So the guy who sold me my new 89 IROC forgot to metion that they are 3 teeth missing out of the ring gear on the rear end and some nice holes punched in various parts. He told me the tire was unbalanced and that is why it had a wierd vibration in the rear, but man do I feel stupid now. The teeth were nowhere to be found so he obviously cleaned up the mess before. Question is how is the car even drivable? What can happen if I keep driving with a messed up rear end? Do rear ends usually sieze up or will it just shake like hell as a nice warning that things are bad.
grrr who ever said 9 bolts where strong?

 

go back to the guy and take three teeth from his face

 

I wish, he has got atleast 60lbs on me. Here are the pics:





[This message has been edited by UVA3rdGen (edited August 25, 2001).]

 

Looks like time to replace the old 10 bolt with a 12 bolt, but you're going to need about 400 horsepower so that you know you aren't wasting your money on a new rear end

 

Or you could find another 3.23 9-bolt BW disc rear in a JY unless you really think a gear ratio change is necessary. I wouldn't drive it that way as it could cause some undesireable vibrations at certain speeds. Before I did that, I would whup his a$$ and take his money (and perhaps his wife/girlfriend if she looks good). Don't matter how big he is, use your speed to kick him in the nuts, take his wallet and run .

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1990 IROC 350
Mods: Too busy trying to make it run right to mod it.
Airfoil, Dynomax cat-back, MSD coil, 180 t-stat, Bald Eagle tires,
Hypertech fan switch, Accel 23# injectors, Holley AFPR, ported plenum,
Ported Daytona Yellow stock base, Moroso valve covers, other stuff,
Ruger P95DC, hot wife, new oil filter, thick rubber floormats, no cats.
18.0 @ 85MPH since I'm one big-a$$ MF
"It's better to have and not need than to need and not have."

 

Real quick before this post dies, will the rear still work until I get a new one or am I really taking a risk? The pinion looks ok.

 

It depends on the damage. If the teeth are just chipped off, it might be ok for quite a while as long as you arent too hard on the rear. If they are cracked and ready to break off even more, it could end up causing more problems than are already there.

 

well no surprise why they broke, they were shimed so that when torqued the pinion contacted way to far out the ring gear. Put way to much force on the ends of that ring teeth. GRRR the guy was a mechanic to, he is supposed to know these things.

 

Go back to him. He lied, I know hes not gonna fix it, but atleast give him grief. Idiot lied to u.......

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1988 Jet Black IROC
5.7L W/ 64000 miles
Flowmaster Exhaust
Fully Loaded
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My IROC

 

i put a 4:88 in a 12 bolt posi rear in a 69 z/28 once with 3 teeth missing. actually it was the first rear end i ever did and it wasn't my car so the owner didn't want to risk me messing it up and costing him any money. it worked fine, and we raced it for a season on the 4:88s. after that we went to 4:56s and the car ran in the 11s with the front in the air when he launched it so i must of got it right.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd
MM Black Diamond 538 F&AM

 

ummm, if it hasn't been too long, I believe that this sort of thing is illegal. if the teeth were nowhere to be found it shows he knew it had a problem when he sold it, and did not disclose the information, which I am not sure, but I believe is illegal. If you are interested in recovering the money for the rear, call a lawyer tell them what's up. They wil usually either say no theres nothing you can do, or how about you come on in here and we'll set things up. They know the laws and they usually don't want to take cases that they don't think they can win.
Corry

 

I wouldn't risk driving it if I were you. It may be OK, but then again, it might not. Take it from me: a rearend blowout can get pretty ugly. When mine blew (thanks to an incompetent mechanic) it took out not just the ring and pinion, but also the posi, and the entire differential housing was cracked. The driveshaft was thrown on the road and I had to get it rebalanced and get a new yolk. And the best part: when it blew, it completely locked up the rear wheels and sent the car skidding down the road.

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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

 

It doesn't matter what rear end you have, when they get setup with too much heel pattern, they get weaker. The advantage of the heel pattern is that it's quieter. Looks to me like GM put a lot of heal into that one.

I have new carriers and gears available. Let me know if you want some.

Miles

PS "Can you drive it like that?" Sure, but you're on borrowed time.

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88 427 Camaro
12.18 @ 113mph 1.75 60ft
Currently installing 3.73's into my 9 bolt (YES, it is a 9 bolt & YES they are 3.73's, not 3.70. I currently have 4.10 gear sets and new series 3 carriers in stock for 9 bolts )
www.koolmeister.com

 

If you drive it like a little old lady chances are you could go for quite a long time without suffering additional damage, but if I were you I would definitely start saving my pennies for a new ring or new rear end right away. Even a junk yard replacement would give you peace of mind over what you've got in there now. Those pics are scary.

I would stay away from any drag strips until you fix this. In spite of what Ede said, I would be nervous as hell driving this thing hard. No offense towards Ed, I just hate to think of a guy stranded by the side of the road because he took a chance on damaged parts surviving.

 

Thanks for all your help guys. Me and my bro are going to put about 600 bucks into finding and building a stronger 10 bolt, hopefully that will last until we can afford to beef it up even more.