Thanks to some of you guys on here for providing some good advice before I did this swap. As we all knew the 9 bolt I bought for my IROC pretty much went right into place of my other 9 bolt I had. The one I had was a 2:77 gear ratio and this 3:27 required little work to install except for the brakes set-up which was a pain in THE BUTT!

I got brand new Castrol 80w90 gear oil with posi/limited slip additive in and new rear brake pads. I painted the rear end red & brake calipers black. It took about 2.5 hours to do the swap. The wheel bearings were still good in this even though it sat for awhile. We also put new Energy Suspension sway bar links on since my old stock ones were rotted.

When my friend took the bolts that kept my drive-shaft up he told me that I have an aluminum drive-shaft on my car which I took a look at. He asked me if I had replaced it and I said no, it's whatever it came with from the factory. He said it's extremely rare to find one of those on a non-1LE car which is true. He also said my lower control arms were more uncommon because of ridges inside of it with 2 bolts holding them in which makes them stronger. He had only seen one other 3rd Gen. with those lower control arms and it was a 1989 305 5 speed.

When we were done I went home and got gas. I got on the highway and decided to see what the difference was. Holy crap, what a difference it has made. I almost buried my speedometer needle way faster (works really well with other modifications might I add) than I had have with my 2:77 gear ratio. In my opinion GM screwed over the 350 car owners in 1988 with the standard 2:77. Thanks for reading!




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Actually, many non-1LE cars were equipped with the JG1 alum shaft (I once sold over 60 of them).

JamesC

 

I'm sure that's true but they're no where near as common as the steel drive-shafts. It does make for an interesting subject to talk about though. As I've told my friends and I'll tell you, the longer I have this car the more I learn about it. Things that I've discovered while owning it that the seller didn't know. That's one of the things that makes owning this car a joy.

 

I was wondering, about how many of our cars came with the JG1 option versus those with the standard driveshafts?

 

I couldn't agree more. Good luck with your project.

JamesC

 

I'm not sure there's a way to verify that. The steel shaft is far more common, of course, but the alum shaft isn't uncommon either.

Live and learn. In 2000, I decided an alum shaft would be a cool upgrade, but the wisdom on the board at that time was that the alum shaft, the so-called 1LE shaft, was as rare as hen's teeth. One day out of boredom, I started an online search for one. In twenty minutes or so I'd purchased one for $80. In the next few months, I'd bought 60+ of them from all over the country (five from one yard).

The 1LE moniker makes parts appear to be desirable/rare when in fact they're not. Take the so-called 1LE 10-spoke alum spare, which doesn't fit the so-called 1LE rear brakes, which ALL rear disc cars were equipped with 89-92.

JamesC

 

I was going through the old threads from 2001 where you were talking about this very subject to some other guys. You had mentioned the 60 that you sold then. Yeah, I didn't initially think that the 1LE cars were the only ones to get them aluminum shaft but it is very neat to have a non-1LE car that has it from the factory. But as you said, we live and learn!

 

Lot of the GTA's had them stock.

 

Why red? Even more when you just botched it. I spent a few hours and grinded my 9 bolt even and por15'd it.

Good to hear it was worth it. Haven't driven mine. Should be a night and day from my old l03 setup

 

Forgive me if I took your comment the wrong way but I didn't botch my rear end. Between the way it looked when I got it and now, it looks a crap load better. I also had to do this on the ground, in the 30 degree temperature with wind blowing and not alot of time and warmth. It took me about 4.5 hours to do what is normally a whole day job. I don't have a garage so I had to lift this out of my car with someone's help, get it on the ground and do all the work which turned out well.

But I'm happy with it and the driving I've done since the install Saturday night is a huge jump up from the 2:77's I had. I'm hitting in the mid 100's without even realizing it now, really fast. Of course having other mods to my car helps accommodate this rear end too.

 

Didn't mean anything bad soeey if it came uplike so.


Still anything is better than the surface rust color.

I paid 225 for my 88k mile 9 bolt. Same as yours 3.27 posi but with pbr brakes. Should of test drove it with the old 305 but too late now.

 

It's all good. No offended man here.

The 9 bolt I got is surprisingly stronger than my other one. Maybe it's because it came off a car that had 90,000 miles on it? My 2:77 (which is for sale by the way) has 147,xxx miles on it. It's sitting at my friend's house right now.

But I got new brakes on my rear end since the other ones were shot. My car brakes perfect! I've got some ceramics up front and semi-metallic in the rear.

 

My 86 305 Auto Z28 had the lower control arms with the bolts on them before I took them off and boxed them.

 

The LCAs were also used on G bodies.On those cars the sway bar bolted to the LCA, instead of endlinks like ours.The two bolts are where the sway bar bolted to & the bracket inbetween is to keep the LCA from bending when the bolts are tighten up.Not very rare really,GM stopped leaving the bracket/bolts in later years, but early 3rd gens had them.

Did you recalibrate the speedo for the 3.27?If not your speedo is off.Could be why your probably hitting the 100 mark so much now.

 

Yeah, it's been calibrated since the install and I'm very happy with it so far.

 

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I'm not too sure what you think is funny. Especially when you don't have alot of time to do something and you make the most effort you can with what you have.

 

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!!!

 

You'd be surprised at how many threads are locked because of opinions and their aftermath.

Taking it down a notch, guys, would probably be a good idea.

JamesC

 

Guys who cares what color he painted it, and if its not to your liking??? If your going to crap on a thread about what color the rear end is, it will be closed or the crap posts removed. Keep this about tech and not paint color or how he painted it please.

 

I have kept it tech related but then we get someone with a rude opinion which isn't needed on here. This was my thread and I'm happy to hear positive notes on what I've done with my work. I got a good deal on this and I did what I did for it and have an interest in these parts. So take heed next time rude guy and don't start nonsense with members on here please.

 

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NOW,

 

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Blow it off, it's not worth the effort. Can't fix stupid. Good job on the fix! Changing rear gears gives the most bang for the "buck"!

 

Thanks alot man. I agree. There's a night and day difference between what I had before (2:77's) and the 3:27's. Later down the road once I've got an engine kit installed in the car with a pro-charger I'll put some 3:73's in there because anything more than that will just kill driving on the highway. I could do that but I don't like high RPM's on a regular basis either, lol.

 

I talked to him on the phone Aaron. We worked it out via the phone. I am deleting some of the posts on here since have talked. Thanks.

 

Yes you have kept it on topic but as you request I will keep it open.

 

Sounds like it made a big difference. It also sounds like it's probably easier and more straight forward to bolt up a new rear end if you want steeper gears, rather than buying/installing a new ring and pinion.

 

Oh, well, it will be many more miles before I were to put in a new stronger rear end for my future plans. My car is nothing special right now so far as having 600 horsepower on the road, but it's a mean street/highway beast and I'm happy with it so far.

In the next week/half you'll see a new thread or 2 posted by me regarding some more modifications to the intake/engine. But I wouldn't dare put a ring/pinion in this rear end now or ever. Not that I couldn't buy a new 9 bolt from 9bolt.com and keep a 9 bolt.

 

Nice I'M glad it worked out for you... and I've seen other peoples projects on here who are so quick to bash.. LOL So don't take it too much to heart