I swapped out the old 2.8 and put a 350 in it. Right now its pushing 360hp to the rear end. Would it hurt my rear end and trans in the long run or fast? I only dumped the clutch once and gave it all its got and man does she got POWER. After that its been a month or so haven't heard any weird noises from the rear end yet.

I want some ideas on whether or not I should drive it hard like that again and some ideas on which rear end I should be looking for. I want a rear out of a 90 sum z28 I have no idea if it'll hold up.

 

Don/t know about the rear end, but the T-5 transmission only came in V8 engines 5.0 size and V6s. The trans case was not heavy duty enough to handle a 5.7 so it wasn't offered. Lots of folks on here have kept it behind a 5.7 or larger, but drive it nice and easy to keep the trans case intact. A V8 T-56 is a good solid way to go, but you'll have to do some work as referenced further on here. Keep driving it hard and it won't last long. Sorry

 

Yeah I thought the trans couldn't handle it and ima be getting a 6 speed out of a 4th gen soon. Thanks for the reply

 

Not only the T-5, but your little 10 bolt in the rear won't handle much abuse either. Either look at a aftermarket rear, Strange, Moser, or a good 9 bolt that came in the Iroc's and Trans Am's.

 

Do you think the 4th gen rear would handle abuse well or no?

 

It will some, What gear ratio do you have? (in the rear end) If it's the 3.42 gears, that's not too bad.

 

I wouldn't have a single clue had the car for a year had to get an engine swap and work out all the little kinks with it. Haven't had time to checkout anything else.

 

Well if the drive train is all stock, this is where if found the info for your signature car. https://www.thirdgen.org/1987-chevy-camaro/

 

Thanks for the info and all the help very much appreciated

 

When you look at all the OEM 7.5" 10 bolts that were available in these cars, there was no real V6/V8 diff. The only thing that really changed was the gear ratio depending on the model and drivetrain options and if it came with a posi or not. In 1986, GM changed the ring gear OD from 7.5" to 7.625 but nothing else changed and we still call it a 7.5" 10 bolt. In 1990, the axles size was increased from 26 to 28 spline for a little more added strength. The 82-89 diffs can be upgraded to 28 spline with new axles designed for 90-92 third gens and carrier (posi) with 28 spline side gears. Aftermarket 28 spline axles are much stronger than OEM 28 spline axles.

As for the fourth gen diff, it's the same strength as the 90-92 third gen diff but it's wider so your tires will stick out unless you get rims with more backspace or use fourth gen rims.

No matter what you try to do to make these diffs stronger, they still have the tiny 7.5" ring and pinion teeth and those will normally fail before anything else does. Dumping the clutch is much harder on the teeth than an automatic transmission can do unless it's with a high stall transbrake launch.

I pushed a beefed up 10 bolt into the 10 second range before finally swapping in a 9" diff into my car. Slow street cars have also broken the 10 bolt just abusing it on the street. It's a coin flip as to if it will survive or not.

 

Like Alky said. No real V6 or V8 rear end.

The same rear end was used in the 2.5L 4 cyl, 2.8L V6, 3.1L V6, 5.0L V8 and 5.7L V8 third gen F body cars. Only difference was the gear ratio in some of them.

82-85. 7.5" 10 bolt with 26 spline axles
86-90 7.625" 10 bolt with 26 spline axles
91-2002 7.625" 10 bolt with 28 spline axles

 

Curious how you obtained the 360 RWHP number.

If that's really what you're putting out, then you are on borrowed time for the T5 & 10-bolt with anything more aggressive than granny driving.

It's time to look into a T56 or Tremec, and a beefier rear end like 12-bolt, 9", or S60. Yes, you're looking at a good bit of coin, probably doubling what you've got in the car so far.

 

Well headers apparently add 20hp and with the 670cfm carb I got also the brand new 3" cat back exhaust. planning on getting a 750cfm carb that'll bring so much more. The only time I ever get on it is to open the 4 barrel I'd think that wouldn't hurt it since you aren't dumping the clutch with a hard launch. Yes I plan on replacing the transmission with a tremec 6 speed but it'll be a year or so before I do.

 

Just drive it till something makes noise or breaks. It will withstand some abuse, but you already know it's not going to last forever. If it's not a daily driver, have some fun for a while. A kid i know had a firebird with about your same set up, it didn't last 2 months and the tranny and rear blew up, but he was hammering it pretty hard almost all the time. Lol

 

I'll just take it easy for awhile I don't have 3 grand to shell out on a new transmission plus labor not til I'm 25 then I'd have access to my trust fund and only thing it'll get is a new trans (depends on how much everything costs) I can guarantee you a new trans and rear will be 5 grand total if not more.