Hey all, I just brought my first camaro. Now, it needs a rear end. The seller gave me a 10 bolt off of another 3rd Gen (3.23 posi) but one of my friends has a 12 bolt off of a 71 El Camino. I was in wondering how much work it would take to get the 12 bolt in, and if it would take a lot of fabrication.

 

Huge amount of work and a lot of fab. You will also be destroying a good Chevelle 12 bolt. You can buy a bolt in 12 bolt housing from Moser, Mark Williams, Strange Engineering and probably some others.

 

If only I could afford those
It's a shame because it's cheap and available to me... oh well! sticking with the 10 bolt for now then!

 

Depending on the codes on the 12 bolt you might be able to flip it for a pretty penny to fund a stronger rear for the Camaro.

 

Cheap doesn't mean you can use it. The third gens torque arm suspension prevents you from installing a diff not designed for the car. Same goes for any other junkyard diff other than from a third or fourth gen.

By the time you fabricate and install some way to attach the torque arm, you'll probably have spent enough to buy a bolt in diff.

The El Camino diff is also probably too wide so add in the cost of narrowing, new axles etc.

The most inexpensive diff you can do is a 9". You can buy a bolt in housing with axles for less than $1500. It's designed to use your current brakes. Supply a junkyard center section and away you go.

The cheapest way to go is to bolt in another 10 bolt diff from a third gen. If you make enough power to break it, then decide if a 9" or 12 bolt is still too expensive. If you plan on making enough power to break a 10 bolt, you should be starting at the back and moving forward. When that's all done, the last thing you need to invest in is the engine.

 

Yup!! I have a 10 bolt now so I'm going to go ahead and slap that one in. But the 9" ford seems possible in the near future... cheaper than what I was seeing for aftermarket 12 bolts!! It's easier to rationalize $1500 + some for gears than $2000+ for an aftermarket 12 bolt (or a whole lot a fab and ruining a 12 bolt).