REAR END ID? not sure this even ford? factory gas tank?

The van I picked up supposedly had a rebuilt HD rear end in it (the original small 4.10 ratio one is in the back) Anyways I'm looking at this and it doesn't look like a ford 9", or at least doesn't look like the ones I had in my heavy duty econolines, I went to to the 9" rear ID website and it doesn't look like anything on there.

Anyone know what it is? the rear end has two spare wheels on it just so it could be rolled, I did notice one has a bolt pattern adapter/spacer on it, the other i couldnt see through without removing. So it might be chevy or something else with a different pattern, it may even be the wrong width?

PO told me it was an HD unit and rebuilt by a rear end shop. It does look clean and rebuilt, I just have no idea what it is and if it's worth keeping (if the bolt patterns wrong I'm gonna sell it and go back to the small factory one)

also this gas tank looks bigger and hangs down lower than the one I had in my 66, is this a factory tank or the larger mustang one everyone swaps to?

been looking at some images online

is this a standard ford 7.25" rear?

if so I gotta figure out what the heck is the rear end sitting in the back cargo area of the van.

this is the rearend that came uninstalled with the van, maybe this is the HD one he was talking about, also doesn't appear to be a ford 9". has 9 or 10 bolts I believe from the picture (not at home to look). I'll have to get a picture of the back if anyone can't identify it from the front.

That rear, in the bed, is an oddball for sure. It doesn't look like a ford at all. The rear that is under the van looks like a factory 7.25 inch.

yea I was able to ID the one installed as a 7.25" (this link to a mustang shows the same rear end http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums/classic-mustangs/189594-my-65-coupe-build.html)

but the one in the bed doesn't match anything on www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm

you can get sockets on all the bolts, so it's not a 9" but then again the fin and pattern doesn't really match any ford 8" pictures on the kevinstang link above.

even more odd is when I spin the wheel once on the mystery rear end, the yoke rotates only about 2.1-2.25 times, that seems really odd, talk about serious freeway gears.

I'm actually glad a factory 7.25" is installed, if it's the original one then the vin says 3.50 gears which is exactly what I'll want for the 170 or 200 motor I install. I don't need a heavy duty one for a small inline six.

I thought the rear cover on the 7.25 was more rounded and not a hex style. I thought the one in the back might be an 8 but it isn't really shaped like one.

Try this http://www.fordification.com/tech/rearends_ford01.htm

not sure why my mustang link didn't work above.

unfortunately both rear ends are missing the tags so not sure i can decode that way, unless the numbers are in the casting somewhere.  I'd look further but right now its sitting in my narrow little one car hollywood driveway with gravel inbetween so I can't really jack it up. Need to push it around the block into the alley and in my backyard when I can get a friend to help this weekend.

anyway these pictures below are of a mustang and it was ID'd as the factory 65 7.25" behind an inline 6.

looks exactly like what I have. Gotta jack it up and spin the wheel, vin says original axle was 3.50 so if yoke spins 3.5x I'll be pretty damn sure it's the original 7.25 rear end.





this shows a factory mustang i6 7.25" rear in front of an 8" rear, also confirms my current installed one as a 7.25"

That looks like a 7.25 rear but to check the ratio, turn one wheel TWO times and count the turns on the yoke. You have to turn TWO times because of the spider gears, unless it is a posi.

thank you, why didn't I think if that? makes total sense now that the rear end is somewhere between 4.10-4.56 then