Ultimate Chevelle Rearend

Our Currie 9-Plus race case was equipped with a 31-spline Tractech True Trac differential and 4.10 gears assembled by Currie Enterprises. We used RTV as a sealer.	To assemble the Wilwood brakes, the caliper mounting bracket is placed onto the housing flange, the axle is partially seated, and the bearing retainer (open on one side) is carefully slipped in place and aligned with the four holes inside the assembly. We then bolted up the assembly using red Loctite on the threads.
	For proper operation, the rotor must be aligned in the center of the caliper between the brake pads. Ours was too close on one side so we used one of the provided shims to move the caliper away from the rotor and center it. The shims are used on the mounting hardware, which consists of two bolts that attach the caliper to the brake bracket.
We snugged the caliper retainer bolts with a wrench.	Here, a directional impact device is used to seat the U-bolt that secures the housing to the lower control arm. CC

Brake Dancing
The most complicated aspect of using a Ford 9-inch rearend is the issue of brake compatibility. Many variations of the housing-end bolt pattern exist for the Ford 9-inch, but we will limit our focus here to three of the most common passenger-car versions: early large bearing, early small bearing, and Torino large bearing.

For years, the standard in the aftermarket was the early large-bearing housing-end bolt pattern, while Ford's most common "standard" was the Torino large-bearing bolt pattern. The small-bearing variety is also referred to as Mustang-style and is still fairly popular with vintage Mustang afficionados. Within each of these categories lie numerous undocumented variations. To further complicate matters, in one year (1979) three standards were used in the truck line of 9-inch rearends. Without understanding these variations and asking the right questions, a person could easily end up with a housing and axle combination that no brakes will work with, and according to Currie, this happens all too frequently.

Currie Enterprises took this bull by the horns and, in cooperation with several aftermarket brake manufacturers, set out to create a new industry standard based on the Ford Explorer housing-end dimensions. While similar to the Torino pattern, the new Currie standard dimensions are based on the very affordable and common Explorer rear disc brakes (see, SUVs are good for something). These dimensions open up many brake options for the enthusiast, including Explorer 10-inch drum brakes, 11-inch drum brakes (available exclusively from Currie), Explorer disc brakes, Wilwood's new disc brakes with an internal parking brake, and Baer's new "Pro-Touring" brake kits (offered in 11-, 12-, and 13-inch rotor kits).