As some of you might know, I have been posting about beefing up my 462 in my '67 Continental. The famous 'WerbyFord Gonkulator' did some statistics and used a 3.25 axle ratio...I found one! I wanted to know that it will work on my '67 axle though. Is the '67 Lincoln axle a 31 spline or 28??? He has a limited slip 3.25 9 3/8" 3rd member for $250! I am not sure if I would need anything else to make my car posi or not. Is the 3rd member enough to convert my car to posi or do I need something else??? Thanks a lot

9 3/8 is its own beast. Nothing else fits or interchanges. Only one series of axles made.
Get a 3.55 posi, have a pro look at it and drop it in. I think a 3.25 is okay but if you want your acceleration, a 3.55 will be better. Not many choices unless you want to have a nine inch or Dana modified to fit.
The analysis done on the mods was interesting reading.
I still think a stall convertor will help greatly as the torque builds pretty quick in these engines and can be increased with the right cam.

Thanks a lot. I forgot to mention the stall converter but I will mention it when I have all the parts I want to use listed. I think there are some more goodies from Brian that will help with power and the stall coverter as well. I also wanted to ask him to put in 3.50 gears I have found.

The other question I have is that a few people have told me I could use a Ford 9" center section in the 9 3/8" housing. I found a 9" center section with 3.50 gears. He said it would work and the price is $400 which is pretty resonable compared to other who want $800. Might this be an ok move or like you said..keep it 9 3/8"??? Thanks

I would not recommend trying to slap together a mixture of 9" and 9 3/8 ". Pick up a 9 3/8 drop out and have it professionally set up. Trade out the original pumpkin when the engine and transmission are going in. Not a tough job.I am pretty sure 3.55 is the lowest gear ratio available. That is fine with a limited slip (posi) rear end in your car. I would offer that you must think in terms of the car as a whole and not just the engine. That engine will put out plenty of power. Spend time and money on the transmission, convertor, gears,and the supporting stuff. It is nice to have a car that is still fun to drive rather than one where you wonder if you will make it home.

I completely understand. I will have the torque to substitute for lower gears. Its like a truck I was looking at with 3.73 but it had 635 ft lbs of torque and pulled better than another truck with 4.11 or 4.56s. It has the most torque and the higher gears compensated for better fuel economy. Just so the 3.50s are not too much I would prefer them. I have a lot of hills to climb in Pittsburgh and tons of stop signs. It would be nice to get out of the hole but not get horrible top end power. No problem on the swapping, I do not think Frankensteining it is a good idea either. Just need to find a good 3rd member with set up for the 9 3/8" axle. When I read the results from WerbyFord's computers...3.25s can get me a decent 1/4 mile in the 14s...might just want to stick with that??? Better highway and like you said I have the torque to get off the line anyways. Thanks a lot and I have more researching to do. I appreciate the help a lot! If you think 3.55s is too low for enjoyment on the highway and street/strip for the power band I will have...let me know and I will consider the 3.25s. All I can say is my 06 GMC Sierra has 3.73, but nothing like the power the MEL will have and my truck gets 21.5 on the highway and is alrite off the line so its a bas comparison. This is why I need some help deciding. I thought lower gears would be horrible but I look at my truck and its 310hp and it does pretty good. Maybe 3.50s or 3.55s will not be so bad. Take care

A 9" and a 9 3/8" are very similar and Ford even used the same gaskets for them. In some cases the axle lengths will be an issue but in a Lincoln a 9 and a 9 3/8 are interchangable. The 9 3/8 is 31 spline so you do have to use a 31 spline 9 inch if you are converting. There is no changes required to convert from a 9 3/8 to a 9 inch in this case as long as you use the correct yoke (there are a ton of different ones) and also if you are converting to a Traction Lock there are no other changes that need to be made except to remember to add friction modifier to the lube. The 9 3/8 was used from 66-72 and also in trucks as it is a heavier duty version of the 9 inch. There never was a 3.55 ratio from Ford but there was a 3.50. There is also 4.09 ratio from the factory although I don't see a Lincoln as needing that. A 3.25 Traction Lock 9 3/8 would possibly be worth $250 if it is known to be in good shape and ready to go. These rears are not worth anywhere near as much as a 9 inch and there is very little demand for them so negotiate accordingly. If you want to junkyard hunt look for 70-72 F100's as a source but note that most will have a 9 inch and only a few will have the 9 3/8 (it was an option). Hawkrod

Hawkrod

39 Ford Deluxe Coupe
59 Tbird 430
60 Lincoln Premier
(2)62 Tbirds
(3)68 Cougar XR7-G's
69 Cougar 428CJ 4 speed
77 1/2 Ford F250 4X4 w/460 swap
86 SVO mustang
76 F250 Crew Cab
1969 Mach I
look at my cars past and present at superford!

Thanks a lot. I have been hearing about 3.55s but I have not ever found any. I know the 3.50s are out there. 3.55s came in the 8" rear end I believe. Aside from that, I am glad to hear that the 9" will work! Just in time as I am headed to a Canfield, OH for a swap meet and hope to find a vendor with some rebuilt and ready to drop in. Appreciate the help a lot; thanks again.

I am down to figuring out a good gear to use. From what I gather, torque monster engines may not need low gears. This makes me thing that the 3.25s will be perfect since I will have the torque to move the car off the line and then I can save a little on highway speeds with higher gears like the 3.25 vs the 3.50. On the other hand, I know the car is very heavy and I may need the 3.50s to get the acceleration but then I will suffer a little on the highway. Basically I wanted to know where to draw the line if I may end up with well over 500 ft lbs of torque (usable torque) and around 450 brake horse power. Just need a little help figuring out torque and gears and weight all together for the perfect set up. I want the car to be cruiseable but if 3.50s will cruise on the highway half descent then I will just go with them. Not sure what the RPMs will be. Thanks for the help.

Why wonder...just going with the 3.50 gears. Too much torque can blow out higher gears anyways so I am not risking it.