[myckee]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you know of a 12bolt rear that will drop in without any mods into my 1979/80 firebird?

[myckee]

Hello, I was wondering if any of you know of a 12bolt rear that will drop in without any mods into my 1979/80 firebird?

['ol Pinion head]

The 2nd Generation Firebird-Camaro 12 bolt rearend was only used in '70 1/2. In it's stock rendition it was no stronger than the '72 & later 8.5 10 bolts with factory Eaton posi's (the '71 only 8.5's had a problematic Warner Motive posi). The '70 1/2 F-body 12 bolt used weak std 12 bolt axles, regular posi carrier & the small Spicer 1310 (chebby) u-joint flange. Given stronger axles, & a bigger Spicer 1330 u-joint flange, it is a strong rearend.

Direct bolt-in??? When installing a '70 1/2 F-body 12 bolt in place of 8.5 tenbolt, the 12 bolt R/E swap will normally require a longer driveshaft. Pontiac in 1970, juggled the driveshaft lengths between the base Birds with 8.2 10 bolt chevy c-clip rearend, & the 12 bolt in the turbo 400 equipped T/As & Formulas by the means of a longer driveshaft yoke on the Turbo 400 equipped cars. Another minor consideration when swapping, is you will need to reuse your "loaded" backing plates & emergency brake cables as '70 1/2-74 F-body used much longer cables.

[ April 12, 2002: Message edited by: ol' Pinion head ]</p>

[Goatman]

There are 9" rears that are available that would bolt into your car, no problem, but a driveshaft remake would also be in order.

[myckee]

Wow, thanks for the info guys! I guess I'd have more luck finding a needle in a haystack than I would finding a 70 1/2 rear.

So I guess that brings me to the 9" rear that Goatman mentioned. Where can I get one already built? Will my rear discs work with it?

[Steve C.]

Currie Enterprises would be one such company. They make a complete bolt-in performance rear end for all F-bodies. Includes brakes.
714-528-6957 or www.currieenterprises.com

[Goatman]

Moser Engineering also makes a nice one. They have a really nice web site.

http://www.moserengineering.com/

[Craig Berkheimer]

I'm currently useing the Moser unit. I snapped the tube right at the housing down at Mason in 2000 with a ladder bar GM 12 bolt.

I'm extremly happy with the quality of my Moser. For the $$, you can't beat it! Various options avalible. I also utilize the LPW tube brace, just to be safe. 60ft-1.37 I new this motor would be an axle snapper, but rear a housing?? Cool!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[myckee]

Thanks guys, I called Currie and they want $2155 for a 9" 31 spline set up ready to bolt in, without brakes. They want $2015 for a 12bolt with 31 spline axles or an extra $100 for 33 splines Eaton Posi(10 yr warranty) set up ready to bolt in minus brakes. To get my existing rear disks to work requires significan mods, and an aftermarket Wilwood rear disk kit costs $675.

LOL Once you convert the prices from US dollars to Canadian, its enough to put Bill Gates in the poor house. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Seriously once you factor in exchange, duty, shipping, the UPS shipping charges, the sales tax(even though it wasn't purchased in Canada, they still make you pay sales tax), the price is almost exactly DOUBLE!! I just can not afford $5000-6000 for a custom rear end.

I guess what it means is that I just have to hope and pray my 10bolt survives behind my 463 with ~500HP and 550ft/lbs torque.

I may look into trying to beef up the 10bolt with new Eaton posi and some Strange axles. Hopefullt that will be enough.