I love junkyards. There's a local one by me that's mostly late-model, but being in the country they have a section of older stuff that comes in, and they do a good job of leaving them in one area to be picked clean. Today I went to get a set of big block Dodge valve covers, that turned out to be not worth the trip. That truck has been there a couple months. A new arrival since the last time I was there, was a '55 Chevy 4-door--nothing but holes held together with rust, and pushed into place with a bulldozer. Gotta go look at it anyway, right? Get up to the p***enger side, and the mangled door is open, showing a 3-speed case on the floor, the gears taken off, the tail shaft over there, and a ton of garbage and debris laying on the seat. But right next to the debris, right at the outside edge of the seat, is a Power Lock posi unit for '55-'64 GM rears! Out of the housing, no gear on it, just waiting for me to pluck it up and take it to the counter to pay for it. These things never break--the clutches wear out, but the cases themselves don't break--the axle shaft, and then the main cap in the housing, were the weak links. Clutch kits are $100. It's got a coating of grime and rust on it, but no deep pitting that I could see. I'll dis***emble the whole thing and throw it in the mol***es bath, then rebuild it. I've got a complete '57 rear end rebuilt and ready to go, with an open case and a posi unit installed, with 4.11 gears. I've also got a P-Cast case, with an open dif and no gear. Maybe I'll sell the P-case and rebuilt posi to a restorer, or load it up with a set of 3.23 or 3.55 or 3.08 gears and have two chunks ready to go. Either way, I've got some options. Oh yeah... the best part was when I set it on the counter and the girl behind the counter said "What is it?" (She's the 2nd generation owner's wife or daughter... she's worked there for years). "How 'bout we say it's s**** metal, by the pound?" She said "Okay... how about eight dollars?" $8.50 with tax. Today was a good day. -Brad
Spoken by a guy who literally wades thru vintage parts everyday. You need to know about Big M. (bigmauto.com) Two great locations in Williams, CA. If you have ever driven on I-5 north of Sacramento, I bet you looked as you went over the overp*** that looks down on one of these great parts sources.
That's a great find and easy to rebuild. We are fortunate that the plates are still available. Back in the day I had pretty good luck turning them over once for a cheap rehab. It's also not too hard to trim a non-P cast to fit the posi it it. I have broke the cast retainer caps but it's pretty easy to blacksmith a pair of 1/4" straps and get a couple slightly longer bolts. Never broke a cap after that improvement. Sounds a like McGyver-ish but it works.
Great find, I bought a 63 Impala 4dr parts car at an auction a few years back for $100 and as we were winching it up on the trailer I spotted the metal tag attached to the fill plug that said limited slip. It was a good day!!
great....your like me....you look past the rust...check things out - vans are a great source - check em out...maybe gold in there...or a posi..... great save.....you get.... "Save of the day" award.....kudo's.... lwf
Yeah, I've heard of, and seen, those home-made straps to reinforce the caps, and I've always heard it worked well. Back in the day, there was an aftermarket billet steel cap available too... I wouldn't mind finding one of those. For that matter, I wouldn't mind just having one made. The trick with them is that you have to have the case align-honed with the new cap, and most people don't want to take that effort. Also, cutting the threads and having them match for the side adjusters would be tricky. The other fix I've heard of is using spiders out of a Dana 44 posi unit, to get 30-spline axles, then have a set of Moser axles built. That's all a hell of a lot of expense though, especially when you can just put in a Mopar 8 3/4 and be done with it! It'll make a good rear in an A or other light-weight rod, but I can't see either spending all the money to build one that's weaker than a Mopar rear, or destroying a good part that can be used in a restoration. This one will probably end up under an A I'm collecting parts for. -Brad
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