

 

I think there is a guy in Portland (who I bought my 7 from) that has a Kaaz unit. When I bought my 7 he said he would sell it to me for an additional $200... If only I would have known how much it was worth! Maybe he still has it...If only I could remeber his forum handle.