They switched to 8.5" on the Chevelle's in 71 as well :)

C-clip eliminators was from the beginning intended for dragracers who quickly could change a broken axle at the track much easier.

It has no real purpose on the street. I mean how often do you take the rear end appart?


Jan

10 bolt 8.5"
 

if this is for a chevelle or a-body, the only 8.5" rear that would fit was in a 71-72 olds cutlass or buick skylark. chevelles didnt get 8.5" till 73 and wont fit the 64-72 a-bodys , the really good thing about the cutlass/skylark rear is they have bolt in 28 spline axels =no c- clips are needed :) novas got the 8.5" in 72 camaro/firebirds got 8.5 in 1971 but ONLY the a-body 8.5" had bolt in axles - rest are c-clip type :unibrow:

I ran 12.70's in my Camaro back in the early 90's with 9" slicks and a 4.56 gear in my 8.2. Held up beautifully. I even ran the stock axles. My car was a 331 small block with a 125 pill on it. It came out of the hole hard, lifting one wheel several times if my memory serves me correct. I never had a problem with it. Just recently it was rebuilt and the guy at the ring and pinion shop went through it and said it was in fantastic condition. It's going back into my Camaro again although I chose to swap out the 4.56 for a 3.73 for obvious reasons. I will not be racing this car, but if I was I would probably step up to something a bit stronger. But I'll be damned if I'm going to ever rip an 8.2.

Either I'm the luckiest guy in the world or 8.2's don't get the credit they deserve.

rear ends
 

quote: I wish you luck in finding a competent shop to weld the Ford-style ends on the tubes, it may be a difficult search. Hopefully someone can chime in with a recommendation. Quote.
Im not sure if Keith is willing to do this to his rear,but a great alternative to a c-clip eliminater is having Moser housing ends installed. It uses a Ford large 3.150 bearing and comes in different bolt patterns. The only draw backs are having them installed and buying new axles. I do have a jig BTW. :thumbsup:

For the sake of accuracy and updates........a family friend came over (who works for a rear end shop) and after looking it over for 2 seconds, pulled out a smoke, took a big drag and blew it out of the side of his lip before telling me mine was, in fact, an 8.2. After having everything out of it except the pinion in the next 4 minutes, he told me it was perfectly fine. I guess all the bearing/race surfaces and ring gear wear looked nice. What isn't fine (and probably saved it from being beat on) is that it's a 2.56 open carrier. He also said they don't get the credit they deserve and that, if built right, can take 400-450 to the rear tires all day long. So, I'm keeping the axles and replacing the gear with 3.23s and slipping in an Eaton posi.
If I break it, I break it. Well see.... I just hope I'm going straight when it gives. Then I can go hardcore with a new rear with the Moser ends (which look very nice BTW)

Rear discs can be a poor man's safety net.

I'm using rear discs from an '00 SS Camaro :D

Gotta work on that short term memory since you did state rear discs at the beginning! That's my plan, too. At this time, I don't want to tear out my 12-bolt and have it modded.

Weld on ends
 

I can't recommend weld on ends highly enough. With a c-clip rear you break a clip or an axle and you lose your wheel. While I am aware that the ford style ends are not as robust as a floater they are a huge improvement over the c-clip style axle retention system.

There are many shops that are capable of doing the conversion, and if you do rear disk brakes at the same time you can probably get a nice break on the price. If you need a recommendation for a shop send me an email.

Safety first. I have some photos of the two setups I will try to get them on my website so you can have a look at the differance.