69 rear end housing leaf spring mount

[Tuzey98 0]

Hello!

I am putting a 8.8 rear end in my 69 mustang and am trying to figure out how to properly weld on the leaf spring mounts that are on the rear housing. Any clues??

[JET 445 43]

If you still have the original rear end you can use that to make a fixture that will align the mounts and also give you the correct pinion angle.

[EastYorkStang 63]

which 8.8 did you use ? Is there a chart showing the widths ?

[Vicfreg 771]

I have a 8.8 in my '68 coupe.  Mine is from a Ford Explorer. The center pumpkin on those is offset, but it works fine.

On the 8.8, you need to buy new spring perches for that diameter axle.  Cut the old ones off, and also all the other brackets/attachments, as they get in the way.

Take your old rear and the new rear lay them side by side.   Measure the distance between the centerline of the perches on your old rear.   Find the center of the 8.8 and mark it.  Take 1/2 the perch to perch distance from the old rear and mark the centerline of the new perches on the 8.8.   Go to your car, and double check the distance between your leaf springs.

Check the distance from your backing plates to the center of the perches on the 8.8 to see if they are roughly even.

Before you weld the new perches on, rotate the 8.8 to match the pinion angle of the old rear.  I measured the angle as close as I could with one of those protractor/angle tools.

Another thing you need to decide is what brakes you want to run on the new 8.8 rear. Now is the time to address that.   Also, check the axle seals to make sure they are not leaking, and change the rear end fluid.  Most of the 8.8 traction locks use a friction additive.   

Last thing is that you will need to modify your driveshaft length, and also the attachment at the rear end.  The 8.8s use a different style, flat plate mount with those annoying metric multi point bolts.

I am very happy with my 8.8 set up.  Cost me less than $500 to get a 3.73 posi installed in my car.