I am looking for a complete bolt in rear for my 73 A body. I need a complete rear, with all the candy. I have quote requests out to Moser/Currie/Quick Performance for a new unit. If anyone has something they want to sell let me know. Must be built VERY well, posi, stronger axles, brakes (prefer disk) etc. I am not looking for a cheap bargin or overused/abused unit. I have a excellent 10bolt now, so looking for a major strength upgrade. For street use and occational strip. Willing to travel to pick up if distance is reasonable. I will get my overall width (current drum to drum face) posted within a day or so... I have thought several times of building this 10 bolt up, but I think the cost would justify just upgrading to a new package....
Last year for factory 12 bolt was 1972. There is no factory 12 bolt unit for 73. If you want to have a 12 bolt built be prepared to spend $1500-1900 for one. What times are you running? What engine set-up do you have? No need to go with a 10 sec rear for a car that runs 14+ in the quarter. Better to spend your money on suspension and exhaust.
Car is not together, not running anytimes yet. Starting from the bottom and working my way up. Frame has been fully boxed, set up for 6 point cage, sandblasted and now powder coated. Will be going with a Tremec TKO 600, and a 550+ HP BBB. I want the realiabilty factor right from the start. Costs will be high, but I have had this car for 22 years, and never plan to sell it, so I am willing to pay what it costs to make it right.... Your correct there was no 12 bolt, however if I could find a built 12 bolt and the width was close, I could modify the mounts to make it work correctly on my 73.
moser ford 9 inch all the way i installed a moser engineering 9 inch ford under my 72 in 1991-has been unbreakable and completely user friendly ever since. i have a 250 open carrier i used last year to drive the car from socal to ohio for norwalk and bpg, swapping in the detroit locker/3.40 once i got there. 31 spline axles, was a bolt in deal and it was cheap by comparison with a built 12 bolt at the time. perusing their current listings on thier website, i see a "laguna" 9 inch that presumably is for 73-77. I have no idea how much difference there is between 65-72 housings and 73-77s, but i do own one of each and will, as luck would have it, have both of them out to a car show tomorrow so ill do some measuring and report back. unless someone else knows the specific difference between these years rear axle fitments. :3gears:
Thanks for checking Scott, You have a 73 century 455? What is unique about it? I have a 73 Century as well, factory 455. And yes, you are correct, Moser seams to offer a rear for 73-77 under "Laguna" - I have a quote request out to them now, but bolt in with disks looks to be about 3 grand. Hoping to do better than that. I do like the idea of a bolt in center section, to do just what you are doing. Thanks.....
hmm-just compared em (72 and 73) hi scott-my 73 is a "T" code car, although someone at one time added gran sport emblems to the rear quarters and deck lid, and stage 1 emblems to the front fenders so it appears as a GS. I have the sloan documentation for it and it is optioned exactly as a GS455-ivory bucket seat/console interior, 4bbl 455 with dual exhaust (non stage 1), Th400, sport stg wheel, gauges and a/c. Pat Harmon has been researching its history and thus far has documented it to be one of 99 century 455 cars ordered with this equipment but no GS option checked off. Ive got to get back to him soon as he has been getting daily build sheets for these cars and may now have the daily build report on it as well. as for the rears-the 73-up has the shock mounts on the front of the lower arm brackets and the 72-back have them on hte rear of the lower arm brackest --BIG DIFFERENCE-and the width between the inside edge of the lower brackets is approx 41 inches on my 72 and approx 43 inches on the 73. as for the moser axle deal-what i did was buy the 31 spline housing/axle package for (then) 695.00 today is 895.00. this is a good deal. i got 4-3/4 bolt spacing on the axles so wheels are still true gm pattern. then you research racing junk.com, ford sites, nsca and nmca.com racing sites in the parts for sale posts and find yourself a 9 inch center that is 31 splined and either posi or detroit locker or spool depending on what you need. you can usualy getin a complete center section in good shape for 600 or less. then, if you gotta have discs, currie has a 9 inch rear disc setup that is fashioned from late model explorer parts-both rotors, calipers and backing plates retail for 400. i went to the wrecking yard, got 12x3 inch drums off a 73 torino wagon and the car i removed them from had just had a complete rear brake job-so-i got new drums,springs,wheel cyls, linings and backing plates for 40 bucks! has worked very well for 12 plus years with my original front discs. the key to the 4.5 inch ford bolt circle drums (this would work with the explorer rotors too)and the 4.75 axles was a slight elongation of 2 holes on each drum with a die grinder. the guys at MOser actually told me how to do this so i could get brakes on the cheap. in the end i only had 1300 1991 dollars in my entire setup. a careful shopper could do it for close to the same today from what ive seen for sale on the net. you can do it, i know you can!! :3gears:
Excellent info Scott. Sounds like you have 1 rare car there. Pat has the info on mine, not near as rare. Century Luxus(Regal style rear window) non stage, factory duals. factory 3:42 posi, air, but no other options, bench/column shift. I purchased 22 years ago - with 27,000 miles from the original owner. I drove it another 20,000 before I started a undercarraige tar removal - but in the process it turned into a full frame off - wife was pretty pissed !!! Car is obviously still scattered around the house and garage. I had many pics posted, but with the problems with the board they were all lost. Thank you for the rear info - it is very helpful. I really think the right thing to do is go your route - with a 9". Maybe someone on the board has one they want out of - if not I will go with a new vendor unit. I have one source in mind - but it is not Moser. "Quick Performance" in Iowa seems to have a good price, but want to wait for Moser and Currie to quote - or for something to come up here on the board, I will also check out the racingjunk website, thanks for the tip and rear info!!!
Thumper, do you feel like selling your 3:42 posi ? I need a bolt in for my Vista Cruiser. On my 73 Cutlass, I`m gonna put a 12 bolt in it using a ladder bar setup. I`m not tubbing it. If I ever decide to go back to stock, it can be cut out easily. I really won`t ever worry about that. For me, the money spent will work out about the same if not cheaper, then a hi-dollar rearend and will hook alot better and their still very drivable on the street. Plus you can usually find decent deals on 12 bolts. Dennis
Once I find a unit, and I know it is a 100% correct match (size/bracket/suspension connections, I will offer my '73 10 bolt for sale. Mileage is low, and it has never been touched, except for posi fluid refills ever 5 years or so. As I said above, it is a 3:42 with factory posi. I will PM you first if your interested once I get my replacement unit - from another board member or from a vendor. Thanks for the interest
Here`s a modified 12 bolt on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4542703376&category=34208 Dennis
