ok... heres the deal. i got a rear end for $100. it has 3.23's and is posi. it was also missing a caliper. i have discs on my car right now but i am would be short a caliper if i wanted to sell my old rear (2.73's)
inside the new rear, one of the spring retainers is bent and i am missing 3 of the springs that go in it. the replacement parts from auburn gear are about $100 (unless someone has better ideas/sources).

should i:

A) put the rear back together and run it as an open rear without the spring plates and stuff (can i do this?)

B) spend the $100 for the parts and try to put it back together myself - it doesnt look TOO hard

C) take the rear apart and sell the carrier to hopefully make my $100 back.

D) use this rear end for a weight to tie my a__hole next door neigbor to when i dispose of his body (he called the cops on me this morning for making noise in my garage at 10am - too early for him i guess)


thanks for the input!!!

 

What splines are the axles?

 

rear is from an 86... 26 spline axles

 

Well if it had 28, you could get a whole Zexel-Torsen posi for $100, and have a better unit than the weenie stock Auburn, and not have to fool around with putting it back together. Oh well.

Looks to me like B and D are your best options at this point. I don't believe A is possible, and C might be a career-shortening move. The condition of the rest of the rear would be the decision maker if it was me: if the axles weren't absolutely pristine, or the gears had wear, or the bearings were rough or loose, or the brakes had missing or defective parts, I'd go with some variant of D. I believe it would have to be a really primo, cherry piece before I'd spend $100 on an old-disk-brake, 26-spline, stock-posi rear end with highway gears in it. But that's just me.

 

blecch... not the answer i was hoping for, but thanks for the reply!