Gentlemen, I recently purchased a 1990 Caprice (with towing package) for $200 for the GN rear on it. The rear has stock 3.42 gears. I plan on using this rear on my 1987 Buick Regal (non-turbo Olds 307 Special-T) with a D&S Performance built .030-over Buick 455. The TH2004R tranny is going to trashed for a built TH400 with a 2800-stall TCI. My question is this; Since the Caprice rear has the shocks mounted in front of the axles, can I have the plates fabricated to the back of the axles for use on the Regal? Or can I remove the perches from the 7.5/8-inched 10-bolt limited slip rear on the Regal now and have them mounted on the Caprice 8.5-inched posi rear? Thanks much. Please feel free to reply also at Superpowers20@yahoo.com Thanks much. ou:
Are you sure the Caprice rear fits?????? That is a full size and you have a mid size. I think you will be making more trouble than it is worth. The 71-2 Cutlass and Skylark 8.5" rear fit with aftermarket rear trailing arms.
George, Thanks for the reply. I measured both the '90 Caprice 8.5" and the '87 Regal rear (7.5/8") and the GN rear on the Caprice measures @3-inches wider from flang to flang (roughly 1-1/2-inch per axle). I know this guy that has the '86 Caprice 8.5" (with 11-inch drums/small bolt pattern ... the '90 Caprice has large bolt pattern wheels/14-inch brake drums) on his 1986 Buick Regal with Olds455. Well, I find out for sure in @30-days what issues are involved Thanks much for the info and time. :TU:
Problems that are going to pop up beside width issue, are the cast in upper control arm perchs are different spead on the '90 Caprice r/e & the bolt pattern is 5 on 5 on the Caprice axle versus 4 3/4" on the late A-G body rear. The spread of the upper arm mounts on the Caprice r/e will be the same as '73-77 A-body & '78+ B-body. Proper treansfer of lower control arm/ shock brackets on the Caprice r/e will solve lower pick-up point issues, but not the upper pickup probs. As a result, when buying the later Caprice posi rears When I building a "swappable" r/e for a '78+ A-body or G-body, usually go with a early 8.5 A-body hsg or an early 12 bolt. Personally prefer the early 8.5 A-body rear, as it can easily be built stronger than a stock 12 bolt, for less money & this version of the 8.5 A-body rear has bolt in axles with sealed bearings... 100x better than c-clip axle retention. Hope this helps. :3gears: Roger
