X2 All I did was buy the 12 bolt swap kit with the adjustable upper and boxed lower control arms from UMI Performance.......Iceman racing also makes a conversion , but cheaper then UMI......I liked UMI's Powder coating 🙂lostsheep said:
Rear end Options? stock 7.5? 8.5? ford 8.8?
- Thread starter thedoctorisin
- Start date
- Status
He's the same as Pitqueen on E-Bay...........But if you go to Maliburacing.com he's one of their advertisers.as soon as you log on you'll see the ad/link
well if you can do the fab work, get a 8.5in GM rear from a leaf spring car. IIRC moser sells a kit with the mounts.
Well, I'll run that route if/when my 7.5 goes. What if I had adjustable links as opposed to the stock stamped steel ones? Would I still need to get the conversion kit?... I just helped my buddy build some adjustable links for his off-road jeep and was thinking about making some. It wasn't all too difficult.
i bought my 9" housing from Quick Performance and it fits better than the 7.5 just make sure you get good axles (not a turned down 31 spline axle that wasnt reheat treated..... they break) and as far as changing gear they are the ultimate. and you can always get the disk brake brackets and calipers off a lincoln.
ModernMuscleHead
Not-quite-so-new-guy
I have a 8.5 GN rear in my 78 Malibu but If you're not making over 350 hp at the wheels I wouldn't bother swapping out the 7.5. I wish I'd known more when I did mine because the 8.5's are expensive especially with a posi unit. You can get the carrier from an F-body and if it came from a 6 speed car it will have 3.42 gears in it. I just went to the strip with some friends a week ago and one guy had an LS1 Formula on MT ET streets and an automatic trans with a loose converter. He had the stock 7.5 rear with stock 3.23 gears and ran a best ET of 12.76 and it was 88 degrees and humid. I had another friend with a LT1 Trans Am 6 speed car with a spec stage 3 clutch. He made 7 passes on ET Streets leaving at 4000 rpms and he had 7.5 with 4.10 gears and a girdle. He ran a best of 12.71 but when he tried to launch on a 100 shot he broke the rear bad. His car makes about 400 at the wheels and he beat the crap out of it without an issue until he launched on the spray. I think that the 8.8's the 8.5, the 12 bolt, the 9 inch, the Dana are all overrated unless you're making a whole lot more power than a pretty much stock LT1 makes and if you're running big sticky tires. If you're running a big block or a real nasty small block like I said with over 350 RWHP then you should look into something else if not I would run the 7.5 with a girdle.
do the 8.8. use the one from the mustang fox body or newer ones. newer ones have 5 lug and disc brakes. i just did this swap in my cutlass and will never look at another gm rear. the swap is pretty straight forward if you are handy with a welder cut off 7.5 lower control arm brackets and spring perches and weld on 8.8. used mustang adjustable upper control arms and a conversion u joint. driveshaft length is the same with the ford flange. now let me sum up my reasoning for this swap: 1) 7.5 is weak hands down no matter what anyone says broke 2 with stock 305. 2) 8.5 are expensive 800-900 range 3) ford 9 in is a great rear probably the best used this in my astre racecar making close to 1000hp, but this rear is very heavy duty and take robs a good deal of power. ok so this bring us to the 8.8. the 8.8 is a very strong rear and it light which means more power to through around very close to g body width mine with drum brakes and poney wheels has 1in inside and about 3 outside plenty of room for the 275 rear tire coming soon. sorry for the rant but just tring to save you some money. i got about 400 in my whole rear swap 150 for rear, 85 for adj uppers some gear lube and wheels and tires READ MY POST ON THE INSTALL
- Status
Similar threads
