Explorer 8.8" rear into a '65 stang, disc brakes and all

[bmxmon]

Well I figure I should start a thread showing how to swap an 8.8" explorer rear into a '65 mustang. It's not done yet and I still have a lot of work to go.

I did mock it up though and I believe it should work well. Figuring out the master cylinder and brake lines will be the hardest part.

These rear ends are pretty cool for how cheap you can pick them up. I paid $150 for mine. It has 3.73 gears, limited slip, 31 spline axles and disc brakes. With my mach1 rims it should fit perfectly too! This rear wouldn't work if you were using stock style (Backspacing and rim size) wheels. Anyway here are some pics.



As I bought it. Lots of brackets to be cut off.



Most of the brackets cut off. I decided to leave the ones on the far ends, as they shouldn't interfere with anything and would have been a major pain to cut off.

It probably took two hours of work to get all the other brackets off. I did end up grinding into the axle tube slightly, which I took my welder to and filled back in.



My old rear with the wheel spacers vs. my new rear. I will be getting the new one blasted this week, along with ordered new rotors and pads. It should be looking pretty sweet by that point.



I highly suggest having two people for this. It was a huge PITA. I was sore for several days after. The 8.8" weights more than the old 8" by a good amount.



I ordered jegs universal leaf spring brackets. They are designed for 3" axle tubes. The 8.8" has 3.25 tubes (I believe that's what they are) so I had to grind the mounts out a bit.

I measured from the back of the braking plate to the outside of the leaf springs to center the axle to prevent either of the tires from sticking out farther than the other. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of this, but the wheels were sitting nicely within the quarter panel.

I then set the pinion angle to approximately what the old one was and tack welded the brackets to the axle tubes.



I didn't get the mounts fully welded last weekend because I ran out of welding wire and time. I'll finish welding after I get the rear back from blasting.