Shortening an 8 3/4 rear end myself. Can it be done?

[56 man]

I have a B body 8 3/4 rear end that I want to put in a 1962 Nova. I've heard you can shorten it yourself. Is this true? If so, how? Thanks for the help,

56 Man

[MoparSavior]

Give it to me.I'll put it into my MOPAR 70 dart swinger.

[Sean C]

56 man: I'm not sure I would attempt this unless you have experience. You have to cut the housing and then weld the bearing retainers back on, and if they are crooked you are in trouble.

Plus you will have to use the Chevy perch set up, which will require some cutting and welding.

How come you don't just use a Chevy 10 bolt or a Ford 9"?

[Sean C]

Give it to me.I'll put it into my MOPAR 70 dart swinger.

You'll still have to move the spring perches in. And you won't have much tire clearance as the B-Body 8 3/4" is 3" longer than the A-Body 8 3/4", so you would also probably want to shorten it as Swingers are tough enough to stuff any substantial meat in there.

[MoparSavior]

Yeah true, but I'll just buy an A body rear end. I can't wait to get fat meats on my Dart! The excitement is overwheming.

[Sean C]

The A-Body 8 3/4" is the same length as the 7 1/4". So the 8 3/4" will not help your tire clearance.

If you really want to put meats on a Swinger you need to try and find a A-Body 8 3/4"(getting pretty hard to come by) and use MP spring relocator kit to relocate the springs inboard about 3" or so, then you can comfortably fit 275-60's with an 8" or larger rim.

[Sean C]

I see you live in California, I lived in Orange, Ca. last year and could not find squat for Mopars at the salvage yards, if you cannot locate one, it may be cheaper for you to use a B-Body 8 3/4" and have it shortened and have the perches relocated.

If you can get a hold of a B-Body rear this would be the perfect time for you to shorten the rear a little bit and use the MP relocator kit. The larger bolt pattern on the b-body rear would be nice for expanding your choice of wheels.

Then for the front use the upper control arms and spindles off of a newer Mopar with the bigger bolt pattern, plus disc brakes up front! Make sure you grab the proportioning valve off of the donor car.

[pro-street dart]

No you should'nt really try shortening the axle yourself. As mentioned the ends have to be welded on perfectly straight. Shops have a jig especially for that purpose! Another thing to consider is that your measurements for everything including replacement axle shafts have to be exact on. You'll also have to consider your pinion off-set and match that up with the Nova's off-set. Also your drive shaft on the Chevy end will have to be modified if it doesn't use the same sized u-joint! I'm having a dana 60 done for my pro-street project, job's like these are better left for the professionals. Depending on your Hp requirements look around for a 10 or 12 bolts rear end at the wrecking yards, there must have thousands of them used in cars and pick-ups!! Plus you free up your 8 3/4" for a Mopar - were it belongs!!

[dewme5]

I'm a do-it yourselfer type. I've shortened my own rear's with no problems. The axle's are another story. but. Get them ahead of time. once they show up. use them for a reference when cutting you axle tubes, get them the right size, the put the new end onto the axle, make sure it's seated right, temporairly install a centersection, then slip in the axle with the end on it, and slip it into the center section. Work with tack welds until everyting fits just right (make sure you have a good clean ground that is away from the bearings...i used a fresh ground spring perch) once it's in, tacked, you can make sure everything rotates freely, and that the bearings will slide out as easy as they should. Weld it up! I used 1" welds alternating to opposite sides of the tube. Worked just fine. but then, I believe you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a mechanic.

[polarapete]

I'm with Dewme5. A friend and I narrowed a truck Dana 60 to fit my '64 Polara. It was actually pretty easy. The tubes are 3" diameter and we scored them with a plumbers tool that is designed for cutting ABS. This gave us a straight line to cut on. We used air-powered cut-off wheels to make the cuts and then used a wire feed to weld on the 8 3/4/Dana 60 axle ends that I got from Art Morrison. Morrison also supplied the spring perches. I had the axles with "green Bearings" made by Dutchman in Oregon and I then used the complete drum brakes off a Dodge van. The whole deal including the cost of the rear, the axles, the Morrison parts, brakes, having a complete new driveshaft fabbed etc. was under $1,000.00. We did not use any special jigs or tools, just common sense and care. You can do it!!

[DartMan360]

We have done many of them at home. Randy and my dad made just a simple jig. It cuts down the time big time and it is alil more error proof. Just take your time and use common sence. The rear end in the hardtop is getting cut this winter. We want to try and tuck 28x13x15 under the car this year.

[56 man]

Thanks everyone for giving me your opinions. I've never shortened one before so I guess this is as good a time as any. Hey, what do I have to loose? The rearend only cost me $30.00. Thanks again,
56 Man

[DartMan360]

Your right for $30. We would but them up all day long at that price.