[67drake]

Typical preloads would be around 15-20 in. lbs.
Also you are not tightening the nut to 20 in.lbs,that is just the reading you need to have on the wrench to keep the pinion spinning after the crush sleeve is crushed.

[67drake]

I seemed to get mixed messages on running the spacer myself. Here is one of my threads.
http://psp.aquacomp.net/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4707
I asked on CP too. Seems like some guys trust them,some don't. With me running a 4-speed,racing my car frequently,and most likely I will be switching to a drag radial,I didn't want to chance it.
Spacer is about a 1/4" thick BTW.

[GStage1]

You can contact Jim at www.jdrace.com

He rebuilds them all the time, has excellent knowledge and good parts selection.

[67drake]

Originally Posted by GStage1

You can contact Jim at www.jdrace.com

He rebuilds them all the time, has excellent knowledge and good parts selection.

And that's who sold me my spacer and gears.

[b-man]

Originally Posted by GStage1

You can contact Jim at www.jdrace.com

He rebuilds them all the time, has excellent knowledge and good parts selection.

Jim built my Buick 8.5 too and shipped it out to me.

He even sent a few pictures to me during the build, this one that I posted here previously is one of them:

[70temp455]

I'll take the one in the window !

Ok, thsi sin't going to be a race car or the like, just a street car.
If Jim knows his stuff as you guys say, and sells the spacer (and I assume uses the in rebuilds) maybe I should give him a call.
Andy

[70temp455]

9:00 tonight, First Test drive with the GM 8.5 10 bolt rear end.
Drove just fine.
Por-15'd the axle housing Drum to drum, chrome cover, new SS brake lines, new wheel cyls, Gloss black Rustoleum'd the gas tank and all the rear frame rails I could get to and new Gabriel Air shocks. The car sits real nice now with a nice stance.
Looks very nice. (oh, all new parking brake cables etc. too)
I cleaned and painted the drums with white and then Red Rustoleum so I put 15 x 7 Rally II's with 255-70-15's on the back.
All this after completely re-doing the front end, bushings, all joints tie rod ends etc.
I have about 1-1/2" clearance between the back of the wheel and the inner wheel well.
I still have 14's on the front. Anybody think 15's on back and 14's on front would cause any issues.
the 2.56 seemed strong enough and did well on the Highway. I may just stay with the 2.56, at least for now.
Thanks Guys for all the help, advice, comments and opinions.
Greatfully,
Andy

[b-man]

I ran some 2.56 gears in my '64 Tempest and they were so nice on the highway. If you do a lot of highway driving I'd leave them in there until you can put an overdrive auto trans in there someday.

If you like the 14/15 wheel combo then leave them, they won't cause any issues.

Good luck with your Tempest, it sounds like you've done a lot of fine work to make it a nice driving car.

Bart

[70temp455]

Bart, My last car was a 70 Tempest, new car is a 72 Luxury LeMans.
the 14's are on American Racing solid chrome rims and all 4 are nearly new. I have four 15" rally II's and 3 need restoring and I have an opportunity to get 2 decent 15's (with rubber) or some restorable R II 14's. The current GOOD rubber are all on 14's.
the 2 15's on R II's that I put on tonight have been behind the shed for 5 years and if I go with 15's I need all new rubber.
What a quandry.
Thanks for the help and kind words.

[b-man]

If it were my car I'd wear out all of the 14" tires and have the 15" Rally II wheels painted and ready and put them on when it's time for new tires.

Personally I only like using 14" wheels on the older cars to get a factory look with either plain blackwalls, thin whitewalls or redline tires in 70 or 75-series sizes. I'll be running a set of 14x6" plain steel wheels with either stock '64 spinner hubcaps or poverty caps on my '64 LeMans convertible, I have a set of 215/70-14 whitewalls I will use for a while.

For a more performance-oriented car I like using 15" wheels and 60-series tires.

It's all personal preference and keeping with the theme of the car and the purpose it's built for. I have some '64 Pontiac A-body cars set up with 17" and 18" wheels too (defintely performance-oriented).

[67drake]

Originally Posted by GStage1

You can contact Jim at www.jdrace.com

He rebuilds them all the time, has excellent knowledge and good parts selection.

Just got off the phone with him,man can that guy talk!
I need a few parts to set up my 8.5 with the new gears and he is going to ship just the few parts I need instead of me having to buy a whole $90 set up kit. Also he is shipping them out today,even though I am sending a check. That's why I deal with this guy! Class act IMO.
Andy,if you need some parts I would give this guy a call.

[70temp455]

I'm alreddy on it Drake !
Now for the carrier and then I think I'll be going with the 3.08.
I need to get the 4 bbl and HEI on asap !
Andy

[67drake]

Andy,I mentioned on one of the posts way back when (Jeez,this is an old thread now!) how I kept the pinion from spinning while crushing the crush sleeve. This is what I was referring to. Just a piece of stock with 2 holes drilled in it,and bolted to the yoke. Works great! I just got my rear back from having the axle tubes welded to the center section,so I'm JUST NOW doing final assembly! So I took a pic.
I would think this would work fine for those crazy enough to try this with the rear in the car too.

[70temp455]

Taht looks good and I get the picture (Ha)