Rear Hub Re-Drill Questions.

darkstar_one

Registered User
Hey, Whats up compadres. I am trying to convert to the 4.5" mustang bolt pattern but i ran into a dilemna with the machine shops. One guy told me he couldnt do it because the metal is heat treated or what not and first they have to heat it up redrill and then hit it up again. something like that. they say they cant just redrill it like they are. is this right? or should i just buy the cobra hubs. thanks. anyone know a machine shop here in los angeles that can do it with out the BS
 
i would buy the cobra hubs,that's what i did.back pre 99' cobra you had no choice but to redrill your stock hubs but now imo there's no choice but to go cobra
 
darkstar_one said:
Hey, Whats up compadres. I am trying to convert to the 4.5" mustang bolt pattern but i ran into a dilemna with the machine shops. One guy told me he couldnt do it because the metal is heat treated or what not and first they have to heat it up redrill and then hit it up again. something like that. they say they cant just redrill it like they are. is this right? or should i just buy the cobra hubs. thanks. anyone know a machine shop here in los angeles that can do it with out the BS
This is so much BS. They are just giving an excuse for not wanting to do the job. There is no heat treat issue involved, the hub can be easily re-drilled as it is-no problem. I can't recall for sure, but there may be an issue on the back side of the hub that requires it to have a flat milled into it to give the stud heads a flat surface to index on. All-in-all you're better off just to buy Mustang hubs when you consider the machine costs of converting stock hubs. John
 
I just finished redrilling my front hubs to 4.5" bolt pattern. I haven't got the rears off yet but they're next so I can let you know how it goes.

The problem I had with the fronts was that between the existing stud holes there is no flat surface for the head of the stud. What I did was to weld some metal to the back of the hub, then machine it flat to match where the existing stud holes are, then I drilled the new holes. Seems simple enough but the weld was VERY hard metal and I destroyed a new drill bit, then bought a Cobalt drill bit and some Tap Magic and drilled reeeely slow. I destroyed the Cobalt drill bit too but not before it got the job done.

Hopefully I can just redrill the rears without having to weld.

Another thing I did was to switch to the Mustang studs. They are a bit larger in the knurled diameter. I had to switch to them because the shouldered nuts that go on Weld wheels come in 1/2", not in Tbird metric.

About halfway through the ordeal I checked with a machine shop and they said they would do all 4 for $150. If I hadn't invested in 2 drill bits and a lot of work already, I would have just had them do it.
 
i bought all 4 mustang hubs for $200.if i was going to pay $150 for redrilling the stock hubs i'd throw in another $50 and get mustang hubs, definitely stronger without the redrilling.
 
i bought the front hubs from advance auto parts and the rear cobra hubs from ford parts online.the backs were $72 a piece and the fronts were $50 a piece.damn i need to refresh my math,total is around $244
 
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