SCFFR
11-26-2011, 04:19 AM
First of all, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
I have contacted several local salvage yards in search of a good 94-98 complete rear end for my soon-to-be-delivered MkIV roadster but wasn’t having much luck. Richard at North Racecars had suggested a bare housing to me and it made sense that since I would have to replace the axles and most likely the gears at a minimum, why pay for a complete rear end (the cheapest one I did find was $400). Today, I found a Mustang only salvage yard and picked up a pair of 1995 front spindle assemblies (spindles, hubs, rotors and calipers) for a good price ($200). I was talking to the yard owner about rear ends and mentioned that no matter what year I got, I would have to change out the axles to get the required width. He pointed to a bare Fox body rear end housing that he was prepping for another customer. Since I had money in hand, he let me have it for $100. So, will add a new Ford locking differential and a set of 3.31 gears and then get the axle/brake kit from North Racecars. Should be cheaper to add new parts without having to remove all of the old ones first. Will end up with a rear end with all new parts except the housing.
Now I have just a few questions:
What size socket do I need for the spindle bearing nut? It looks like a 1 3/8" but probably a metric size. It’s an odd looking nut. I guess I expected one with a cotter pin through it.
I assume that the dust shields are not used. Did you grind off the three ears where they were riveted to the spindle or just left them on?
The spindles have ABS rings on them which I will not need. They appear to be pressed on but was wondering the best way to get them off the hubs.
What is the best way to remove the upper arm bushing on the center housing since I won’t be using them with the 3-link setup? I imagine its not an easy procedure.
Finally, are the large brackets on the outer ends of the housing for the OEM shocks? If so, do they need to be removed? Will they interfere with any other parts?
As always, thanks for your feedback.
I have contacted several local salvage yards in search of a good 94-98 complete rear end for my soon-to-be-delivered MkIV roadster but wasn’t having much luck. Richard at North Racecars had suggested a bare housing to me and it made sense that since I would have to replace the axles and most likely the gears at a minimum, why pay for a complete rear end (the cheapest one I did find was $400). Today, I found a Mustang only salvage yard and picked up a pair of 1995 front spindle assemblies (spindles, hubs, rotors and calipers) for a good price ($200). I was talking to the yard owner about rear ends and mentioned that no matter what year I got, I would have to change out the axles to get the required width. He pointed to a bare Fox body rear end housing that he was prepping for another customer. Since I had money in hand, he let me have it for $100. So, will add a new Ford locking differential and a set of 3.31 gears and then get the axle/brake kit from North Racecars. Should be cheaper to add new parts without having to remove all of the old ones first. Will end up with a rear end with all new parts except the housing.
Now I have just a few questions:
What size socket do I need for the spindle bearing nut? It looks like a 1 3/8" but probably a metric size. It’s an odd looking nut. I guess I expected one with a cotter pin through it.
I assume that the dust shields are not used. Did you grind off the three ears where they were riveted to the spindle or just left them on?
The spindles have ABS rings on them which I will not need. They appear to be pressed on but was wondering the best way to get them off the hubs.
What is the best way to remove the upper arm bushing on the center housing since I won’t be using them with the 3-link setup? I imagine its not an easy procedure.
Finally, are the large brackets on the outer ends of the housing for the OEM shocks? If so, do they need to be removed? Will they interfere with any other parts?
As always, thanks for your feedback.