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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by 82g View Post
    it is a stock motor there is no way u will brake a 7.5 witha stock motor. Even with gear upgrade if u using it for the street.
    Ohh wow. So much wrong in this sentence. I can prove otherwise (without slicks or being on a prepped track and a 100% stock engine) but that's okay. I believe it was around 1987 when all my friends took that pile of all of our wasted 7.5 axles to the recycle yard. Forget what we got for them. I wish we'd kept the slapper bars though. So much '80's cool right there. Good luck with your project. I see no reason to not refresh the 7.5 on a stock cruiser. Let us know how it goes.

  2. #27
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    I have a 7.5 with 4.10’s out of my 85GT. It’s in my parts pile at Trey’s shop for now. I’ll most likely haul it home and eventually toss it when I get sick of tripping over it....

  3. #28
    FEP Power Member Jerry peachuer's Avatar
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    Bad shoe productions makes some very detailed videos

    From axles to trans to EFI swaps

    Most how to videos skip steps bad shoe productions dives into great detail

    It will help you realize quickly if you can or can't tackle the rebuild

    I believe you can it's just a matter of buying the tools vs paying a shop to do it

    Pretty straightforward and now is the time to think about a gear swap

    Gear is by far the best bolt on upgrade that will make a difference for the money in my opinion
    7.5 or 8.8 is your call

  4. #29
    FEP Senior Member 83gt351w's Avatar
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    ^^^^^^^^ he is still around!

  5. #30
    FEP Power Member Jerry peachuer's Avatar
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    yes I'm the creeper in the shadows haha

    happy new year to you and everyone else

  6. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry peachuer View Post

    Gear is by far the best bolt on upgrade that will make a difference for the money in my opinion
    7.5 or 8.8 is your call
    So much RIGHT in this sentence! Couldn't agree more. Everyone spends money on a bigger carb (on a stock engine) or removes the catalytic converters (which also does nothing on a stock engine if they are in good condition) but they are scared of a gear. $200 for the gear and $250 for the install plus some oil. Such a huge all around improvement for so little money. And it helps 100% of the time. Not just when you are on the floor screaming down the strip. Every single stoplight or cruise is improved.

  7. #32
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    I agree gears can make a huge difference.

    ill add that Gears are absolutely so misunderstood— usually

    The best example of the general misunderstanding is when I brought up the crazy idea of running a Nissan 6-speed thatholds 600 ft lbs but has a 4:1 low and a 0.8:1 6th.

    The comments were it wouldn’t launch worth a crap and had a poor overdrive, etc.

    Very incorrect assumption. There was no discussion about engine output in front of it, vehicle weight, rear gear, etc. Meanwhile take a 2.73 rear gear with a 4:1 low you get a 10.92 low ratio.... just like a 3.27 with a 3.35 - 10.9545. 3.27 with a 0.68 giving a 2.22 FD in OD vs 2.18.

    I like the RPM calculator found here:
    https://www.blocklayer.com/rpm-geareng.aspx

    I like it because you can see ground speeds in each gear. You can do things like simulate where you have to shift to hit 4500 in the next gear after the shift, etc.

    The main thing it can’t simulate is the lost acceleration that happens when you spend time with shifts. It takes about 0.1 and there is NO power going down while the shift happens

    Another thing it can’t simulate is rotating inertia induced acceleration resistance vs vehicle weight based resistance. Lighter flywheels and clutches and driveshafts are a bit of a crap shoot because of that

    also the affect of having your RPM as you hit the next gear increase, or the affect as gears get closer together, etc

    The graphic at the bottom helps visualize it

    T5:
    3.35
    1.99
    1.34
    1:1
    0.69

    T5Z
    2.95
    1.94
    1.31
    1:1
    0.63

    Gforce T5 optional 59 od
    2.95
    1.94
    1.31
    1:1
    0.59

    Play with these with a tire size between 24.9 (Saleen) and 26.1 (larger rear tire) and mess with rear gear.

    Know your target trap speed if you are shooting for an ET in the 1/4.

    Know your top speed on most road courses if you want to make fast laps on a road course

    Know the desired RPM at the desired cruising speed in your car if you drive it on the street or you’ll hate driving it on the street

    know how your rpm range influences your speed range in each gear

    I swapped to a 21lb flywheel from a 30 and put in a lighter weight clutch and pressure plate while swapping to a T5Z in my son’s car. It ran out 1st gear just as fast after as it did before but was going 10 mph faster on the 1-2 shift which then gives a huge advantage in 2nd etc

    Also intake swapped my 86GT and can now pull 0-60 entirely in 1st gear. When I get the clutch right off the line so it doesn’t spin or bog and it’s one hell of a lot quicker to 60 than anyone would expect. Around 5 seconds out of an E6 head motor. Low HP high torque motors do t like revving up as much as they like delivering their torque so gear it correctly and the vehicle performance is determined mainly by the torque to weight ratio not the HP to weight...

    Just stuff to thibk about

    I have had a ton of fun making a local 13 GT500 look silly on the street a few times too. He was butt hurt when he asked me what I had done to my car and I told him it was mostly stock with 1/2 million miles on it. It’s more stock than aftermarket, and mainly he can’t drive imo ....

  8. #33

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    Tons of great info in this thread. Thank you gentlemen.

    Couple questions from me still. I am having difficulty locating an 8.8 in my area. I will keep searching. In the meantime, I will reassemble my 7.5 and enjoy the car.

    - Is there a manual for this rear-end out there? Youtube should suffice, but I thought I would ask.
    - Anyone have a thickness spec/limit for the clutches? Or should I just replace the lot and move on?

    Thanks in advance.

  9. #34
    FEP Power Member Jerry peachuer's Avatar
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    2ft of snow you mention so it's not like your going to be driving soon so spend 25.00 dollars on a how to video "bad shoe productions"

    How to build 8.8 rear end. You will see if you need to buy tools and you will need a press you will need inch pd torque wrench you will need ft/lb torque wrench

    Pair of calipers and gear oil and diving in with both feet

    If you have all of the tools it will cost you 25.00 for DVD plus shipping I know you can do it and you have all measurements and torque values and how to to rewind back and forth almost cant mess up it's that straight forward

    If you need to buy all the tools plus parts because you do not have them (press for bearings if you replace them but not needed if your fine with them they only turned in a circle 6,000,000,000,000,000,000. Revolutions so if there good to go sweet !!!

    You can prob install new clutches without removing axles all the way
    I have access to a clutch pak that's new or very very close to new if interested it's OEM not junk parts not overly used either in fact it may be new for cheap with 345 gear (7.5 3.55is 3.45 ratio)

    You can reload clutch pak and reuse gear oil of course none of this is what I'm reccomending just not sure how far you are going and your budget

    if interested in clutch pak used (all pcs) pm me

  10. #35
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    What area are you located in?

    8.8’s in SN95 94-98 cars turn up in scrap yards by the dozens.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about condition either. They are nearly impossible to kill unless you get very crazy.

    I’ve put an 1 7/8” twist in the unibody of my 86GT before on sticky tires (or was it slicks, can’t remember now) with spray ... and didn’t kill my 8.8 in that whole process.

    The housing Trey is working with for my 85 build was a junkyard rescue. I took it out of a wrecked 89GT after my original housing gave up the ghost at around 150K miles which included countless high RPM launches at the drag strip. That housing has around 400K “drive it like you stole it” miles on it. Plenty of street launches, etc, not as many at the strip as the first one.

    It really didn’t look that bad in terms of gears or axles or axle bearings or seals, etc, either. The clutch packs were toast but I did that to it on purpose when I got tired of going in circles in the winter when it was my daily.

    Any 8.8 out of a Fox or SN with do, just check the housing for straight and weld the axles tubes up if you care to, and go from there.

    A lot of the SN cars had 3.27 or even 3.55 gears stock. The turbo coupes had 3.55 and 3.73. Any of those housings will accept your brake brackets and axles and you’re off running.

    Rebuilt is better but after a quick once over and lube fill I’d put money on a basically unknown 8.8 before any 7.5 — including a rebuilt one. If I haven’t killed a pile of them then no moderate power level setup will.

    Just my $0.02

    i hate seeing a piece that belongs in the scrap heap going back under a fellow member’s car where it can give fits in the future.
    Last edited by erratic50; 03-02-2019 at 07:12 PM.

  11. #36

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    The 94-98's are wider, correct?

    I had avoided looking for those years as I didn't want to have to deal with the width issue. I will expand my search!

  12. #37
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    The width difference for 87-88 Tbird, 93 Cobra street version, 93 Cobra R, and 94-98 Mustang comes from the brake bracket design and longer axles.

    Quick and cheap upgrade is pull the longer axles out and swap in your brake hardware and put the axles from the 7.5 in


    Lots of guys upgrade rear brake hardware while they are there but you don’t ha e to if you don’t want to

    common approaches:
    get a rear disc conversion setup for 4 lug. Factory parts bin based uses Tbird/93 Cobra street version rear brakes with normal Mustang width axles and Tbird/cobra brake adapters


    Now stop reading here if you love your 4 lug and want to stay factory appearing — I totally respect that. Spent a bunch making my 85 build stop while staying 4 lug!


    You could get a rear disc conversion setup for 5 lug or cut and flip the SN 95 brake brackets. Use the 93 Cobra R / SN95 brakes. Youwould need some SN95 flange foxbody Mustang width mosier axles for this to work right. And of course new wheels

    Front 5 lug swap can be done via 5 lug rotors from a 1983 ranger 2.0 2wd along with existing bearings and new 87-93 Mustang 4cyl seals (said this way so they give you the correct ones.... )

    The SVO 5 lug rotors fit on 87-93 V8 LX/GT spindles if you want bigger brakes in 5 lug. Be sure to stay 60mm caliper. SVO spindles with SN95 balljoints and balljoint adapters for SVO also work if you wish to correct Ackerman while you are there

    some guys go to SN95 94-95 spindles with 99-04 dual piston calipers in front. Others go 99-04 Cobra brakes in front. Only major difference is fade the 2nd time you hit the brakes hard in my experience having drive. Cars with bith.

  13. #38
    FEP Power Member Jerry peachuer's Avatar
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    Traction lok rebuild per video has a dimension of .640.650 thickness with the 2 shims behind the clutch pak
    Don't mix the left side and right side and don't mix up the orientation of the fiber and steel shims sequence
    Don't use solvent to clean the fibers only wipe them down with rag

    Pre soak the fibers in friction modifier for 1/2 hour before reassembly
    Pull the shims and all clutches from that one side only use a small a c-clamp and use medium clamping force clamp entire assembly (per side) together and take calipers and take a reading of the overall thickness

    Should be .640.650 with shims
    Without shims the fibers and steels should be near .570 thk +.07 in shims (usually 2 shims) =your 640-650 range
    Shims come in .005 increments between .025-.045 range
    Usually there's 3 fiber plates per assembly for one side

    Pay attention to fiber and steel orientation of assembly
    Spider gear then F-SS-F-SS-F-SS-F
    F=fiber
    S=steel

  14. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by erratic50 View Post
    What area are you located in?

    8.8’s in SN95 94-98 cars turn up in scrap yards by the dozens.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about condition either. They are nearly impossible to kill unless you get very crazy.
    I haven't heard otherwise so I would believe they are still using an 8.8 gear set under the 700+ (as yet undisclosed actual figures) 2020 GT500. Yeah, a 8.8 is HARD to kill as mentioned above! Even if not, it WAS installed under the 662HP 2013-14 GT500 5.8 for sure.

  15. #40
    FEP Power Member richpet's Avatar
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    Just found a 1998 mustang locally with extensive body damage for $200. Might offer $150 if he still has it, if I get it snag the rear end and then have the car towed to the wrecking yard. Perfect for the rear of the Granada when I swap in 4-lug axles and drums.
    Hope this wasn't a hijack.
    83 5.0 GT. Quicker than it looks! 10:1 (or just over) 306, Motorsport a332 cam, 140A alt, t5 conv, 8.8 w/ 3.27's, Edel rpm, alum rad, very worked e7's, Holley SA carb, etc... SOLD IT!!!!

    Now an 1981 Granada! .040 over 302, Edel E-street heads... Currently building a 347 because, why not?

    "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups"

  16. #41
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Sweet!

  17. #42

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    Expanding into the sn95 range, I have found a few to out on the list now. Going to have a look this weekend!

    Thanks for the help!

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