The first post was not too exciting. Just the stuff as it came from Hurricane.
When I ordered the kit from Hurricane, it came with the 9" rearend with 3:50 gearing. I decided to go with the IRS option so worked it with Hurricane to swap the 9" for a IRS setup with 3:55 gearing.
Hurricane advertises that the IRS will fit into any existing Hurricane frames. I had to remove 4 different brackets from the frame that interfered with the IRS setup. These were the panhard rod mount, third link mount and two angle braces. There were also the trailing link mounts on the frame but since they didn't interfer with the IRS I left them on. Not too difficult to remove the brackets with a cut off tool, grind and sand smooth. Since the frame had been powder coated I could have patched the powder coating by either making a box around the area or a heat lamp to cure the powder. Real pain in the butt. I opted to use POR-15. Worked like a charm. A little shinier than the powder coating. I believe POR-15 is a polymer based. Good stuff. Seems to be as tough as the powder coating. Hurricane had the frame powder coated before delivery. The powder coating was absolutely flawless. Not sure who they have do it.
Here's how the IRS came from Hurricane. Not sure if they assemble the IRS normally with their kits.
It was easy enough to get installed. Put on a furniture dolly, lifted the frame, rolled into place and lowered the frame down. Clamped it into place as shown in the following picture. The frame came from Hurricane with spacers welded in where the bolts pass thru. Keeps the frame tubes from compressing when torquing the bolts. First class all the way. Had to drill out the holes to make everything line up. Really a one man job.
It appears the IRS got rained on during its trip from Iowa to Texas. Pulled the disks off and a quick bead blasting cleaned them right up.
Here's a picture of the IRS after installation. Note the double drive shaft loop. This is now standard from Hurricane for the HM-2xxx generation cars.
Even though I installed the IRS with an open frame, anyone with a Hurrricane wanting to upgrade their existing 9" Ford rearend to IRS shouldn't have any problem from underneath the car. Still have to remove the brackets. Might need an angle drill to get the holes to lineup enough for the bolts.
Got the adapters and Goodyear Billboards installed too. They sure look great. My only concern with these tires is getting them thru inspection in Texas. By the way, I purchased the Vintage wheels and tires from Hurricane. Came mounted and balanced.