Let's talk 9" rears
- Thread starter yellow wagon
- Start date
Sorry I forgot to mention that part when we talked Jason...
It doesn't take much to get it in there... I cut some slots with the cutoff wheel, then bent it down and up with channel locks... Figured that way I could bend it back and weld the slots if I ever wanted too...Rick
I picked up a super fancy bur from Fastenal today to just give some more clearance around the perimeter. It wasn't off by too much last night so figured this would work well. $24 for a bur hurts the wallet tho! I'm used to hand me down, harbor freight shit haha
Got some grinding done on the tunnel and the yoke fit through the hole. But seems the hole needs to opened up even more to give clearance for the driveshaft along the top. Ricky's method of cutting slots and pulling the top and bottom to open the hole is the way to go. Grinding is slow and tedious under the car. Not to mention the metal slivers!
I'm calling uncle here pretty soon on the project and revisiting it closer to spring. Feels too much like work!
I'm calling uncle here pretty soon on the project and revisiting it closer to spring. Feels too much like work!
Jason,
When I did mine it was perfectly centered in the hole... Do you have any shims under the trans mount or is the crossmember in the upper mount? If it is, Maybe you could lower it now since you have adjustability in the rear with the new upper arms??
Rick
Yea there are shims under the trans. I can try pulling those out and see what happens. I believe the crossmember is in the upper mounting holes
Geary Trussell
Well Known Member
Really nice work, I like your exhaust work. Those coil overs on the rear end make it easier to snake big exhaust out the back.
Pulled the shims out which helped but the front tube is still just touching the top of the tunnel hole so thats going to need to be clearanced some more. Inland Empire said the driveshaft needs about 1/2" of clearance all the way around it so gotta get the bur back out. Haven't checked the trans driveline angle now but that obviously changed so going to have to deal with that next.
Jason, my '62 assembly manual shows the 4 speed trans has the cross member mounted in the LOWER holes. Quite sure it would be the same on the '64 tranny. My drive shaft behind my Muncie is centered in the tunnel. Hate to see you butcher a frame if not necessary.
I misspoke about the mounting holes for the muncie, just recalling it from memory. It is in fact mounted in the lower holes. Lower holes, no shims under the trans and it still touches. Going to need some work for sure to make it fit like it should.
I seem to recall some people having to trim the pedestal on the center bearing 3/8 of an inch or so to get everything to line up. I did not have to do it, but it may help with the lower position of the pinion on the 9 inch and getting angles to line up. If it was trimmed too much, it could just be shimmed back up, so not a one shot deal.
Getting the driveshaft to work in my car required trimming the front hole opening mostly on the top and sides and the trans in the lower bolt holes in the crossmember with no shims. In talking with Inland Empire it seems the cars with 1-piece frames have some more issues but they said they don't hear back from customers after the driveshafts ship out usually so they aren't aware of fitment issues for the most part. Its further compounded by using the 9" rearend I think. Centering the rearend housing between the quarter panels biases the pinion a bit to the passenger side. Its not perfectly centered with the tunnel. This causes some clearance issues with the fuel line tab that sticks out from the frame and the e-brake cables. Its really tight. I'm going to do a complete write up on getting the driveshaft to work once I have it done done in the car so others here know what they MIGHT be up against since some people haven't had to do near the work that I have had to to make this setup work.
Thanks for this! Come spring I should have the rear end and IE driveshafts and would appreciate a reference for any issues!
My post above is basically what needs to be done. Test fit the driveshaft first to make sure it doesn't just clear but no way mine was going in without some grinding. If it does, get a good quality carbide bur from Fastenal. A good one. It makes life easier. Don't forget the safety goggles and wear gloves too to avoid getting metal slivers. Trust me. I radiused the top hole opening all the way flush to the top of the tunnel and opened the sides up a little too for some yoke clearance during install. If using a Muncie the trans will have to be in the lower bolt holes and most likely no shims also.
The next potential problem area is at the rear just outside the tunnel where the fuel line mounting tab and e brake holders are. Close the e brake fingers a bit so they don't stick way out. Then, I'd suggest you remove the fuel line from inside the mounting tab, bend the mounting tab flat to the frame so it's out of the way and then either rebend a new section of fuel line and route it to the outside of the frame or bend the existing pieces up a little higher and out of the way. You can secure it with a clamp to the frame. I'm going to do the latter since I have ample clearance everywhere except where the fuel line is attached to the frame tab. Should be self explanatory when you have the Inland Empire driveshaft in there and you can see the clearance issue areas.
The next potential problem area is at the rear just outside the tunnel where the fuel line mounting tab and e brake holders are. Close the e brake fingers a bit so they don't stick way out. Then, I'd suggest you remove the fuel line from inside the mounting tab, bend the mounting tab flat to the frame so it's out of the way and then either rebend a new section of fuel line and route it to the outside of the frame or bend the existing pieces up a little higher and out of the way. You can secure it with a clamp to the frame. I'm going to do the latter since I have ample clearance everywhere except where the fuel line is attached to the frame tab. Should be self explanatory when you have the Inland Empire driveshaft in there and you can see the clearance issue areas.