How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes (Write-Up)

[67rstbkt]

Re: How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes

Some Important Notes on the LS1 Brake setup

* Using this setup, you will have to use the F-body backing plate as not only a backing plate, but the axle retainer. This will add some extra challenge as the bearing setup on a Ford 9" is no joke. I ordered my axles without the bearings pressed on, but they messed up and pressed them on anyways. They were real good about it and sent me out another set free of charge. No one in town was willing to "unpress" the bearing and retainer - all the shops told me the bearings would be damaged - so I had to cut them off. Pressing them on also requires a lot of force. I twisted my 12 ton press into a pretzel. Luckily, I have a good friend with access to a 25 ton or so press at work.

* So to recap - order the axles minus the bearing and bearing retainer pressed on. Backing plate first, then press the bearing and retainer in place.

* It might also be useful to slightly enlarge the opening on an old bearing for mockup. That's what I ended up doing to check and re-check fitment.

 

[67rstbkt]

Re: How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes

Cost Breakdown (approximate):

*Used Ford 9" housing: open carrier, wrong gear set, and obviously too wide, but it was a 31 spline unit - Free? OK, maybe we'll say $100 because the home gym I traded was probably worth about that
*New Housing ends (Moser): $100 (Absolutely required unless you are using the Ford brakes)
*Detroit Tru-Trac Diff, slightly used (e-bay): $270
*Summit Racing 4:11 gear set: $160
*New axle set from Quick Performance (31 spline extreme series): $300
*Ring and Pinion install kit: $100
*Brake setup, used LS1, no calipers: $150-200
*Machine work to fit backing plates on standard Big Ford 9 housing ends: $120
*Welding on brackets and housing ends: $100
*New Rotors: $100
*Brake pads: $50

So grand total is $1600 (probably closer to $1700-ish adding in shipping), and not including the 4 link I installed while doing this.
That's about the cheapest I think I could have built this for (could have saved the $120 on the machine work if I used Moser's flush housing ends). I was not in a rush, looking for deals when they came up. For comparison, I could have purchased a correct length housing and axles for just under $1000. I would still have needed the brakes, gears, and center section however. Add everything up, and if I went this route I would have spent closer to about $2000 total. So I did save a few hundred by doing it myself. Was it worth it? You decide - for me, this will most likely be both my first and last time narrowing a Ford 9" - I would have been able to apply all the time I spent on this little project to something else on my car, like bodywork and paint 😀

 

[67rstbkt]

Re: How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes

More pics:

 

[L.A.X-RATED]

Re: How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes

great breakdown! MUCH apreciateted 8)love the hose clamp :idea: when i get around to this(which will be a LONG time s ALL my ends are going towards coverting ALL my gbodies(5) from 1 gen sbc's to 3rd gen ls engines )this info/writeup will definetly come in handy,THANKS!!!

 

[67rstbkt]

Re: How to: Narrow a 9" and add LS1 brakes

great breakdown! MUCH apreciateted 8)love the hose clamp :idea: when i get around to this(which will be a LONG time s ALL my ends are going towards coverting ALL my gbodies(5) from 1 gen sbc's to 3rd gen ls engines )this info/writeup will definetly come in handy,THANKS!!!

No problem, glad to do it - there's a ton of info out there on narrowing a Ford 9 and installing Ls-1 brakes, but not much that I could find on installing Ls-1 brakes on a Ford 9. I figured I could save someone the hassle and extra cash I spent on machining the backing plates for the brakes to work. 8)
G-body LS-1 conversion is definitely on my to do list. I'd really like to get an 87 Cutlass or Regal at some point, just really need to finish this one up first.