Quote:
Originally Posted by Squidward
+1.
The couple hundred bucks you would save by NOT buying the more expensive BOP stuff and buying 8.5 10 bolt stuff might fund a nova 8.5 rear end. Or a 2nd gen 8.5 for perch relocation.
12 bolts are tough to find (expensive). For me it was either find the Nova 8.5, or get a 12 bolt housing from the aftermarket as a bolt in. I found the Nova rear for $150 locally.
So... starting in order of least desirable in terms of strength of 10 bolts: 8.2 chevy, 8.2 bop, 8.5 chevy/corporate. Factory 12 bolts are stronger than factory 8.5's due to axle size, but 8.5's can be upgraded to be their equal. Ford 9's are the strongest. I have no idea where the Dana/Mopar stuff falls in this list.
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Let's disect this ..
Totally agree, 12 bolt 1st Gen F body rears are expensive. Have several in the racks and have built over 4 dozen early Camaro/Nova rears. Nice clean factory posi coded '67-69 housings, they are ending up in NICE early Camaro restorations. Want to save, ask your builder if he has a '65-67 "Chevelle" 12 bolt that has had the perches whacked off. those can only be built up as leaf spring rears & the housing doesn't have expensive restoration value. 9"s...until one upgrades a stock Ford 9" with Nodular case, Daytona pinion support, sorry, the strength is debatable. Have examined too many damaged budget built 9"'s. For years pulling cores I grabbed every narrow (Granada) 9" as well as TracLoks out of pickups. Never had a hard time selling them, but for what they went in, power wise, an 8.5 or upgraded 12 bolt posi rear would have sufficed.
The 8.5 "Nova" housing makes a good budget build. typically the stock axles in these are pitted at the wheel bearing contact surface & for strong performance use, some thought needs to be taken as to axle retention & axle strength. Have built well over a hundred 8.5 X body rears off the monoleaf & multileaf "Nova" 8.5 housings. The 8.5 X-body rears are same width as a '67-69 Camaro rear, 1/2 narrower on each side than the original early Firebird rear. The 8.5 housing has more pinion support than even the stock 12 bolt hsg, so less pinion deflection. Upgrade the 8.5 to a 30 spline Eaton Posi, or 33 spline spool, quality set of gears, a pair of Moser axles, depending on how hard you're launching, a fitted lh billet steel cap... a very strong rear.
Desiring exact same width as the early Bird with superior design tapered bearing bolt in axles, here's a route have gone several times. Many times when hitting boneyards, I've pulled early 8.5 A body housings out of housing core piles...i always ck em out real close. Several times now have encountered an upper control arm perch on a 8.5 Abody center housing which the loop is cracked as the perch took a good whack from another rear being dropped onto it. Have ran across this on 12 bolts and even a '68 Nodular 3.90 coded GTO rear
Dumb stuff often happens in busy yards when it comes to core out time & the mobile crusher is on its way. These lightly damaged housings were not able to be built up as desirable performance 8.5 A body rears, but, each time was able to buy the core cheap. Back in the garage, careful trimming & grinding removed the cast upper perchs, as well as the lwr control arm & coil spring mounts. On the bench, in the jig, then I came back in and tacked on welded multileaf early F body leaf spring perches which have reinforced. Off the bench with the housing and the lineup bar to an old friend, who has always treated me well when it came to firing up his TIG welder. End up with a fairly clean hsg, tapered bearing hsg ends, ready to build. The stock bolt in tapered bearing '71-72 A body axles are stronger than the flared design 8.5 c clip axles & will usually hold up in a fairly strong street build. Throwing 500+ ft lbs of torque at sticky rear tires in heavier car, its time to upgrade to Moser axles. Might as well plan for it from the beginning and go 30 spline with an Eaton. Not there yet, power wise, saving for say the bill on the engine build, can always order the 30 spline Moser axles and use a cheap used GM Auburn 30 spline posi unit from a Caprice. Then when that new engine is ready and the bank acct balance is there, buy a new HD Eaton 30 spline carrier and have it installed.