[Woodz428]

ALL the Fox chassis cars( that would include the Bird,Cougar and several other Ford models) had the pinion offset to the passenger side. According to Ford at the time of introduction, it allowed more room on the driver's side for steering,etc. It is not critical a pinion be centered, although the pinion angle needs to be very close to that of the tranny output(no more than about 7* variation). I don't recall without some checking, but I think it also allows a single axle length as opposed to 2 on an 8 or 9".