Need advice on swapping a 9" ford rear to 87 Camaro.

[jbander]

I'm thinking on swapping a ford 9" rear into my 87 Camaro is there anyone here that could walk me through the process. Whats needed. anything to help along in this process/
Thanks
Jon

 

[BonzoHansen]

I would think the aftermarket has this handled. I'm sure someone here will chime in, but i might suggest searching www.thirdgen.org

 

[big gear head]

Buy it from Quick Performance ready to bolt in. There is a lot of fabrication work involved in making a stock 9 inch housing fit that car.

 

[Jodi]

This is the easiest way I can think of...
QP GM 1982-1992 F Body 9 Inch Housing & Moser Axles (quickperformance.com)
Brake Kits (quickperformance.com)

Otherwise if you want to do the work...you're gonna have to find a 9" Diff assembly, cut the tubes to length, install/weld in the bearing ends, cut all the Ford Brackets and weld in your Camaro brackets and then change the axle or drill the existing wheel to match the bolt pattern.

When hunting for a 9" Diff. Keep in mind that there not all created equal.
Some are more desirable for certain applications... look for the housing with the larger webbing around the center section.

Center section... generally you want the "N" housing. Good luck!

 

[jbander]

This is the easiest way I can think of...
QP GM 1982-1992 F Body 9 Inch Housing & Moser Axles (quickperformance.com)
Brake Kits (quickperformance.com)
Otherwise if you want to do the work...you're gonna have to find a 9" Diff assembly, cut the tubes to length, install/weld in the bearing ends, cut all the Ford Brackets and weld in your Camaro brackets and then change the axle or drill the existing wheel to match the bolt pattern.

When hunting for a 9" Diff. Keep in mind that there not all created equal.
Some are more desirable for certain applications... look for the housing with the larger webbing around the center section.

Center section... generally you want the "N" housing. Good luck!

That is what I'm looking at right now The quick performance 9" rear end, that and The third member shown and a brake kit should come in around 2000.00, I can live with that. What is the N housing.Two things I'm wondering about is drive shaft length, can I solve it with a special yoke length and whats needed to hook up my 97 Camaro drive shaft to the 9" ford rear end/ Any thughts on a specific brake kit.

 

[TTR230]

I never understood the value of the Ford 9" rear end untill I saw this thread, which inturn caused me to find an interesting article about it. A very cool rear end for sure, I can now see why it's so popular.

For the interest of people like me who always wondered about the 9":
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/9-inch-ford-rearend-strongest-rearend-due-hypoid-distance/

 

[jbander]

I never understood the value of the Ford 9" rear end untill I saw this thread, which inturn caused me to find an interesting article about it. A very cool rear end for sure, I can now see why it's so popular.

For the interest of people like me who always wondered about the 9":
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/9-inch-ford-rearend-strongest-rearend-due-hypoid-distance/

Thank you great source

 

[Jodi]

That is what I'm looking at right now The quick performance 9" rear end, that and The third member shown and a brake kit should come in around 2000.00, I can live with that. What is the N housing.Two things I'm wondering about is drive shaft length, can I solve it with a special yoke length and whats needed to hook up my 97 Camaro drive shaft to the 9" ford rear end/ Any thughts on a specific brake kit.

View attachment 112545

Third member "N" case or housing is a factory or stock case and has a higher shear strength due to higher nodular iron content compared to the other casting which is more prone to cracking @ the bearing support area. These case have a letter "N" stamped above the pinion area and are now getting hard to find.

You can look in to those conversion U joint such as Moog 447 if you want to use the old driveshaft.
May I ask... why just not get a different driveshaft made, if you think that the car would need a stronger rear end then it would definitely warrant a stronger driveshaft with 1350 U joints on both ends. You know the saying...the driveline is only as strong as its weakest link. I would say the 11" brake drum kit would probably do the trick.

 

[jbander]

I believe this is what you are talking about, with the better grade casting. Does the moog 447 fit both the Camaro driveshaft and the yoke on the third member at the same time? Again thanks a lot for the responce, I live way out in the boonies and my car club isn't active now , so I need help putting this all together. I want to have the right questions when I order it and I want no suprises on the price so it has to be complete , and knowing the price. I don't want to order it to find out I need another $500.00 or actually any amount.

 

[Jodi]

Does the moog 447 fit both the Camaro driveshaft and the yoke on the third member at the same time?

Yes and No...

If your Camaro's driveshaft U joints are the stock ones then they'd be the 1344 series and if you order a new 3rd member with a 1350 series U joint then yes, the Moog 447 conversion U joint is what you need.

If you opted for the smaller 1310 series U joint for the new 3rd member then the Moog 447 would not work.
You will need a conversion U joint (don't have a part #) with the following dimensions;
1st axis (cross) - cup diameter of 1 1/8" and a width of 3 5/8" (1344 series)
2nd axis (cross) - cup diameter of 1 1/16" and a width of 3 7/32" (1310 series)
Good luck!