- Joined
- Sep 1, 2018
- Posts
- 1,632
- Reaction score
- 4,050
- Location
- Washington State
- First Name
- Craig
- Truck Year
- 1973 (have two), 1985
- Truck Model
- K10, K20, C20
- Engine Size
- 350, 454, 6.2 Detroit
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She let you in the house looking like that!Back half a car is now got all the old under coating off. It’s all on me now. Next is wash until clean, then alcohol everything then seam seal, epoxy primer and raptor line.
The one thing Ford did right.Hard to beat a Ford 9 inch. And the advantage of a drop out 3rd member for quick gear swaps too.
It's not that bad. You can usually find a good used drop out 3rd member ready to roll for cheap. What we did in the race days, we take ours build it with our 4.57 or 4.88 ratio with locker or posi to race, then pick up a cheap used 3.07 peg legger for like $100. We'd install the 3.07 drive South 2 or 3 hours to the track of choice, On jack stands swap in the race locker unit and race all day. Then swap it back to the 3.07 ratio to drive home and leave that in to get back and forth to work for the rest of the week. Come Thursday night, put the 4.88 back in it and be ready to go the street races Friday night after work, a couple hour nap and then be up til daylight racing and stabbin' cooter. That's what life was like then. If you was lucky, you got to keep the cooter for the rest of next week and let ole girl stay at the house and cook and clean while we worked on the cars. Yeahh, some of them girls got around, and I think we all got our chance to take some of them for a ride for a short time, til we passed them off, or they left and moved onto the next fast car. All you needed was a fast car and... anyway, yeah drop out 3rd members were nice. One of my buddies, he carries his 12 bolt in the back of the El Camino. We'd have to do the whole rear end swap, but we did. He had the 3.08 peg legger 10 bolt, and the 4.56 locker 12 bolt. I liked dropping 3rd members better trust me.Very true. The quick gear swaps are expensive though, since it includes another carrier, center chunk, etc.
I had that ratio in a 62 Chevy pick up. I broke that rear end about 10 times but I sure loved that ratio. Just like you said, a good all around ratio. Back then the speed limit was 55, so it worked real nice. I could easily do 65 on a truck tire with a Muncie 4 speed but yet low enough with Muncie and unlimited stall, Rev it up to about 3000, side step and dump the clutch and you're off and running !!! You just never knew when the rear end was going to break. Was it going to break on launch or slamming 2nd? I knew once I got into 2nd, if the tach didn't fly to 8000 start floating valves, I'd finish the race.3:90 Detroit position, just right. Fast off the line, but still cruse at 80 out west in Idaho, where Jan and I are moving. Not to close to IdahoVette though….

I doubt those 3rd members are as plentiful nowadays, but I like your logic on having more than one at the ready.It's not that bad. You can usually find a good used drop out 3rd member ready to roll for cheap. What we did in the race days, we take ours build it with our 4.57 or 4.88 ratio with locker or posi to race, then pick up a cheap used 3.07 peg legger for like $100. We'd install the 3.07 drive South 2 or 3 hours to the track of choice, On jack stands swap in the race locker unit and race all day. Then swap it back to the 3.07 ratio to drive home and leave that in to get back and forth to work for the rest of the week. Come Thursday night, put the 4.88 back in it and be ready to go the street races Friday night after work, a couple hour nap and then be up til daylight racing and stabbin' cooter. That's what life was like then. If you was lucky, you got to keep the cooter for the rest of next week and let ole girl stay at the house and cook and clean while we worked on the cars. Yeahh, some of them girls got around, and I think we all got our chance to take some of them for a ride for a short time, til we passed them off, or they left and moved onto the next fast car. All you needed was a fast car and... anyway, yeah drop out 3rd members were nice. One of my buddies, he carries his 12 bolt in the back of the El Camino. We'd have to do the whole rear end swap, but we did. He had the 3.08 peg legger 10 bolt, and the 4.56 locker 12 bolt. I liked dropping 3rd members better trust me.
I had that ratio in a 62 Chevy pick up. I broke that rear end about 10 times but I sure loved that ratio. Just like you said, a good all around ratio. Back then the speed limit was 55, so it worked real nice. I could easily do 65 on a truck tire with a Muncie 4 speed but yet low enough with Muncie and unlimited stall, Rev it up to about 3000, side step and dump the clutch and you're off and running !!! You just never knew when the rear end was going to break. Was it going to break on launch or slamming 2nd? I knew once I got into 2nd, if the tach didn't fly to 8000 start floating valves, I'd finish the race.![]()
Oh yeah, I'm sure you're correct. All the raceers and Retro mods that seek out the Ford 9inch and the fact they are no longer in production for many years, I'm sure they are hard to find by now. I'm forgetting this is no longer the 80.s.I doubt those 3rd members are as plentiful nowadays, but I like your logic on having more than one at the ready.
Similar to the 4.11 HO52 3rd members being harvested by the dirt track racers.Oh yeah, I'm sure you're correct. All the raceers and Retro mods that seek out the Ford 9inch and the fact they are no longer in production for many years, I'm sure they are hard to find by now. I'm forgetting this is no longer the 80.s.