Hi guys, new to the v8 forum but been a buick guy from the beginning,decided to finally give attention to my wagon, from my limited research ive read that the 8.2 should be in this car "A body" through 1970? same for the sportwagon? unless this rear was put in early in the 70s it looks like its been in since day one...any thoughts? thanks in advance..
IIRC, in '69 the SW's had a different shock mount and wider rear brakes which seemingly would necessitate a ½ longer axle to accommodate. Not sure about '70.
That looks like an 8.5 10 bolt to me. I can see the lugs at 5 and 7:00. The rear U-joint should be retained by straps and bolts. Let Jim or Brian confirm. http://jdrace.com/images/diff_id/10b85/10b85_3.jpg If I am right, you are WAY better off. Lots of Parts availability for the 8.5, not so much for the 68-70 Buick only 8.2, which is what should be in there.
Thanks pal, what through me off was that it looks like its been in there from the factory because everything looks like it aged the same, but the car also has a th400 which probably shouldn't be in there from the factory either.. but it did have the high compression 350 that i yanked out for a 455..
If it is an 8.5, it probably came from a 1971 or 72 car, so it really isn't that much younger than the original rear.
Wasn't sure if the wagon some how got special treatment over the standard skylark with a beefed up drive train
I think it did. Same 68-70 Buick only 8.2 10 bolt, but I believe the wagons got the bigger A10 axle bearing and as mentioned, bigger brakes. http://jdrace.com/content/diff_id/10bBOP_Buick.php
Did you look at the rear U joint retention? Should be two straps and 4 bolts for an 8.5. The 8.2 used U bolts and nuts. (See below) http://jdrace.com/images/diff_id/10b82bop/Buick/10b82bopbuick_4.jpg
No i didnt yet, cars in storage, motor,trans are getting re-done, i took those pics of the rear last year.
hey larry, funny you answered me as i swear i read a post 3-4 years ago were you said 71 8.5 had those squared lugs at the bottom? i could be wrong as i know little to nothing on the buick rears. i know my 70 X does not have them. charlie,
That’s definitely a 71-72 8.5” 10-bolt. It could have even been a warranty replacement. Who knows. A lot can happen in the first year,let alone the other 50 or so.
Thanks, that does make a lot of cents, never occurred to me about the warranty probability so a safe bet would be it has a .293 ratio until i find the axle code? will it hold a "not beating on" 500+ torque? i do have access to a chevy 12 bolt if needed.
Does is still have a 2 piece drive shaft close to the pinion yoke? One tube slides into the other? You might want to store the original shaft and get a total one piece for beating on in the hood. Jim
It has a one piece shaft with a slight step down towards the yoke i figured it wasnt original because of the th400, i planned on having a new one made
That 8.5” will take a pounding. No need to swap to a 12-bolt. If you get the wagon into the 11’s,then I would upgrade to 30-spline shafts.
