My buddy wants to sell me a 12 bolt rear end that was made in 1977, it has drum brakes and no ABS. My question is if i convert this to disc brakes, and cut off the old shock mounts and move/weld them in the appropriate spots, have an appropriate length drive shaft, i should have a 12 bolt that will go into my lt1 right? After that i can buy all the parts i need for it and build it from scratch...
DOes this seem like a feasible idea? ITs gotta be cheaper than buying a 12 bolt from moser or someone else for $2200 or whatever.
thanks for your time,
tony

 

Are u sure its a 12 bolt or just a 8.5 10 bolt?? the 10 bolt 8.5 were very comon for these years I dont think th e12 bolts even came srock on these cars

 

yep, they had 12 bolts back in the day.

 

Of course t hey did, I just saying that he should should check just to be sure.

 

it is for sure a 12 bolt rear end.

 

It won't be an easy task. You'll need to make sure that it is the proper width (hub to hub), and that the axles are the correct bolt pattern and length. Not to mention:

Having the brackets welded on precisely in OEM location, taking into consideration the current dimensions of the new rear. You won't be able to just 'cut them off'. You'll need new brackets from Currie, Moser, GM, etc.

LCA and panhard rod bracket placement.

Spring perches.

And you'll need to fabricate a torque arm mount, since the rear you have definitely doesn't have one.

You'll end up losing ABS as well. IMO, it will be a big headache.

 

The TA mount is the difficult part. I can give you a link to someone who did it. In the end, he figured to saved about $500 over buying a Strange or a Moser. He also said he doubted he would go through the problems (including a couple of TA mount failures) again.

Let me know if you want his name.

 

yes please, i am very interested in doing this, thanks,
Tony

 

To much work to make it fit. A 38 yr old rear isn't worth the effort even for $150.

 

Check out "N20LT4Bird" on the F-Body.com forum.

http://www.f-body.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=2