I just read through this thread today. I like the approach & thought taken on the mods so I'll keep watching for updates. Curious.... What was the savings cost of modding the rear housing vs ordering say a new 9" from them? If you don't wish to post the numbers, no problem....
BUILD THREAD Midlife Crisis Monte Carlo Build
- Thread starter tokarz1
- Start date
Wow, looks like a nice build! Don't know how I missed this one. Keep the updates coming!
Have you found spherical bearings to fit the Crown Vic housing? They are larger that the Mustang and the 64-88 A/G bodies. I was going to machine sleeves for the upper ears on my housing and tack weld them in place and use the commonly available ones for the 64-88 A/G bodies.
Hi, the cost savings for me is around $500 so far and I expect it to be a bit more. The 9" center sections are quite pricey. The 8.8 differentials are very plentiful even in limited slip be it used or new. I am sure you know but the Ford 8.8 is pretty much a carbon copy of the GM 12 bolt. There is more to the story but that's it in a nutshell.
Hi, I have been down that road in the beginning. There needs to be a sleeve approximately 1/4 between the mustang 8.8 spherical bushing and the 8.8 crown vic upper ear housing. I have the exact measurements somewhere. I have not searched for crown vic specific bushings as I planned to have a sleeve installed and then the spherical bushing screwed on. I talked with a few people about this and they all said it would not be an issue especially since the spherical bushings get bolted on and not pressed in.
I was also thinking of just installing new crown vic rubber bushings and putting the spherical on the other end. Still undecided on this...
I have a source for sleeves. I'll post the source once I have it in my hand. But my plan is to get a sleeve and machine it to a tight fit in the housing ears and then tack weld it with nickle rod to retain them. Sleeve could be done to step it down to the 64-88 A/G body sized bushing OD or the 79-04 Ford Fox/SN sizes. I think I'm going to stick with the A/G body size.
Another detail to be attended to is the bolt size where the lower control arm mounts to the axle brackets.
The Crown Vic uses 14mm bolts. Stock 78-88 A/G body bolts are 12mm.
I am going to make some shoulder washers to step the holes down to the 12mm size.
I wanted to comment on the price difference between 8.8 parts and other rears is dramatic.
I collected everything I needed brand new.
My 31 spline Cobra spec Traction lock was $250 shipped to my door
My Ford Racing ring and pinion set was $130 also shipped to me door.
Bearing and shim kits were well under $75
Axles and axle bearings are same price as other rears.
I just liked the wide availability of inexpensive new parts.
I collected everything I needed brand new.
My 31 spline Cobra spec Traction lock was $250 shipped to my door
My Ford Racing ring and pinion set was $130 also shipped to me door.
Bearing and shim kits were well under $75
Axles and axle bearings are same price as other rears.
I just liked the wide availability of inexpensive new parts.
Nice! I would like to grab some of that stuff. Here are the measurements I have....
Fox Body 8.8 Bushings
Outer Diameter -
45.46mm
1" 51/64
1.790"
Crown Victoria 8.8 Bushings
Outer Diameter -
52.578mm
2" 1/16
2.07"
Does anyone have the upper control arm bushing housing bore measurement off of a 64-88 GM A/G body. I need the bore measurement along with the thickness of the ear on the housing.
