Needed: 66 Rear Axle Assy 3.50:1 Limited Slip

smsbgky_old · December 22, 2007 at 8:04 PM

Somewhere along the way my 66 K Code (Date: 15L) ended up with a 65 Mustang 9in rear axle assembly. It should have a 3.50:1 Limited Slip. I have a few questions:

1. Does anyone have or know where to find a correct assembly that is for sale?

2. I cannot find the tag on the assembly in the car (crawled under the car). Where should the tag be located?

3. If I cannot find the tag, how do I verify the ratio? It for sure is not a limited slip.

4. Any opinions or suggestions in dealing with this issue would be appreciated. For instance: How difficult are these to find? If I find a date correct axle assy but the wrong ratio or open, are the parts available to change to the correct configuration? Anything else I need to know? I have not taken a rear axle assy apart before - most everything else on the car, but not that.

Thanks,

Steve

C6ZZKGT · December 27, 2007 at 8:04 AM Official Post

Your Kar is near the Ford transition date to the newer style 66 axle housing. It indeed could be the original housing and have had the center section changed. Look for a date code cast into the center section near the passenger side upper section of the casting. That will help determine if the center section is correct.

-Fred-

J_Speegle_old · December 27, 2007 at 4:54 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

2. I cannot find the tag on the assembly in the car (crawled under the car). Where should the tag be located?

3. If I cannot find the tag, how do I verify the ratio? It for sure is not a limited slip.

2. Normally on one of the third member mounting studs held in place by the same nut - most often passenger side mid way up from my experiance

3. Though there is a process of marking the tire and rotating the front yoke but to be more specific pull the third member, and count the pinion and ring gear teeth. If the bolts holding the ring gear in place are mounted (the heads) to a smooth machined surface its not a limited slip. If they are counter sunk in the carrier then it is, just might be worn out

Hope this helps

smsbgky_old · December 27, 2007 at 5:50 PM

Fred and Jeff: Thanks for the info - I really appreciate the help and guidance. I'll see if I can get the data this weekend and will post back with what I find.

Steve

smsbgky_old · December 31, 2007 at 4:07 PM

I found the tag - right where it should be (I have no idea how I missed it the first time). It reads:

WCZ-S

50 5LB 980

The original door tag reads "E" indicating 3.50:1 limited slip, yet the rear axle tag indicates 1966 3.50:1 open (as far as I know anyway). Can anyone tell me what the second line of numbers/letters mean? BTW, the "5LB" could in fact be a "5L8" - it was very difficult to read.

I could not locate a casting number - I assume it is on the external surface (Fred?)? Do I need a mirror? How many numbers/letters am I looking for? Is the cast number proud or an indent? No chance of taking anything apart this weekend - I'll have to do that sometime in the future.

Any and all help is appreciated!

Steve

jwc66k · December 31, 2007 at 9:10 PM

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I found the tag - right where it should be (I have no idea how I missed it the first time). It reads:

WCZ-S

50 5LB 980

The original door tag reads "E" indicating 3.50:1 limited slip, yet the rear axle tag indicates 1966 3.50:1 open (as far as I know anyway). Can anyone tell me what the second line of numbers/letters mean? BTW, the "5LB" could in fact be a "5L8" - it was very difficult to read.

I could not locate a casting number - I assume it is on the external surface (Fred?)? Do I need a mirror? How many numbers/letters am I looking for? Is the cast number proud or an indent? No chance of taking anything apart this weekend - I'll have to do that sometime in the future.

Any and all help is appreciated!

Steve

The second line is incomplete. The '50' should read '3.50'. The rest is messy as well - '5L8' or 'B' or it might be a '3'. That would equal - 1965, Nov and the third week, the '3'. The third character could only be a 1 thru 5, indicating the week. The '980' is the plant code and I don't have any info on where that was. If it was a limited slip, it would read 'WCZ-T' on the top line, and '3L50' on the second plus the appropiate remainder.

Jim

smsbgky_old · January 1, 2008 at 10:18 AM

OK, I have a 1965 style rear axle assy with a tag indicating 3:50:1 open and a date of the third week ("3") of November 1965. For the moment I will assume the hardware matches the tag. In looking at the tag again, I do not see a "3" - my first choice is a "B" then "8". Admittedly it is not real clear - that character is especially difficult to read.

The car is a 1966 with a door tag showing a 3:50:1 limited slip (E) and a date of November 15, 1965 (15L).

Obviously the open vs limited slip does not match. What about the dates? In 1965 the third week of November was the 14th (Sunday) through the 20th (Saturday). It seems to me if the car was actually built on the 15th and the axle assembly was assembled the third week, then these don't match.

Thoughts? Corrections to the above? I have many more questions, but need to get past the above first. Thanks.

Steve

smsbgky_old · January 1, 2008 at 5:21 PM

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The second line is incomplete. The '50' should read '3.50'. The rest is messy as well - '5L8' or 'B' or it might be a '3'. That would equal - 1965, Nov and the third week, the '3'. The third character could only be a 1 thru 5, indicating the week. The '980' is the plant code and I don't have any info on where that was. If it was a limited slip, it would read 'WCZ-T' on the top line, and '3L50' on the second plus the appropiate remainder.

Jim

I went back and looked - I cannot make the third date position out to be a "3", even if I squint real hard! I also found two other threads discussing axle tag date codes and both have letters in that position ("A" and "C", I believe). I don't know how to post a link here, but the topics were:

Rear Axle Tag - last post 4/10/07

Replacement Axle Tag - last post 1/30/07

I am certainly no expert in this area, just want to determine the correct date. I still believe it to be a "B".

Also, the center section cast date appears to be "5L2" and the tag does appear to have a 3.50 instead of the 50 - the "3" is damaged and difficult to see if one is not specifically looking for it.

Need additional help in sorting through this. Thanks.

Steve

Edited by - smsbgky on 01/02/2008 06:21:33

C6ZZKGT · January 2, 2008 at 6:31 AM Official Post

Your center section was cast on November 2, 1965 based on your casting date code. That fits in nicely with your rear end tag and scheduled build date for the Kar. Is it possible that your door tag is a reproduction? They have been produced for a long time now and are easy to spot when you are aware of the differences. If you post a picture here of your door tag or email me a picture it can be easily be determined as to what you have.

-Fred-

smsbgky_old · January 4, 2008 at 6:39 AM

I am ending my short search for the 66 Axle Assy. Based on the info provided in this thread as well as some off line e-mails/discussion, my current conclusion is the assembly on the kar is what it was built with. The date codes from the casting (11/2/65) to the axle assy (2nd wk of Nov '65) to the kar scheduled build date (11/15/65) are within reason. Unless I find additional, conflicting info I am going to leave the assembly alone and assume the door tag data vs axle tag data conflict (limited slip vs open) is a Ford screw up.

Thanks to all who contributed to my better understanding of this subject, both on this site as well is off. It is great having a place to go to access the wealth of knowledge the members provide. And, of course, if there is a different take on my conclusion above, I'd be more than happy to listen.

Steve

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