Old Mercury Bobcat rear end info needed.

Just got a first gen Mercury Bobcat 8 inch rear end for my MGA project. Four lug drum brakes, I know, but fine for what I need. I've learned that the gear rations are all over the place, from 3.07 up past 3.77 depending, but anything else that I ought to know?

Failings, pluses, adaptability, aftermarket, etc.

Old tech for sure, but it's what I have and it's what will fit, so I'd like to know more if anyone has some info to share.

Thanks—

T

As you probably know, same as Pinto.

Pretty much just the normal axle for the time.

Has C lock axles. Except for Traction Lok.

That's all I have.

Thanks . . . more than I knew a moment ago.

Should be a removable center section, just like the larger Ford 9 inch. There are ratio's all the way up to near 5:1 as my friends & I used an 8 inch and a 4:63-1 rear for a dedicated auto-X car. There was a limited slip unit available for it but I'm not sure is it still is? Short of 400 HP that rear end will hold up fine. They were installed standard in the Pinto Wagons, some V6 models, and all of the Mustang II's that came stock with the 302 V8. Also first gen Mustangs, Falcons, and some Mavericks.

Pretty Sure Steve Magnante put one of those behind a 500" Caddy engine in his Chevette with good results. Yes I said 500" Caddy in a Chevette.

hrdlydangerous wrote: Pretty Sure Steve Magnante put one of those behind a 500" Caddy engine in his Chevette with good results. Yes I said 500" Caddy in a Chevette.

Are you referring to the one that hot rod magazine built back in the 90's? I remember reading that when it came out. I think I was about 14 years old at the time and I was mesmerized. I was a subscriber from the time I was twelve until I was about twenty and that was for me the most memorable build I ever saw.

Should hold up fine short of a strong V8 and sticky tires. Its a front loader so it will have semi floating axles, not C clips, so if you do blow it up it wont launch the wheels out w/ axles attached.

Sounds better and better. I'm poking around putting together an MGA race car in my off, OFF hours. This is pretty much a "practice" car using up all of the extra bits and pieces that aren't destined for the MGA roadster that I'm hoping to actually restore.

I have a 5.0 with a AOD automatic behind it, the chassis is still at a friend's being welded, the body is almost done. The front suspension is going to be a VW Beetle torsion tube set-up, and this Bobcat rear end will pretty much complete the assembly. It's close enough to the track width that I can get away with fender flares and not have things get awkward looking.

Just making sure that the 8 inch will hold up to a bit of fun. I thought that using an automatic would help soak up some of the strain that might be magnified with a standard trans and a hard launch.

Thanks very much for the info and help here. I feel a lot better about the buy now, wasn't really sure if it would be usable, you know?

TC

Pictures!

It would just be pics or parts. Until my friend finishes welding the chassis for me, the body pieces, engine/trans, etc. might not be too interesting.

As soon as the chassis returns, I'll probably begin roughing things in place. I'm kind of hoping to be able to get back to the Austin A35 though. Now that Todd pitched in and welded up the cracks in the hood, I can completely finish the bodywork and get the engine mocked in place. I'm still not really sure if the Capri V6 will clear the steering.

But at least I now feel better about picking up the 8 inch Ford/Mercury rear end.

Oh, wait! As I'm planning on back-dating the 5.0 to mimic a 289, I DID just finish up the valve covers. Wanna see 'em? I know, not much, but they DID come out sweet and I made all of the stickers on the computer and carved the "OK" stamp myself out of a gum eraser . . .

Yea post the valve cover pics.

The 8" Ford rear is pretty strong, and has good aftermarket support. There are plenty of gear sets out there and limited slip carriers from cone setups to Detroit Lockers. They get overshadowed by the 9" rear but there are plenty of good pieces out there both used and new.