What rear end came with 455 GS, built in the USA ? Buick 8.2 12 bolt? Or what? Where any GS 455 built in Canada? if so would they be built with Chev 12 bolt?
A 1970 GS built in US had a 10 bolt 8.2 - Canadian built cars had the 12 bolt I believe. Maybe at the very end of 1970 a GS could be had with a 10 bolt 8.5 - I am sure someone with more knowledge than me will chime in.
Never saw an 8.5 corporate rear in a 70 that wasn’t transplanted. They both require different driveshafts. The Buick 8.2 confounds a lot of rebuilders and parts suppliers. It’s unique.
I have spoken in depth with the guy who runs FabCraft - the company which repro'd the 3.42 and 3.64 rear gears for the 8.2. He explains that the Buick variant of the BOP 8.2 is internally different from the Olds and Pontiac versions. The Buick version has a much larger carrier bearing on at least one side he attributes to the additional torque of the Buick engines and several other mods Buick made in the process to make it stronger and quieter. He even stated that the design of the ring gear, bolts and carrier had more clamping force than a Ford 9 inch ring gear. He said straight-up that the Buick 8.2 is a lot stronger than most people think. I have read in this Board members with racing credentials claiming the Buick 8.2 is good to about 600 hp.
I thought the 12 bolts just came in the Skylark model 350 in Canada. Didn’t someone say they were being found in the salvage yards. After the cars Died. Never found in a GS model.
TSB 70-I-91 May 15,1970 Subject: Limited Use of Rear Axle Assemblies 43-44000 series. Approxiamately 300 ofthe 1970 Skylarks, Gran Sports, and Sportwagons to be built in Flint beginning May 10, 1970 will be equipped with 1971 rear axle assemblies. ETC, ETC, ETC.
Brad, any year I guess? I have seen Skylarks with big made in Canada on trim plate. Never a GS though.
Pre-1970 there were GS built in Canada. Two come to immediate mind; Duane's just completed Motion Equipped 69 and Harold Rolls' 69 that he helped assemble when he worked in the plant.
What rear did the 70 GS come with when the 3.91 ratio was ordered? or was the factory ordered or dealer installed 3.91 a myth?
"Does anyone know of a GS made in Canada?" For at least South Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and possible up into the New England states, our "home plant" for the 68-69 Buick A-bodies was Oshawa Canada. That would mean any Buick A-body with the exception of Stage 1's and possibly convertibles would have come from there. The others would have been built in Flint. For 1970 our "home plant" was changed to Framingham Mass., which makes sense, as it was a different body style, so lots of things changed anyway. Plus the same thing applied, any Stage 1 or convertible was made in Flint and shipped over. Duane
Flint was strictly Stage 1 then? Were the Stage 1 heads machined and valves added and motor's assembled at Flint from the base 455's? I would think so since you could get a base 455 convertible right?
I find in Oshawa built 68-69 Skylark and GS cars, I get the cheby 12 bolts. I have 2 69 GS 400 parts cars with them ( both are non posi but have rallye suspension and the big block pad extentions), and 2 68 Skylarks (one with a factory posi) and 1 69 Skylark Custom with one.
Not a myth. An NOS GM 3.91:1 ring and pinion awaits, assuming a good 3.64-up 8.2" carrier can be located.
I wonder where the cut off in NY was, I live near Buffalo and my first 68 GS that I bought from the original owner was sold new in Buffalo and it was a Flint built car. Funny that the Oshawa built cars passed through Buffalo as a "port of entry" into the USA. I did find an Oshawa 4 door '68 Skylark in the junkyard here once.
