62 posi on ebay #250403496125

[John F.]

I don't know much about posi rear ends, but any thoughts on this one would be appreciated. My 62 has a passenger car non-posi unit in it with a build date of May 62. John

[John H.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

John -

That one has an original Dana posi unit in it - they're weak, and there are no parts available to rebuild them. Eaton now makes a modern Posi unit made specifically for the '57-'62 Corvette application.

[Mike E.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

You haven't told us anything about the build date of your car--if it isn't right, it's hardly better than what you already have. Replace wrong with wrong doesn't make much sense.

[John F.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Build date of my car is May 62. I don't have the rear end numbers at the moment but I think it was a passenger car number.

[Jerry G.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

John -

That one has an original Dana posi unit in it - they're weak, and there are no parts available to rebuild them. Eaton now makes a modern Posi unit made specifically for the '57-'62 Corvette application.

I found all the parts needed for a major rebuild of the Dana posi unit at "4-Speeds by Darrel"
Darrel was very helpful and the parts were new and a perfect fit. ( it's still weak by design though.)

[Tom P.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

I'm sorry, what is so weak by design with the early DANA built posi units????????
Certainly the later version (60-64) is a better choice, and when properly rebuilt , ESPECIALLY if the posi unit has not been regularly abused over it's lifetime, they were really a pretty stout unit.
A LOT of people forget that this same rear was installed behind MANY 63-64 425hp/409 engines.
Over the years, I've rebuilt a lot of these early posi rears for customers, plus I frequently flog the dogpoopy out of the 3.08 posi that is behind a healthy SB400/M20 in my 56.
Oh ya, and I have the same posi rear behind a 350/M20 in the 51 Chevy. Both have had more than their fair share of abuse for MANY years, and like a Timex, they're still ticking.

Now, a comment about the Eaton.
Eaton, as already mentioned by John, now makes a posi unit that is a DIRECT fit for the 55-64 rears (56-62 for Vettes). Eaton has been making posi rears for GM for MANY, MANY years with excellent durability. I've added Eaton units to MANY customers' 55-64 rears (in fact, as we speak, I'm currently converting two rears with Eaton posi units). If a person has a non-posi rear, and simply wants to have a posi in it (and can live without the big P), this is hands down, an ideal way to go.
One added comment. When installing ANY posi unit (original DANA or aftermarket Eaton) into a NON-posi case, it is necessary to partially grind away a portion of a gusset which is inside the non-posi case (posi cases DO NOT have this gusset).

In fact, here is a link to a post that I put on the Chevytalk forum about adding a posi unit to the 55-64 rears---------------with plenty of pictures.
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/212343/

[John D.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

tom,
very interesting thanks for sharing.

john

[John F.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Tom, the posi unit I bought has the following numbers: Thin "P" case, 3:55 gear, GM Arma Steel unit casting # C-30751, #3789812 Housing dated E-22-2. Since I have never done this before my question was- Is this a simple changeout using the existing axles, etc? The ebay item #130311387003 is the one I bought. Not the one in the heading above.

John

[Tom P.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Tom, the posi unit I bought has the following numbers: Thin "P" case, 3:55 gear, GM Arma Steel unit casting # C-30751, #3789812 Housing dated E-22-2. Since I have never done this before my question was- Is this a simple changeout using the existing axles, etc? The ebay item #130311387003 is the one I bought. Not the one in the heading above.

John

John,
I responded to your email.
Simple answer to your question is YES, this swap is one of the easiest swaps that can be done to an early (56-62) Vette. WILL NOT work for a 53-55 rear because they are totally different. To put a posi in a 53-55, you must change out the whole axle housing assembly.

[John F.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Thank You Tom!

John

[Ted S.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Tom, I alway figured the weak link was the caps that hold the posi in place. I know at one time kits were sold that had a stronger cap that if I remember correctly went on the driver's side. Isn't that why alot of the carriers are scarred up?

[Tom P.]

Re: 62 posi on ebay #250403496125

Ted,
You can (or could) buy bearing cap saddles, with longer bolts, that go on top of the stock bearing caps. I have done a few for other people, but so far I haven't installed any on my rears.
The stock bearing caps have to be trimmed a little to accomodate the saddles, which is quite easy to do, it's just kind of time consuming.
The saddles are made from steel rather than cast iron.