Hi all, it's been a while! I haven't been able to work on my car for a while. I broke my hand at work and had surgery on it, and moved to a new house. All is going good again though, and a perk of the new place is I got a bigger garage and I'm finally moved in and getting back to my car!!!  Anyhow, I was wondering if you guys can help me out with a few questions about the rear end I bought?
The stock rear end on my 53' needs some work, but I found a 9" from a 1959 car with an automatic to put in. On the HAMB I read it is supposed to be pretty much a bolt in. The guy I got it from couldn't tell me what model of Ford it came out of, but it was complete, and the right price, so I snatched it up. The housing has the smooth back except for the two dimples and it measures correct 52 1/4, so I'm pretty sure its from a 59'..There is no tag on it, but I read on another site that the 59' cars with 2 speed autos had ratios of 3:56 or 3:70. Does that sound right and likely for the automatic car? Someone had told me it should be 3:00 or 3:10...
Also, there is a drain plug in the bottom of the housing, but I cannot find a fill plug in the usual spot on the pumpkin. In fact, I don't see one on the center section anywhere, and the back is completely smooth except the 2 dimples. It is still pretty muddy and I have lots more cleaning to do but can someone tell me where I fill and check the oil level on this sucker???


-Johnny

Portland, OR

To figure out the ratio on a non posi rear end, jack up one wheel and let the other one on the ground. Make a chalk mark at 12 o'clock where the driveshaft attaches and 12 o'clock on the wheel. Rotate the wheel 2 revolutions and count the number of driveshaft revolutions. On my truck I got almost 4 revolutions on the driveshaft with 2 revolutions of the wheel. At the time I had a 3.92 rear in it.

  Dennis in Lititz PA

Johnny;I put a 9" Ford rear out of a 57 wagon (automatic) into my 37 coupe project that has the 3:56 ratio tag on it. The back of the pumpkin is the same as the one you have described. The fill plug should be on the upper part of the housing between those fins. Maybe you will find it once you get it cleaned up. Did you get the rear yoke with the housing? If the original ring and pinion has not been replaced, the rear yoke should be the combination type with the flats on the side. Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Thanks Ron, Bill and Dennis!

-Johnny

Portland, OR

. You might consider putting a filler plug in the rear of the housing.  I had the same problem and that is what I did.  All you need is a thick washer or a piece of metal to weld to the housing and thread it for a standard pipe plug.  I'm sure some one here has a rear with the rear filler hole and can tell you where it is supposed to be.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ