yeah they came with wedges, and yes the pinion angle is wrong. Best thing to do is cut off the spring perches and weld on some new ones at the right angle. I fought with that lincoln stuff for a while, never could get it right, finally just cut everyhting off and started over, now its right.
Versailles pinion angle wedge
I think I read somewhere that the spring perch angle on the Versailles housing is different from the standard Mustang?
I also think I recall throwing away a pair of factory pinion angle wedges when I yanked my Versailles housing at the wrecker in the 80's.
Anyone pull a Versailles housing and recall if they did indeed come from the factory with wedges?
I also think I recall throwing away a pair of factory pinion angle wedges when I yanked my Versailles housing at the wrecker in the 80's.
Anyone pull a Versailles housing and recall if they did indeed come from the factory with wedges?
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Since I don't have an original 65 Mustang rear end, what is the correct angle in degrees for the pinion? I'm experiencing the same problems; vibration at high speeds. Is that what you're experiencing?
I don't have any vibration problems, and I don't have the wedges. I will check my pinion angle when I reinstall the housing in a week or so.
The Versailles and the '64 1/2-'73 Mustang pinion angles are the same, matter of fact, so are Falcon, Fairlane,Comet,Maverick,Cougar,Torino, Ranchero and Granada. I have been building rear end housings for close to 20 years, and I set them up all the same because I measured dozens of factory housings before I built my jigs. Most leaf spring equipped passenger cars have the same pinion angle including Camaros,Tri-5 Chevys,Novas and others. Fact, not fiction.
I have to disagree with you F15, unless I got a fluke rearend. I know that you know your stuff, so don't take it personally. Mine is from a 1977 versailles, it used wedges, thick rubber pads, and a McBracket sandwich to hold the rearend to the spring. Only option is to reuse all the lincoln stuff with resulting -5* pinion angle (which is probably ok for most cars, but not mine), or to reweld the spring perches and mount it like usual(without all the extra lincoln stuff). The lincoln perches require the use of the wedges, otherwise you have like -20* pinion angle, completely unuseable. I could not just remove the wedges and run it, and if you use the wedges, you have to run all the other stuff or it won't fit together right. I have no idea why Lincoln did it that way, but by golly they did.
Well, Ford wasn't perfect then, and I am sure they are not perfect now, so yes you might have a fluke rearend. I installed a Versailles rear in my '70 Mach I back in 1986, and it bolts in woth no problems, and no vibrations. I have installed at least a dozen other Versailles rears in customers cars with no problems either. The rear ends I sell as a large part of my business have to be what the majority of the cars that they are going into have as far as characteristics. That is why I set them up all the same, and I have never had one sent back because on an incorrect pinion angle.
I think you are both right, but are looking at it differently. The axle flange which is normally set at horazontal to the ground on most rears is pitched at and angle on the Versailles rear. So I think the perch angle on both are correct, but Ford for whatever reason angled the axle flanges on the Versailles rear.
I have a Versailles rear but I did not see the wedges as I didn't pull it from the car it came out of.
I have a Versailles rear but I did not see the wedges as I didn't pull it from the car it came out of.
I have a granada 9-inch and there was no wedges when pulled... but the spring perches are at an anagle from the factory.
Great answers, please keep it comming
The McBracket sandwich deal is what I recall seeing when I pulled mine. At the time I thought who needs all this junk!
Sounds like the angle of the axle flanges is irelevent.
So the real question is...... On a stock Mustang housing, what is the angle between the spring perch and the flat face of the housing where the pumpkin bolts in?
The McBracket sandwich deal is what I recall seeing when I pulled mine. At the time I thought who needs all this junk!
Sounds like the angle of the axle flanges is irelevent.
So the real question is...... On a stock Mustang housing, what is the angle between the spring perch and the flat face of the housing where the pumpkin bolts in?
I've narrowed a few in the past couple of years, and when locating the new spring perches used 4 deg. Thats what I measured off of the factory perches. Thats for the mustang platform, not the lincoln. I have no idea what the lincoln used for perch location.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: benc on 4/12/06 5:57pm ]</font>
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: benc on 4/12/06 5:57pm ]</font>
the rotated axle flanges on the versailles rear is to give clearance between the caliper and spring pack. Maybe there was a design change somewhere along the line, or maybe a bunch of housings were made wrong, and instead if scrapping them they came up with the wedge idea. I've only looked at 3 different lincoln versailles' (but only done one swap),and they all had this setup. The drum brake cars (granada's, monarchs) used the typical spring plate mount. Working on fords is so much fun, lol....
With the spring perches sitting level on a bench or table, the flat face of the housing where the pumpkin bolts to will point up 5 degrees on any leaf spring equipped Ford including '57-'64 Ford full size cars, '64 1/2-'73 Mustang/Cougar, '60-'71 Falcon-Fairlane-Torino-Ranchero, as well as all the Mavericks,Comets,Granadas and Versailles. I have measured dozens of stock housings in this way, and this is the way I set up all the housings I build. This measurement is on a jig or worktable, the actual degrees will be different once bolted in the car.On 2006-04-11 21:56, jeffstar wrote:
So the real question is...... On a stock Mustang housing, what is the angle between the spring perch and the flat face of the housing where the pumpkin bolts in?
another problem I had on my versailles housing was that the factory perches, while 43" apart, were not centered on the housing. So, the distance between perch and flange was not equal, I think there was about 5/8" difference if I remember right. That was enough to cause tire rub on the long side. I have heard of other people having the same problem, but not all. Something to lookout for.
I have a 65 Mustang with 5 leaf springs and a 1" dropped front. I have no vibrations at any speed and I've been up to 136mph in my car, which is pretty dumb considering it is a 40yo piece of metal...
Thank you everyone!
My housing seems very well centered (got lucky I guess, I run 275 tires, and they just clear the rolled fender lip on both sides)
F15, I will be measuring for that 5 degrees tonight. Thanks for the clear explanation.
My housing seems very well centered (got lucky I guess, I run 275 tires, and they just clear the rolled fender lip on both sides)
F15, I will be measuring for that 5 degrees tonight. Thanks for the clear explanation.
Measured it on the bench last night.
The bottom of my spring perch's are not completly flat, so the angle varied depending on where on the arc of the spring perch it was sitting.
Measured between 7 and 10 degrees up.
The bottom of my spring perch's are not completly flat, so the angle varied depending on where on the arc of the spring perch it was sitting.
Measured between 7 and 10 degrees up.
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