When we left off with the rearend for Project Max Effort in the December issue, Speedway Engineering had worked their special blend of magic on one of their Grand National series 9-inch floater rearend housings, dialing in both camber and toe, but that's as far as Speedway takes these beasts. So to fill it up with the guts that will make it go we journeyed 60 miles south to Anaheim, California, to Currie Enterprises.
The rearend authorities at Currie Enterprises take Max Effort's Speedway Engineering housing and add a bulletproof third member that's ready for race.
Currie makes their own rearend housings from scratch as well, including drag race, off-road, full custom, and mil-spec pieces-as a matter of fact, they were prepping a shipment of replacement rearends headed to our troops in Afghanistan when we arrived. But when it comes to cambered rearends like the one for the Max Effort '67 Cougar, Currie often works with Speedway Engineering, since they are one of the few outside companies whose quality meets their high expectations. Speedway feels the same way about Currie's renowned centersections and parts; they're some of the best available anywhere.
To say the Currie family is particular about quality would truly be an underestimation. Here's a good example: To ensure that every piece they need for their rearends is top-notch without fail, Currie manufactures nearly every part that goes into their rearends and third members in-house, or works with outside vendors to have parts made to their specifications.
We hate spiders dangling over our heads, so you'll have to trust us that the original crusty and greasy 8-inch rear with an open diff and 3.00 cogs is still under Max for now. We'll give you
a good comparison shot when we fumigate it and pull it for suspension work.
Centersections, pinion supports, axles, axle tubes, yokes, gear cases, it's all Currie spec and stringently controlled. That goes right down to the bolts; Currie couldn't find a consistent supply of what they needed, so they launched their own proprietary line of nuts and bolts. Need any of that stuff for your 9-inch? It's all improved, but almost all of it will work with original housings as well-and all of it is available to consumers in Currie's rearend builder catalog.
So with our bare Speedway housing, we told Currie our goals, and they spec'd out the ideal package that would not only stand up to the planned power and abuse, but do so for years to come. If you like what you see, everything is available to create your own combo. Want an actual Max Effort-spec rearend of your own, complete end to end with hubs, axles, brackets, brackets, third member, and even an innovative Baer Brakes system? Just give the boys at Cortex Racing a call; Max's rearend is one of the components that will be orderable and customizable to fit just about any muscle car.
We'll be using Currie's nodular iron 9-Plus big-bearing pinion support since it has a 50 percent larger (than stock 9-inch) heavy-duty bearing to stabilize the pinion head under the extreme loads delivered by high horsepower. It's designed for Currie cases, but will fit any 9-inch.
On The Web Want to see the key differences between Currie's cases and a stock Ford Nodular 9-inch? Check PopularHotRodding.com for the web-exclusive story.
