I have a chance to buy a 3.42 posi out of a 74 Chevy Impala. Will this work in my 73 Riviera??? I would just like to change the center section and would like to know if it would fit? o No: Any help please???? Thanks, Tony
It might work but the gear is probably smaller. What's the engine size in this Impala. If you don't want to take chances, you should try locating a 1971-72 Riv GS rear end. They had a standard 3.42 posi.
Tony, It won't fit. The gears are different size, the Chevy is smaller than your Riv. These rear axles show up every now and then on ebay or in the ROA Riview. There are other options, but none of them are very cheap. Good Luck in your hunt, Tim.
the gears are probably a different size diameter but what about the whole housing? i swapped out the 9 3/8" ring gear rear end assembly in my 71 electra for a direct, bolt up replacement 8 1/2" ring gear rear end. take dimensions on your control arms and spring/shock mounts and compare them to the other housing if you can swing buying the whole rear end. you might have a chance at a rear end with a lot more options for ratio's than what you've got. it really sucks that the interchange list that i had posted got toasted when the board got hacked. that way, we'd know the answer to this without having to guess? :rant:
'71 and later, there were two BOP 8.5 rear ends, a narrower one for Skylarks and a wider one for 350-powered LeSabres. The wider one will directly replace the 9 3/8, but it's not as strong (but then, nothing else is...). Ch*vy used a couple of 8.5 rear ends that I know of, but I forget how to id them. I believe you can swap thier Impala/Caprice rears (the whole thing) into a big Buick, but they aren't as strong and use c-clips to hold the axles in. Do a search on a guy with the username "OpH", he posted a lot of good rear end info awhile back. (whatever happened to him?)
Thanks guys .:TU: I didn't think that it would work, but I needed a second opinion. Thanks again, Tony
