57 Olds rear into a 55 Chevy????

What do I have to do, if anything, to bolt a 57 Olds rear into my 55 Chevy???..Also will the drive shaft be the same??...Thanks, Mike

 

I don't know what a 57 olds rearend looks like, but if you have one then get after it with a tape measure and see what needs to be done....you'll likely have to move/swap spring perches and change the rear yoke on the driveshaft.

 

I thought that was a bolt-in. Either the Olds or Pontiac was the standard upgrade for a tri-five. I'd like to find out for sure. I want to swap out the rear in my '57 Chevy.

 

a friend of mine had to move the perches and i'm not to sure about the driveshaft

matt

 

If you can find a April 1967 Popular Hot Rodding magazine, you will find a tech article on installing a 57-58 rear end. The article is on Project X, the magazines 57 chevy test car. The 57-58 Pontiac and olds housing will bolt right into any 55-6-7 chevy, with the brake line mounting bolt requiring the only changeover....Ed

 

I've had a 57 Olds axle in my 57 chevy wagon for seems like
forever. Had to move the spring perches on mine because I
moved the springs to into/under the frame rails, but it seems to
me that I used the stock perches till I moved the springs. Not
positive on the driveshaft either but it might use a conversion
u-joint. I do know it changes you to a 5 on 5 bolt pattern that can
limit your wheel selection,or have redrilled. Also an 8" wheel with
0 offset should center you about perfect in the stock wheelwell.

 

thanks ya'll.

 

I always thought the '57 Pontiac rear was a slam-dunk install into a '55-7 Chevy, but there was a guy on gassermadness.com that said it isn't quite slam-dunk. He went into great detail about what has to be done. It mostly involved the perches.

 

it probably was a slam dunk if the tri-5 has foot long shackles and worn out spring bushings....and you didn't care if the springs had to move over an inch to bolt to the rearend, or the perches were too wide

 

We used a '57 Pontiac station wagon rear in our '55 C/G car in the late 60's. It was a bolt-in with stock spring locations. There was a stock u-joint with two different size cups that worked to adapt the driveshaft. Wish I could remember what it was but I inhaled too many race gas fumes at the track.

 

I think that a Precision number 372 joint was the "conversion" joint that worked for this. I know that '57 Pontiac rears were leaf spring, but weren't '57 Oldsmobiles coil spring?

 

'58 was the 1st year for coil springs on Olds,or i should say return to coils.
didn't Pontiac & Chevy share frames and body shells '55-6-7?
i'd think the spring perches would more likely line up than Olds stuff.

 

pontiac and chevy shared upper body shells in 55-57, the floor, frame, and suspension were completely different

(except for some wagons and canadian cars)

 

Guess the question is what's the difference between a 57 Olds and 57 Chevy rear end. IIRC, the 57 chevy rear under Dad's '55 was a bolt in...