I have a 1983 Camaro berlinetta. It is a 305/t5 combo. I blew the rear end the other night and took the pan off and the drive gear in the back of the housing had come apart. I got another rear from a 1988 firebird formula. The drive gear looks a lot bigger and everything fit together fine but when I put it together there was a little play in the gears and it locks up when moving. I don’t know if the pinion nut is not on tight enough or what. Please help!!

 

Not very specific, was the complete rear axle swapped out ?
or are you referring to swapping out the ring gear with old used pinion ?
If that’s the case same ratio and you installed new bearings and setup bearing load and backlash ? Good gear pattern ?

 

I swapped all of the internals from the new rear. All of the original parts I pulled out. I left the firebird rear intact and just put all of those internals into my original housing. How do you set the load bearing and backlash?

 

You might find a factory service manual.
you can’t just slap in shims, mixed bearings and races and crank down the crush sleeve and expect it to work.

 

Why did you swap the internals instead of just installing the whole Firebird rear into your Camaro? I’m thinking it would’ve been a direct swap unless the brake types were different (drum vs disc).

 

I figured it would be easier just to swap the internals. That is all I did. I took everything out of the firebird pumpkin and put it in mine and it is binding up.

 

I didn’t just slap mixed parts together. I figured it would be easier just to swap the internals. That is all I did. I took everything out of the firebird pumpkin and put it in mine and it is binding up.

 

the brakes were the same but the firebird rear also has a sway bar which mine doesn’t. I figured it would be easier just to swap the internals. That is all I did. I took everything out of the firebird pumpkin and put it in mine and it is binding up.

 

It's probably too late for that; it's likely you've damaged the gears beyond repair. A visual inspection of the components will determine your next move.

 

I haven’t driven the car since I did the work. I was just spinning it with the car jacked up.

 

Obviously, it's going to need to come back apart, but before you do anything else, I strongly recommend you search ebay/craigslist/FB marketplace for a Factory Shop Manual for your specific 3rd gen. They turn up frequently, and if you plan to work on your car, a Helms manual (not Chilton or Haynes, or any other aftermarket book) is essential.

 

you installed new bearings and races and the crush sleeve ?
Sounds like old bearings on old worn races.
even if you do setup close it’s short live.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13493975579...mis&media=COPY

 

^^^^THIS

 

if you’re installing a new pinion crush sleeve my advice is to install a crush sleeve eliminator kit it uses shims and it’s completely reusable. This will save you a whole Lotta grief if you make any mistakes with a regular crush sleeve https://amzn.to/3JW8c0O
also using a Post and beam torque wrench is accurate enough for setting up your gear just check your lash before bolting everything back up

lots of YouTube videos on how to install them in the 7.5 rear end good luck

 

 

So, blowing a ring and pinion is common in these cars. You should have swapped whole rear ends. But now you have pulled the ring and pinion out of the housing they were set up in and swapped them in to a different housing. The new to you gears should have been set up in the new housing properly. If they were set up properly they may have lasted a little while at best. Once ring and pinions wear in, resetting them up is hit or miss at best. At this point, buy a new ring and pinion/bearings and setup kit and have someone who does it frequently set it up.

 

You are right on this.


 

that it needs to come apart again. I also agree that the OP should have literature on how to set up that rear end.

I don't agree that the parts are toast/junk/wrecked because they came out of one housing and went into another. That can be done, I know it can b/c I've done it with satisfactory results. Set up IS critical, of course, but the guy hasn't drivent the thing yet...I don't see why he can't pull it apart, inspect the parts and if not damaged from the "binding" that he has described, re-assemble it correctly.

 

As others have said, I would have just swapped the entire rear end. Moving the parts over without changing bearings/races, setting proper bearing preload, backlash and gear pattern is just not going to work. Setting up a rear differential properly requires proper tools, knowhow and experience.

At this point, I think the course of action that would have the best chance of success would be to put all of the parts back into the doner rear end and then swap that rear end into the car. If you kept all of the shims and know where they go, it should all go back together the way it was. Replace the seals and you'll need a new crush sleeve for the pinion bearings and will need to set up the pinion bearing preload drag with an inch pound torque wrench.