66 Mustang Rear End swap

[Mark66]

What I have is a 66 mustang that I pulled the 200 out of and will be replacing it with a 306. I have a line on a 97 explorer with a 302. My question, would I be able to use the rearend out of the explorer on the Mustang? If I were to do that then could I take the splines off of the front along with the disc brakes on the front as well? Going further, if it has power brakes could I move the master cylinder and booster over? If I could do that then all that I would need is a suspension upgrade. Thanks for your help. Mark

[mustangboy]

I believe the rearend for an Explorer is a lot wider than a stock mustang. Not sure exactly what you mean about front splines, I assume you me spindles. I don't think you are going to find too many things you can swap from an Explorer to the old stang other than the engine and maybe tranny if it is a 2wd Explorer. I'm sure there are some old mustang sites that cover rearend swaps. It may be easiest and cheapest to stay w/ the stock 8in. I believe Moser, Currie or Strange make upgraded parts for those these days. Good luck.

[Mark66]

I think that it is a 7.5. If I can find upgrades for it would I be able to switch over to a five lug pattern?

[bascom123]

You need to find a stock 9 inch from similar year (65-71 i think) rear ends. the offset is different on the newer rear axels. Mustangs of those years had narrower rear ends.

or a good 8 inch, i had an 8 inch in my 66 before i sold it and with stock gears it ran nice on my 289.

9 inch is stronger but more expensive.

[Mark66]

I found some 3.73 and 4.10 gears for a 7.5". It has a 1.8 or a 2.00 in it now (I just turned the driveshaft to figure that out) The price was around $180. That doesn't seem to bad. Will that rear end be ok with my 306. I am not going to be racing it much. More or less just a cruising car. Also, If I keep the rear end thats in it now, will I be able to get a five lug axles for it? I want to somehow change from the 14' tires to like a 16" and want a good selection of wheels.

[mustangboy]

Now I could be mistaken as I am not the most knowledgeable about early stangs but I don't think they came w/ 7.5's. I believe they either had 8in or 9in rears. Look at your rearend and if it has a cover that can be removed from the backside it may be a 7.5 that someone added later. If the back of the rear just looks like a big round smooth pumpkin it probably is a 8". Here is a link to building a nice 8" rear which would easily handle what you plan to do with the car. http://www.mustangmonthly.com/projectbuild/mump_0009_ford_8_inch_rearend_build/index.html

[csastocker]

I am pretty sure the pinion offset is goofy on the ranger. You do have a 7.5 rear end (with the pan on the back). All 6cyl cars had those. The 289 cars had 8" which look like the 9". Only the high end cars (like Shelbys) got the 9" so they are rare and expensive. An 8" would be a cheap way to go. Not too hard to find. I believe the 65-66 rear ends are around 57.75 wide and the 67-70's are 59.75 wide, but they both have the same mounting pad location. A cheap way to go if you want to go with some sn95 style wheels like the bullitts, is to use the later rear end or even an 8.8 out of a fox body and add some perches. Foxes have the same width as the 67-70 mustangs. Change to 5 lug and you are good to go. The only problem with the 8" is the posi's cost a bunch and there are not as many gears to chose from. The 8.8 stuff grows on trees and they are cheap.

Then only spindles you can use are the 65-70 mustang style or you can go with a granada spindle to get your disk brakes. As far as boosters, I have adapted the fox body style boosters over. Not sure what the ranger ones are like.
Just my $.02
Shawn

[recklessop]

my 65 has a 7.5" it had a 200 as well from what ive heard the best option is a ford 9"