Ford 9 Inch Conversion - 68-72 Nova

[wmonkemeyer]

Has anyone upgraded a Nova with a Ford 9 Inch? I am building a 468 BB backed up with Muncie M21 and figure the 10 bolt that used to reside behind the straight six the car originally had may not hold up under acceleration and shifting.

My Questions:

Will GM backing plates fit the 9 Inch housing?
What brake hardware do you use - Ford or GM?
Can the Ford bolt pattern be filled (welded in) and can a laymen drill the corrected GM bolt pattern to retain the stock rallies?
What other challenges exist in this conversion?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[nova68]

i built a 327 with 450 horse and i swapped a ford nine in my 68. I bought the kit from currie that includes the housing and 31 spline axles. For alittle over 1000. To answer question no gm backing plates dont fit and i had to convert to ford drum brakes and i had to also buy a universial kit from lokar to redo my parking brakes. I also had to redo the brake lines in the rear becasue they dont fit at all anymore. But i am extremely happy with it and i run 4.33 gears with a locker and it doesnt even strain the ford 9. As much as i hate to say it ford hit it on the head with the ford nine. oh and when i bought the rear from currie the axles are set up for chevy. so you dont have to mess with welding or crap like that.