I just ordered and Posi rear from SLP and a 3:73 gears from Summit. How much do you think a place would charge to put these in? If you guys have already done it, let me know how much more money i am gonna need to put all this in. Thanks alot
Murph

 

prolly around $500. make sure the shop is good at what they do also. it would suck to pay someone a lesser amount of money and have a blown rear in a couple of days.

 

I have been quoted prices as low as low as 250 bucks all the way the up to 600 for the labor, it is best to call around.

 

I've been quoted $150 to put the gears in, but that's if you pull the rear end out yourself and bring it to them. That's probably the best way to go.

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Pat Hirsz
www.iit.edu/~hirspat/MyPage2.htm
88 305TBI
Mods:Hooker Aerochamber 3" exhaust, gutted kitty, March pullies, no smog, 180 thermo,
14x4 K&N, 3.42 gears(open), Ultimate TBI Mods,AFPR,MSD(ignition,coil&wires),Edelbrock TBI Manifold, 195ltr/hr fuel pump,
Eibach springs with KYB's all around,
Harwood cowl hood, Z-28 wing, fresh paint(black)
120,000 miles, 5spd, T-tops,slp headers on its way

92 RS, 305TBI, auto, 3.08 gears, 180 thermo, glasspack (no muffler)

 

i just ordered my zexel torsen heavy duty differential and gears from SLP this afternoon...cant wait to get them in!!

but back to the question...i am getting mine done for like 150 bucks. i found a guy in my area that has a performance shop that does them pretty cheap. and that is with me bringing the car to him.i was quoted like 1300 bucks for teh whole job, which equates to about 400 bucks for labor, from a tranny shop.

-brian

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1991 Camaro RS - ultra blue metallic, t-tops
GMPP 350 HO crate engine - TBI, MSD ignition, SLP exhaust
700R4 - 2,400 stall converter, vette servo
10 bolt - coming soon - SLP zexel torsen differential, GM 3.73s
z28boy.fbody.com
z28boy@twcny.rr.com
AIM - "Z28 Boy"

1998 Pontiac Grand Prix GT - 2 door, black

 

i am doing the same thing got my posi already and just need my bearings and install kit from summit or jegs still havnet ordered it since my fuel pump went out and my exhaust gasket blew but will be done this month would be done already if it wasnt for that junk.
Shawn

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91 RS 5.0 TBI
14x3 open element.. i liked alot
160*stat... made my car run a lil cooler
msd coil and taylor wires ...not noticed
with split fire plugs... which suck switching to rapid fires soon..
removed rear hood seal.. runs much cooler i liked
accel cap and rotor... coming soon
coming soon 3.42's with slp posi.. my first big mod!!!

Clarion cd player 2 planet audio 6x9's 2 lanzar tweeters and one MTX 10" sub in a bandpass all running off 2 separate 200w amps

 

I was quoted 250-350 depending on how many times they neeeded to shim it. This was just labor. I have the install kit with gears and diff. Still have yet to check my splines though (lazy). Within the next month I'll have my rear finished.

I was quoted by a trans shop that specializes in rear and axle work. Also, they are an ASE certified family owned shop. That's a plus!!!!

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89 Formula 305 TBI
160* stat, 200* fan switch, K&N, Headers, 3in Flowmaster (hollow cat) back, pullies, 1.6 full roller rockers, B&M trans cooler, home-made ram-air
3.73 Richmond gears and SLP Zexel Torsen Posi (waiting for install)

 

i went in to a local shop with gears and install kit and he got me 260$. It would have been 200$ but ratech (the install kit company) screwed up on one of my barings so he had to reorder one. About 900 miles later and still fine ::knocks on wood::

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1989 pontiac firebird
bright red exterior(just repainted)
grey interior
5 spd
305 TBI (stock)
WS.6 formula wheels
3.73 posi rear end
http://members.aol.com/j007golden/Mikey89.html
-------------------------
1985 trans am
factory bright yellow
4 wheel disks
16 inch wheels
305 TPI
power antenna and mirrors
t tops

 

Ok guys, maybe I shouldn't even have to ask this, but why can't we do this ourselves? or can we? I'm thinking about ordering the take off zexel, keeping my old gears, and installing/having it installed. I'd just like to save the cash on the install. Is it a time issue, or an equipment/skill issue? I've got plenty of time, some skill, but only standard tools. Thanks for any input. Oh yeah, anybody know a good source for 28 splined axles?

[This message has been edited by MikeS (edited April 05, 2001).]

 

Mike S
I always install my own, but to do it right, you do some special tools. If your not planning on changing gears, it will be a lot easier for you since you would not have to remove the pinion and reset the pinion depth. The only shimming you would have to do would be on the sides of the carrier to set the backlash. If the backlash is too loose, the excessive amount of slack would possibly cause the ring + pinion to break on hard shifts or launches and if backlash is too tight, they build up too much heat, and wear rapidly causing the above, so the backlash is very critical. You would need preferrably a 1" indicator with a magnetic base, dial caliper or 1" micrometer and a bearing puller at the very least, and when changing gears, you need a depth micrometer, or a pinion depth tool. Most of these are pretty expensive, and if you don't do I lot of installs, its more economical to have someone else do it. I have about $600 worth (not saying that you get get cheaper stuff) of tools I use to set up ring + pinions , but I already have these because I am a CNC machinist by trade, so I already had most of the stuff to do it, and what I didn't have, I made. But if you are not changing gears, and can get your hands on a 1" dial indicator and mag base, all you have to do is take out your old carrier, keeping up with the shims that came from each side and which side each cap that holds it in came off. This would be the point to replace axle bearings, and pinion bearing, if you were going that far. If you did replace the pinion bearing, pull the old bearing off and there will be a factory shim under it, leave it on the pinion and press the new bearing back on and you it would already be set, ONLY if you weren't changing gears, if you were you'd have to set pinion depth. I would recommend getting an installation kit definetly. You would need to press the new bearings on the each end of the carrier, You can you use a CLEAN vise,if you have a big one, with 3/4" plywood between the carrier and the jaws of the vise if you don't access to a press. Once the bearings are on, You can put the ring gear on the carrier and torque them down to factory torque specs, it slips my mind, but I could look it up if your interested in doing this. Then all you'd need to do slide the races up on the bearings, and put the carrier back up in the saddles, starting out with the factory shims, on the side the came off.Torque the caps down to factory specs. You would then set up the 1"indicator on the ring gear, and and rotate by hand hand until all the slack is out of in one direction(it doesn't matter which way you go) and set the indicator to "0". The rotate it the opposite direction until all the slack is out again, and you will have your backlash. Ideally, you want .008" to .010" on street gears. Sometimes they fall right in the first time, but more often than not, you have to shim them a few times which requires all the steps above. If the lash is too little you would need to shim the carrier away from the pinion,and vise versa if the lash is too much. To shim the carrier properly, you have to take out the factory shims out of each side and measure them, and satck up shims that come in the installation kit to compensate for lash. If the factory right side shim was say .100" and the left was .080" , and you had say .014" backlash, you would need to try about .003" - .005" worth of shimming to get the backlash right. Remember that if your shooting for .008" backlash and its .014" it's not as simple as
putiing in .006" worth of shims, because your deal with gear mesh, not a linear dimension. But if you tried .004" shimming, you would need to stack up .097" worth of shims on the right(.100" - .003" = .097") and .083" on the left (.080" + .003" = .083") and repeat this again until you have .008" - .010" As you can see, if you can get a rearend set up by someone creditable, that knows what they're doing, its not a bad price at all!! There is a lot of work involved, and if you've never done it, you take the risk of ruining several hundred dollars worth of parts if you don't do it right. There again, some old school racers set them up with white lithium grease, using only the gear mesh pattern method, with no indicators and run the hell out of them for years!! But in my opinion, if your not experienced in reading precision measuring devices, and don't know the "old school grease tricks" have someone set them up that know what they're doing.

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82 Z28 350, Ported #882 Heads, Performer RPM cam and intake, hedman headers,650 Demon carb,
Trans: Turbo 350 w/ 4000 stall -- Rearend 7.5 w/ Richmond 4.10's, Auburn Minispool
Best ET: 12.52@107.2
Future plans: Dart headed, Roller cammed 383 in early '01


89 RS, L03 305, Hypertech Chip,cat delete, Dynomax exhaust,K&N open element Filter,160 stat, MSD coil --Trans:700R4 Corvette Servo -- Rearend: 7.5 GM 3.42 w/ posi-lock
New Best ET: 14.91 @92.9
Bassett Racing
Mid Atlantic F Body -82 Z28 Page

R.I.P. Dale Earnhardt #3

 

wow all this is alot of work for rear end gears.. lots of work and lots of money


I spent 55 dollars on a rear from a 6 banger with 3.42 gears
spent 315 on a powertrax locker

put them together.. put it under my car. Its perfect and the gears arent gonna break because of a bad install. gM installed them

installed everything with just basic hand tools

car spins both tires exactly the same amount, no whining... its perfect

 

Basett Racing,

I thank you for such a comprehensive answer only hours after I asked. That answers a lot of my questions, but I'm sure I'll have more if I decide to do this. Use of the measuring devices is not a problem. I've been using them a decent amount the past few years and have a few places that I could possibly borrow them from (past jobs and current job). So other than the right tools, I just need the takeoff from slp, an installation kit, 28 spline axles, and i'm set, right? Thanks again for the reply. I'll try finding a reputable place to get an estimate from in the meantime. Anybody got any reason not to go ahead and buy the zexel torsen just to have when I do get the nerve or money to put it in?

 

Mike S,
Sorry it took so long to reply(this time), I've been out of town this weekend, but yeah, if you've got the tools and the parts, you could do it. The hardest part of it is having enough patience to do it. And like Pablo said, there is a lot of work involved. The act of doing it is pretty simple, but the fact that you have to do it 5 or 6 times (in SOME cases) is sometimes very frustrating. Like I said before, the fact that you aren't changing gears will cut out having to set the pinion depth which is really the hardest part if you are putting in new gears. The last set I put in were Richmond 4.10's and when you buy a set of new aftermarket gears like these, they have the proper pinion depth scribed on them. All gearsets that Richmond, US Gear, etc., sell are actually matched pairs. This means even if you already had Richmond 4.10's, and you only broke the ring gear, you would have to change the pinion too, you couldn't just put in a new ring gear to "shortcut" the time of installation, I lot of people don't know that, and I know a Mustang racer here in town that broke his Richmond 3.73's and tried to do that, and ruined his new ring gear and had to buy yet another set(3 in all) and replace them both together. But if you decide to do it, feel free to E mail me with anymore questions, or if you run into something that you have trouble with, and I'll be glad to help out. If you ever do it once, you will have it, because I've set of a few 7.5's, several 8.5 and 8.2 GM 10 bolts, a truck and passenger car GM 12 bolts, and one 8.8 Brand X and they're all basically the same in design, they're are a few differences, but the principle is basically the same, and no one seemed really any harder than any other except our tiny little 7.5's are a hell of lot lighter when taking them in and out Who knows, if you do what I did, bite the bullet, and learn to do them, you can make a little extra cash. I do a few for friend's and some of the guys that race around here, and sometimes people that are lacking in the cash dept. and need a rearend or engine built, will trade out some real nice stuff for the work. The last engine I built for someone got me a std. bore 350 4 bolt main (running), a '65 327 small journal steel crank(shortblock), and 750 Holley DP on top of a Edelbrock Victor Jr, so I gladly accepted his offer!! But like I said before, if you need any help or advice E mail me and I'll help all I can.

------------------
82 Z28 350, Ported #882 Heads, Performer RPM cam and intake, hedman headers,650 Demon carb,
Trans: Turbo 350 w/ 4000 stall -- Rearend 7.5 w/ Richmond 4.10's, Auburn Minispool
Best ET: 12.52@107.2
Future plans: Dart headed, Roller cammed 383 in early '01


89 RS, L03 305, Hypertech Chip,cat delete, Dynomax exhaust,K&N open element Filter,160 stat, MSD coil --Trans:700R4 Corvette Servo -- Rearend: 7.5 GM 3.42 w/ posi-lock
New Best ET: 14.91 @92.9
Bassett Racing
Mid Atlantic F Body -82 Z28 Page

R.I.P. Dale Earnhardt #3