A buddy and myself are going to build a race car out of a 93 Z. The idea is to strip it of EVERYTHING not needed. The car will be a stalled auto at about 3600rpm with a CPT transmission. An aluminum drive shaft and 3.73 gears will be used in the rear end with all seals, shims, and bearing replaced in the rear. The questions is can the car at 2800 lbs with about 375rwhp and a stall keep from breaking the rear end on MT ET drag radials? We are trying to go as fast as we can for as cheap as we can.... hence the removal of everything. LOL What do you think?

 

No, I got 100 passes out of a 10 bolt...trick was to run high air pressure so they would spin about a half turn. I used BFG dr's around 18 psi that was at 3050 with me in it

 

100 passes is good...

 

Thats only 25 miles
It will last for a while, but you know what they say, its a crap shoot.

 

If you hook with decent power, the odds that it will break are very good. That's all there is to it.

As a rule of thumb, the breaking point of a typical 10-bolt is launching a ~3600-pound car with about 400rwhp. You can reinforce it with a girdle or with bearing cap supports, but you'd be better off spending that money on a 12-bolt or a Dana 60. Make up for the weight with a fiberglass hood or something else off the front end.

 

i would get a ta cover, weld the tubes, solid pinon spacer, 350-total not too bad for some extra insurance. A 3.42 would hold up better.

 

A solid pinion spacer is the only thing I would spend money on. TA cover is a waste IMO. It only preloads the caps....well there is not really a problem with that.

I only had one gear problem...everything else was diff problems. And the only time I broke a gear is when a pc. of the diff broke and got between the gear and took half the teeth out.

Its a gamble...there are no set rules to how long it will last

 

Well my experience is totally different than the naysayers above.
Bought new in 00. 200 passes in the low 13s at stock weight (3600),
200 passes with a 3800 stall and sticky tires in the mid 12s,
welded the tubes, added TA cover, Eaton HD, Raytec collar, and 3.42s when I went heads cam, 200 passes mid 11s with 1.5-1.6 60s
Bought the 12 bolt only when I decided to go 4.10s and all out drag car.

 

Good point, I know alot of guys that went 10's with 10 bolts...not one of them was M6.

The auto is not as harsh of a shock load on it.

 

With an auto I would say you should get some use out of it. My buddy has 7 years of use on his 10 bolt, with a few hurt ring gears but otherwise its held up good. He's raced at full weight, and over the last few years the raceweight has gone down to around 3500lbs. He makes just over 400rwp, runs TCI 4400 stall, and has run 11.teens for a few years now.

 

honestly a 10 bolt with stock gears 323 or 342 and some moser axles ive seen in the 1.38 60' in a 3800 pound car for over 6 years...


3.73 i hit the 125 shot about 10 feet out and went 1.50 60' and never broke it

i was scared to leave on spray i thought id strip the gears...so i didnt push it anymore...stay stock gears and weld the posi it will last a while...

normally they break posi then axles...as long as you have stock gears...if not gears then posi then axles

375 hp i thnk youll be fine...i was 3500 raceweight and made almost 500hp with my 3.73's

 

The auto will help a little- beef everything you can, weld the tubes, girdle, etcl

Sticky tires will shorten the life- even with "only" 375 HP, if you hook well you will be putting a strain on things-

"Enough power and you will always break something. And, traction is the cheapest thing to break" If you start hooking, you time will go down, but the $ will go up-

 

Ya with this car I intend to run just DRs and stay in the 1.6 60ft numbers. Don't want to break anything too fast.