Yard just got in a 72 Catalina 2dr, has column shift tilt. Anyone need anything from it? Grn/grn, was 455/TH400, 2dr, ac, ps, pdiscs, ac.
Car does have a posi, Eaton unit, appears(didn't confirm since the ground was soaked from Tropical Storm Arlene's rains) to be a 2.73 ratio. Will definitely need to be cleaned. Rear had some water in it. Don't know how it got in there. You are the first to ask about it so you get first right of refusal. Please email me direct at GStage1@buickperformance.com and I will get it on Sat when I am there(should still be there). I will need to know your home address for shipping calculations. I can also ship FedEx Ground to a business or home. Let me know which you prefer, USPS or FedEx. :TU:
Verify with Monzaz or Oph here about interchange. I believe all 71-6 full size models use the same rear. Let me know what you find out. Thanks! :TU:
I got this from a thread regarding the interchangeability.. "The 66-70 9 3/8" rear has ten bolts on the cover with a 12 bolt gear, but the 71-75 type has twelve bolts on both the cover and ring gear. All 71-76 B,C body rears interchange as a whole assembly as far as I know. I've swapped between Catalinas, Deltas, Rivieras and LeSabres with no problem." Sounds good.. I'll do some more research just to be on the safe side.
Does anyone know if this also applies to "B" body LeSabres? I believe my car has a 10 bolt cover/12 bolt carrier... Paul
Paul, if your car is a factory big block, then yes it should have the 10 bolt cover, 12 bolt ring gear 9 3/8 rear.
Adam: Yes, it's a factory 455 setup (engine is not stock, though). I believe the only year they actually had a category called LeSabre 455 instead of just LeSabre or LeSabre Custom was my year, 1970. I switched the rear to a posi back in the late 80's, but like a dummy I junked the original rear end. Now I want to get another rear (posi) so I can install 3.73's without messing around with the rear that's in the car. Just want to replace the whole unit. Thanks for the info! BTW: A few months ago George hinted that it might be a 12 bolt back there and now you're confirming it. Does this mean I can now officially change my signiture to list 12 bolt instead of 10?? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Paul
Kimson, Once you verify with oPh or Monzaz, let me know. I will only get the posi unit not the gears. Thanks!
More help, please Assuming I can find a good core rear end to build from, can anyone tell me the following: 1) If the core I find is not a posi, can I buy a new/used posi unit to put in it? 2) Where can I buy gears for a 9 3/8" 10 bolt cover/12 bolt unit? I want to end up with a complete new set up with 3.73 gears. I want to keep the rear that's in my car exactly as it is. George, Adam, anyone??? Thanks! Paul
There is not a 3.73 gear set for your 9 3/8 rear, and no aftermarket gears either. There are 3.42 gears out there, but they're made of unobtainium.
I believe there are no "new" posi units either. So, you will have to find a used posi unit and gears.
HA HA HA........ Here's how the conversation between me and Monzaz have been: The most simple thing would of course be to just take the posi unit itself, I'll have to figure out if the carrier is the same for the posi unit/original spider gears. If so, just take the unit, otherwise we'd need to take the carrier without the ring and pinion gears, if it's a 12 bolt. I come across plenty of electras in the yards here, so I would take the replecement gears from here if needed. Many thanks for your help. :beer
Ok, I will get just the carrier(if still there on Sat) if it is a 12 bolt carrier. If there are any changes, email me no later than Friday, 11pm Eastern. Send email directly to GStage1@buickperformance.com
The 1970 LeSabre Custom 455 was the replacement for the base Wildcat. Even the serial numbers were the same (464 series instead of 454). It was a bit like the 1964 LeSabre Estate Wagon that had the same serial numbers and mechanical components as the Wildcat but it had LeSabre exterior trim. The base 1966-69 Wildcat and the 1965 Wildcat Deluxe shared it's interior trim with the LeSabre Custom. The 1965 base Wildcat shared it's interior trim with the base LeSabre. Wildcat Customs had more luxurious interiors that were exclusive to this model and in 1970, it was the only Wildcat model available. Unlike the base Wildcat model, the 1970 LeSabre 455 did have LeSabre exterior trim however. The lack of popularity of the 1970 Wildcat could be explained in part by the arrival of the LeSabre 455. If you add the production totals of the 1970 LeSabre 455 (17565) and the 1970 Wildcat (23615), you have 41180 "4600 series" cars produced which is still not close to the 1969 Wildcat production (67453) but it's not that bad. In 1971-72, the LeSabre Custom 455 still existed and had 455 badges too but unlike the 1970 model, it didn't have a different serial number. I'm not sure about the 1973 LeSabre but the 1973 Centurion had badges when ordered with the 455 as it was an option that year. The last year for the 455 badge on LeSabres was 1974, it was mounted on the grille. 455's were still available in 1975-76 but no badges to identify it.
More help again, please... Phil: Please explain - Is my car the only year that the LeSabre w/ a 455 engine had its' own serial number category? I know it's a unique category because every book I've ever seen lists "LeSabre 455" in its' own column. I've never seen any other year for LeSabre listed like that. Adam: So, if I understand correctly, I can only get used gears for my car? Is 3.42 all that's available other than the 2.93 (?) set I think I have? Anthing available that's numerically higher, like 4.10? This is a big car, I need some help getting it to move! George: How difficult is it to find used gears for this rear-end? If I can't find an entire rear, I might use my posi unit and just install new gears. Of course, my first choice is still to have 2 separate rears with different gear ratios. Paul
Performance gears are impossible to find. As for posi units, according to oPh and/or Monzaz, there are only from 65-70. Basically only models to get posi units were Rivs and WIldcats. The 70 Wildcat I stripped 5 weeks ago had a 2.78 posi rear. I thought that was kinda strange for a big, heavy car. I thought it would have 3.23-3.42 but apparently only the Rivs got those gear sets. Some, very rare, got 3.90 gears.
There was a PX code for the Electra that had aa 3.91 gear. Good luck finding THAT! It took me over a year to find my posi rear, and I had to buy the car to get it. 3.23 gears..
