Get any group of Ford enthusiasts together to talk about brakes and the Granada or Lincoln Versials disc brake rear end will come up

Get any group of Ford enthusiasts together to talk about brakes and the Granada or Lincoln Versailles disc brake rear end will come up. It's been a very popular conversion for many years for the early Mustang, Cougar, Fairlane, Falcon and later the Mustang II. There are pros and cons to the merits of the conversion but I'm not going to get into that discussion here. The intent of this tech article it to describe the process of refurbishing and installing one of these rear end assemblies into one of the aforementioned cars.

Getting Started

You have to have a rear end assembly to start with. Most Ford swap meets will have a few for sale. Junk yards are a popular spot as well but more often than not if you're on the junk yard circuit, you'll need to go out of state to find one. Most of the 70's vintage cars in the north east have been crushed by now. In any case it will look a lot or exactly like the picture below left.

If the plan is to get the car through a New York State inspection, be sure that the emergency brake hardware is still on the housing (see picture above). Specifically the left and right arms that rotate the jack screws to apply pressure to the calipers to clamp the rear rotors when the emergency brake handle is pulled. If you are creative you can make the necessary sheet metal brackets to hold the cable ends but the jack screw levers are a lot more complicated and have been obsolete for many years. Although not completely essential, the dust covers / air deflectors are a nice plus (picture to left). Often they are damaged beyond repair. They are the most fragile piece of the assembly and therefore usually the first to fall victim to the junk yard mis-handlers.

If you're putting and assembly together from various pieces, be sure that at least one of the major parts, the housing or center section has a fluid level inspection plug (see picture to left). Some rear end assemblies have a plug in the center section and some have them in the housing. If you put together a center section from and assembly with the plug in the housing and a housing from an assembly with the plug in the center section, neither will have a plug so fluid filling and inspection can be an adventure. I know this to be true from personal experience.

Preparation and Initial Clean UP
If you get an assembly from the north east, it will probably be pretty messy. Most of the cars that these parts come off of are driven through the winter and that means rust and road grime. Since the assembly is designed to be able to withstand the elements, cleaning the assembly as a unit initially is a good idea. In some cases, glass bead or sand blasting is the only way to get back to clean, rust free metal. After the assembly is free of scale and grime it's time to break it down. Begin by removing the brake hardware. Dust covers, calipers and rotors are an easy task. Make sure you hang on to the calipers for the core when you pick up the new ones. Toss the rotors unless you need bases for some light stands. Remove the cast iron brackets that position the calipers next.

Disassembly
Remove the four bolts holding the bearing flanges to the housing and use a slide hammer tool to remove the axles. The bearings are a slip fit into the housing and onto the axle. There is a retaining ring however, that is a press fit that positions the bearing on the axle. Removing and replacing the axle bearings is a must. When investing the time necessary to do this job, it would be silly to ignore the inexpensive wheel bearings. A press will be required to remove and replace the bearings because of the retaining ring. Once the axles are out, the center section can be removed. It's a good idea to suspend the housing over a catch pan since there isn't a drain plug at the bottom of the housing. When the nuts are removed from the housing studs and the center section seal is broken, all the fluid will exit at once. It can make a real mess on your floor if you're not careful.

Major component disassembly is now complete. This particular rear end assembly had a hard life. When I separated the center section, I found very little gear oil in the assembly and pieces of the carrier bearings in the housing. Apparently this section was abused and will require some additional work which will translate to additional dollars to replace the damaged pieces. There is always a risk in buying and refurbishing used pieces. It's better to get parts from running vehicles, if possible, but that's generally not the case. So when you buy, expect the best but assume the worst and try to arrive at a price that's consistent with your expectations.

Well, the center section is back from the re-builder and has been detailed and is ready to be mated to the rear end housing. The stock setup to these Ford nine inch rear end assemblies is non-limited slip, often referred to as an "open", rear end and 28 spline axles. This unit has been converted to a limited slip configuration with 31 spline axles. This is a popular conversion since the 31 spline axles are stronger than the 28's and since we were adding the limited slip unit anyway, the axle upgrade was a no-brainer. This unit has been bench tested by the re-builder checking for correct clearances on the pinion gear and appropriate gear mesh. All that's left is to mate it to the housing.

In the picture above, the center section has been mated to the housing and it's time to assemble the axles. If you're going to work on axles yourself, you'll need to get a press or get access to one to install the bearings. The caliper brackets have to go on the axle before the bearing gets pressed on. Don't forget or you'll be buying another set of axles bearings and starting over. These axles are custom fabricated and don't require an outside oil seal. Instead, they use a sealed bearing with an O-ring to seal the bearing to the housing to prevent the gear lube from leaking. In the picture to the right, the axle assembly is mounted to the housing. In the picture below, the disc and caliper have been added.

Once the housing is assembled, it's ready to be installed in the car. Don't forget the gear lube. It won't last long without it. The housing diameters near the disc assemblies are larger than the stock 8 inch housing you took out. This means that the U-bolts will need to be changed and the spring mounting plate U-bolt holes will need to be re-positioned. This particular install is in a Mustang II. It uses a rubber insulated assembly to contain the leaf spring. The 9 inch rear end assembly needs a 1/2" diameter pin so the flange has to be removed from the upper mount and the hole filled with the same thickness steel. The pin is then added to locate the housing. Remove the rubber nub and reposition the holes in the top and bottom mounting plates for the new U-bolts.

Once the spring mounts have been modified, they can be mounted to the springs. The rear end housing can be set in place and the spring shackles, shocks and U-bolts can be installed. Well, that's pretty much it. You'll need to hook up the brake lines and e-brake cables. I could probably do another tech article on just on the e-brake stuff. Hey, maybe I will.
IMPORTANT NOTE.......The master cylinder in the car will NOT supply enough brake fluid to the rear disk calipers to give a hard brake pedal. The only solution to this problem is to replace the master cylinder with an after market piece or use the Ford Granada or Lincoln Versailles original equipment master cylinder and booster. You may also need to change the swing radius of the brake pedal assembly to get the proper travel on the master cylinder push rod as well.

This information is offered as is, from practical experience. This is not a recommendation to do the conversion, just some insight into the components of the job.
Author: Joe Quaranto


	If the plan is to get the car through a New York State inspection, be sure that the emergency brake hardware is still on the housing (see picture above). Specifically the left and right arms that rotate the jack screws to apply pressure to the calipers to clamp the rear rotors when the emergency brake handle is pulled. If you are creative you can make the necessary sheet metal brackets to hold the cable ends but the jack screw levers are a lot more complicated and have been obsolete for many years. Although not completely essential, the dust covers / air deflectors are a nice plus (picture to left). Often they are damaged beyond repair. They are the most fragile piece of the assembly and therefore usually the first to fall victim to the junk yard mis-handlers.
	If you're putting and assembly together from various pieces, be sure that at least one of the major parts, the housing or center section has a fluid level inspection plug (see picture to left). Some rear end assemblies have a plug in the center section and some have them in the housing. If you put together a center section from and assembly with the plug in the housing and a housing from an assembly with the plug in the center section, neither will have a plug so fluid filling and inspection can be an adventure. I know this to be true from personal experience.
Preparation and Initial Clean UP If you get an assembly from the north east, it will probably be pretty messy. Most of the cars that these parts come off of are driven through the winter and that means rust and road grime. Since the assembly is designed to be able to withstand the elements, cleaning the assembly as a unit initially is a good idea. In some cases, glass bead or sand blasting is the only way to get back to clean, rust free metal. After the assembly is free of scale and grime it's time to break it down. Begin by removing the brake hardware. Dust covers, calipers and rotors are an easy task. Make sure you hang on to the calipers for the core when you pick up the new ones. Toss the rotors unless you need bases for some light stands. Remove the cast iron brackets that position the calipers next.

Disassembly Remove the four bolts holding the bearing flanges to the housing and use a slide hammer tool to remove the axles. The bearings are a slip fit into the housing and onto the axle. There is a retaining ring however, that is a press fit that positions the bearing on the axle. Removing and replacing the axle bearings is a must. When investing the time necessary to do this job, it would be silly to ignore the inexpensive wheel bearings. A press will be required to remove and replace the bearings because of the retaining ring. Once the axles are out, the center section can be removed. It's a good idea to suspend the housing over a catch pan since there isn't a drain plug at the bottom of the housing. When the nuts are removed from the housing studs and the center section seal is broken, all the fluid will exit at once. It can make a real mess on your floor if you're not careful.

	Major component disassembly is now complete. This particular rear end assembly had a hard life. When I separated the center section, I found very little gear oil in the assembly and pieces of the carrier bearings in the housing. Apparently this section was abused and will require some additional work which will translate to additional dollars to replace the damaged pieces. There is always a risk in buying and refurbishing used pieces. It's better to get parts from running vehicles, if possible, but that's generally not the case. So when you buy, expect the best but assume the worst and try to arrive at a price that's consistent with your expectations.

Well, the center section is back from the re-builder and has been detailed and is ready to be mated to the rear end housing. The stock setup to these Ford nine inch rear end assemblies is non-limited slip, often referred to as an "open", rear end and 28 spline axles. This unit has been converted to a limited slip configuration with 31 spline axles. This is a popular conversion since the 31 spline axles are stronger than the 28's and since we were adding the limited slip unit anyway, the axle upgrade was a no-brainer. This unit has been bench tested by the re-builder checking for correct clearances on the pinion gear and appropriate gear mesh. All that's left is to mate it to the housing.

In the picture above, the center section has been mated to the housing and it's time to assemble the axles. If you're going to work on axles yourself, you'll need to get a press or get access to one to install the bearings. The caliper brackets have to go on the axle before the bearing gets pressed on. Don't forget or you'll be buying another set of axles bearings and starting over. These axles are custom fabricated and don't require an outside oil seal. Instead, they use a sealed bearing with an O-ring to seal the bearing to the housing to prevent the gear lube from leaking. In the picture to the right, the axle assembly is mounted to the housing. In the picture below, the disc and caliper have been added.
	Once the housing is assembled, it's ready to be installed in the car. Don't forget the gear lube. It won't last long without it. The housing diameters near the disc assemblies are larger than the stock 8 inch housing you took out. This means that the U-bolts will need to be changed and the spring mounting plate U-bolt holes will need to be re-positioned. This particular install is in a Mustang II. It uses a rubber insulated assembly to contain the leaf spring. The 9 inch rear end assembly needs a 1/2" diameter pin so the flange has to be removed from the upper mount and the hole filled with the same thickness steel. The pin is then added to locate the housing. Remove the rubber nub and reposition the holes in the top and bottom mounting plates for the new U-bolts.

Once the spring mounts have been modified, they can be mounted to the springs. The rear end housing can be set in place and the spring shackles, shocks and U-bolts can be installed. Well, that's pretty much it. You'll need to hook up the brake lines and e-brake cables. I could probably do another tech article on just on the e-brake stuff. Hey, maybe I will. IMPORTANT NOTE.......The master cylinder in the car will NOT supply enough brake fluid to the rear disk calipers to give a hard brake pedal. The only solution to this problem is to replace the master cylinder with an after market piece or use the Ford Granada or Lincoln Versailles original equipment master cylinder and booster. You may also need to change the swing radius of the brake pedal assembly to get the proper travel on the master cylinder push rod as well. This information is offered as is, from practical experience. This is not a recommendation to do the conversion, just some insight into the components of the job. Author: Joe Quaranto