From my searching, Ive deducted that a 70-80 something camero rearend will work for my 54 with minimal if any modifications, correct me if im wrong on that... So I found on my local craigslist a 78 Z28 camero rearend for a cool hundred bucks that Im gonna pick up. So my real questions are... Can I use the stock 3 speed trans with this rearend, or would I want to? What driveshaft is needed to use the stock trans, or a different trans? What is the common and easiest trans swap for the chevy 10 bolt rearend? Seems like possibly a T5, but Im not sure how it mounts, what driveshaft to use, what the T5 came in....Or really anything at all about the swap. Help me out yet again HAMBERS! Jaison
the camaro will work unless you running wide rims and tires, no you cannot hook up a torque tube ****** to a open drive rear. if the camaro has a 2.73/2.56 the 5 speed overdrive would be to high geared. to use a 5speed od you need somewhere around a 3.73 rear. you can change the 6cyl bell hsg and use most chevy ******s.
Im just running stick 15x5's with bias plys, nothing wide at all. So how do I go about figuring out what ******/bellhousing setup to use with my 'ol 235? Jaison
You can use any transmission that accepts an open driveline for an easy swap, auto or stick, if the gears for that rear are below 300 i'd go with a 350 auto, there are lots of trans crossmembers for the 49'-'54 frames that utilize the k members and accept various transmissions, if u want to keep it manual, put in an open 3spd, they still had'm after 54', so they have to have open drivelines, 55' had an open driveline so it should work. I heard the 55-57' rears are a good swap, I had one in my 54', but that was with a 327/TH350, it fit fine. The Drive shaft you can have made to any length. Hope that helps. -Anthony
on the 235 you need to change the bellhsg. truck hsg from the same era will accept the chevy open drive line type trans, like a saginaw 3 or 4 speed. you dont want to try putting a t350 auto behind a 235 although it can be done it will cost you.
Thanks guys, where can I find one and how common are the saginaw ******s? Is that the name I need to be searching for? What cars and years did these come in? Jaison
the reason i recomend the saganiw was they they are cheap and were m*** produced by gm in the 60,s and 70,s. that camaro your getting the rear out of would have one if its a 4spd. were the 3 speed trans for trucks for about 20 yrs. i would expect to pay around 50-75 for a 3 speed and around 150.00 for a 4 speed. they all have the same high gear 1 to 1.
And the center bolts on the pads on the stock rearend are offset. You either need new pads welded on or lowering blocks that allow the spring center bolt to fall in place and center the wheels in the wheelwells. I have heard many measurements given but your best bet is to center em visually at teh ride height you get the whole car at. I made 1" steel blocks that lowered and relocated things, I think I took 3 tries several years ago until I got it looking good. Damn that was a lot of jacking it up and donw to work!~
You have to move the rear back from the pin about 1 5/8". The pins were offset forward because the original rear rode on a "hinge" arangement because the torque tube wouldn't allow the rear to rotate.
Whats the widest tyre you can safely put on a camaro rear end? I was going to put a camaro in and am hoping that a set of 215/75/15's would fit.
I have a 52 Styleline and was looking at a 74 Nova rearend. Will this work for an open driveline swap?
Man, post jackers!! Back on task, with running a Cnotch rearend with bags, do I still have the same concerns that Tman mentioned? What driveshaft should I be lloking for, and what saginaw from what vehicle specifically should I be on the hunt for? Thanks Jaison
If you re-use the stock springs with the Camaro rear you will still have to relocate the center bolt hole. I would look into a T5 over the 3 speed, that 5th gear is nice on the highway! Plenty of T5 info here.
go to www.chevytalk.com 99% of your questions will be answered there. the t-5 swap here are are a couple places to check :www.inliners.org and www.stovebolt.com good luck!
If you are keeping the stovebolt and want a t5, get either a truck bellhousing from 48-54, or one from a 55-up chevy. you will also need a different clutch disk. once you start into it, just ask for help. I did it in a weekend basically, in a driveway with only a grinder and hand tools. http://forum.olskoolrodz.com/showthread.php?t=12909
on the t5 deal you need to match the rear gear with the ******. t5 is a overdrive. so if you throw a t5 in with a camaro rear thats most likley a 2.73 or a 2.56 you will end up with something like a 1.90 final ratio. yes the t5 is fine if you dont already have enough gear in your car.
So Ive located a "****** guy"...no, not that kind.... But a guy that runs a shop, that has several saginaws available, and Ive located a guy that has a bellhousing that was mated to a 4 speed saginaw previously, but the bellhousing is in Omaha Ne and I wont have my hands on it for a few weeks. In the meantime I want to pickup one of the saginaws the "****** guy" has... What do I need to look for so that my bellhousing from a '53 chevy truck will mate to the trans properly??
Think about what gear is in the rear before you decide on which saginaw. I got a 76 Nova rear with 2.93 gears in my 54 and run a 3,50 first gear Saginaw 4 speed. If you have a 3 something rear, you can run one of the "normal" saginaw with 2.5 or something first gear. There are 4 different ratios available in the Saginaw 4 speeds, the ****** guy should help ya. BTW, I used a 58 pickup bell in mine. and the flywheel from the 58 also. (cause my 54 was a pglide) You already have a stick so your flywheel should work. unlessyour changing to 12 volts, that's another story, Frank
I've read here on the H.A.M.B. that 6 volt cars have different flywheel than 12 volt cars. I don't know either, but everyone else does. I know I had to use three starters to make one for what I did to my 54. Part of the 58 truck starter, the armature and drive gear, The barrel and brush head from something(I don't remember), and a solenoid and nose from a v-8, cause the truck had a kick starter, no solenoid. And my 6 volt starter wouldn't work(mesh) with the truck flywheel, This was back in maybe 91 or 92, and I have a tough time remembering where I am today Frank
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