UPDATE! My t56 and ford 8.8 swap! FINALLY onto rear swap!

[marcar1993]

Re: My t56 and ford 8.8 swap!

Well I got some work done on the 8.8. Double checked the gear pattern, got it cleaned up and primed, and bought the rubber lines for it and the conversion u joint. The local napa had books and someone who knew how to use them. He looked up the u joints for the 2 cars and then went into a conversion joint catalog, found one joint with both joints in one and I got what I needed, a #355 moog u joint fits the stock 87 cutlass shaft and the 90's mustang flange piece according to the book.

Gotta get some maintenance work done on the wagon, then I'll swap them for working garage and storage garage, get some paint on this thing and make some lines, then put it in maybe. Just up in the air though, I picked up a set of mopar steelies with the 5x4.5 pattern, but I'm thinking of picking up this:

http://www.rottenleonard.com/Menu.html

and redrilling it for the gm pattern, I'm just unsure if the stock wheels will fit with the backspacing and the wider rear... I'd rather have the same bolt pattern all the way around.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Re: UPDATE! My t56 and ford 8.8 swap! FINALLY onto rear swap

Nice looking project you have going. I've always wondered about that 8.8 swap since they're more plentiful than 8.5's.

 

[marcar1993]

So last week I FINALLY ACTUALLY put the 8.8 in. The whole ordeal could have been a one day job. I must first say thank you to Trick Chassis. 2 years and then some after ordering their kit, I called them when I went to install and realized they sent me 2 passenger control arm buckets... he had the new one shipped that day, no questions asked.

Anyway, so the meat and potatoes of the swap. I took my driveshaft from the 7.5" 10 bolt out, removed the u joint, installed the Moog 355 u joint and then the factory ford pinion flange piece on the other cross of the shaft. Bolts right in then, length is just about the same, so no need to mod the driveshaft again.

The new buckets went in, and I made up small spacers to put in the factory control arm holes, as I first crushed the damn frame and bucket there from lack of support... Make sure you put in some pipe or something to tighten against. Then I drilled a hole up through the bottom of the frame and installed a 5/16" grade 8 bolt perpendicular to the stock control arm bolt to hold the bucket in from rotating.

I then removed the factory rear sway bar, the stock lower arms pushed in slightly to line up with the lower arm brackets on the rear. I added 5 fender washers in the axle side lower control arm mount to make up the small width difference. Unfortunately I do not see how I could reuse the stock sway bar, as it is now about 1-2" too wide to fit between the arms.

The upper arms with heim joints and spherical joints in the housing ears were still a bit of a b1tch to get in due to the angle. I put them in the second up from the bottom set of holes in the frame brackets, took a little tapping and tweaking to get them in. Then fought with the rear to get the bolts through the housing ears... I'm pretty close on pinion angle and instant center, but I do think I need to do one turn of adjustment for the pinion angle as its got a slight vibe at highway speeds (not exactly looking forward to that fight getting the bolts back in.)

For brakes I used stock 94 mustang caliper lines, then made up new hard lines from the calipers to the stock g body center rubber line. I made a small ~1" tall bracket to raise the mount for the split block/rubber line in the center, and then bled it all out. (2 new calipers later, the originals I had were both frozen and refused to bleed.)

Shocks are stock g body shocks I already had in there, I don't care for the angle they're on now, though they do still work... I might do something about it eventually, but for now they are hooked up, just twisting the bushing some.

I have a set of steel mopar 14" wheels I planned to put my tires and hub caps on, but the 14's just touch the caliper and won't slide on. I threw on a set of 16" jeep wheels that are actually my gf's. They fit pretty well and work for now. (235/65R16 I believe) I plan to look into possible shaving the caliper the few millimeters I need to fit 14's.

And I finished it not a moment too soon. This week my mcleod hydraulic throwout bearing failed (for the second time, though they have covered it both times), so I pulled the trans, and then the motor too, as I have been building a 403 for the car. Might as well do it all at once, so now it sits as a roller after a few short test drives on the rear.

 

[marcar1993]

Oh, and it looks like my factory e brake cables will work, but I need to fab up a mount for them since the engagement portion of the cable (the spring covered part) is much longer than the mustang ones. Just need the mount to be further from the e brake lever on the caliper than the stock ford one.

 

[awdblazer]

wow that seems easy!!!

 

[olds307 and 403]

Awesome you got the 8.8 rear in! Hopefully you can find a solution for your hydraulic clutch issues.

 

[marcar1993]

Thanks, and yes, I have to say it was pretty easy. Almost wish I had done it sooner, but I feared the worst and didn't want to take it apart until I had ample time to play with it if needed. Thankfully it only took a few hours one day, then a few days waiting for the bucket to be shipped, then a few more hours. If it weren't for having the wrong bucket, it would have been a solid day project.

As for the clutch, today I received my brand new throwout bearing. I'm hoping this one will last longer, but I suppose only time will tell. Now I think I have everything to put it all back together and get it running.

 

[LS WAGON]

congrats on the 8.8 swap! I also done the 8.8 swap and was lucky enough to find a Mustang GT with a 3.73 posi. Only regret I have is I should have done disc brake conversion. Although I did do the Moser 5 lug axle swap. I too used Trick Chassis for the upper & lower control arms and as you said very good product. Almost like fomoco was thinking of us g-body guys when they designed that diff.

 

[marcar1993]

Well after chasing a driveline vibe which probably is due to an axle issue, I'm throwing in the towel on the 8.8. I put in adjustable lower arms to mess with pinion angle, and its perfect, but still vibrating at highway speeds. It still needs to be narrowed, new axles, upgraded carrier, and for what? I picked up an open 8.5 diff for $450 and I'm going to build that and put it in.

 

[Streetbu]

It's not worth dorking around with anything else than a GN 8.5" Bolt it in and be done with it. I bought mine from out of state, non-posi. Drove 5 hours one way, turned around and came home. I stole it for $250 though 😀 Then installed a Detroit Tru-Trac gear carrier. Loved it ever since!