im trying to decide on a rear end to get to handle my future 383 that will put out around 450 hp and 450 torque..ive heard pros and cons about each but not sure which to get..im leaning towards the ford because there supposed to be stronger but then i have to get a new brake kit for the rear..what do you think i should get?

 

The 10 bolt you have in the car would handle that kind of power. The 12 bolt and the 9" are about the same strength stock vrs stock. 12 bolt pros... its lighter, uses less power to turn you might be able to find one as a direct fit (use an adapter u joint) cons c clip axle retainers. Ford pro no c clip, the pig can be changed without remeshing the gears and they can be made stronger then the 12, .... and 12 bolts are getting harder to find I recently seen one on craigs list for a 2nd gen it was priced at $1200... I have a 12 bolt in my 79 because I already had it I would have upgraded the 10 bolt otherwise. If you were looking at bigger power I would say go to the 9"

 

Artical on the 10 bolt http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...all/index.html

 

the 10 bolt will hold up to 450 ft/lbs torque? i want to get posi too

 

Yeah, the big 10 bolts (8.5 ring gear) are almost the same thickness of pinion and a lot of racers have put them through intense punishment and hp ratings. If you're talking about the little 10 (7.5 ring gear) then you might as well trash that thing imho. Pull the differential and plant a flower in it in the backyard, ha ha.

If it were me I would go with the Ford 9 just because the setup is easier and you can find a housing for around 250 bucks that fits directly into earlier Camaros pretty easily. The third member can be swapped without too much difficulty as Griff said also. Plus a lot of aftermarket support for Ford 9's are strong and cheaper than aftermarket Chevy 12 bolts from what I see.

 

well i saw ford 9" rear ends for like 2000 with axels, housing and differential..and then i have to get a new brake kit..so isn't it cheaper to go with the chevy 12 bolt..ive never seen the big 10 bolt..so that would take the punishment of the engine i want? and i can add posi to the big 10 bolt too?

 

Yeah, I run a 10 bolt 8.5 inch ring gear with 3.42 limited slip. Check that link that Griff put up there about the big 10 and look at the pics on the left and read the caption at the bottom about the people that punish them.

Well, you can get the Ford 9 housing for a second gen camaro that bolts right in for 200 or so bucks. Then get the third member for about 300 - 500 (or more) depending on what you get. Brake setups vary in price. You can get away with a good Ford 9 for under a grand from what I've priced. I just went with a big 10 because I already had a used 3.23 posi rear out of a 77 trans am. I just changed out the gears to a 3.42 in my neighbor's shop. He's a GM Master Tech so he had pretty much everything we needed and he's done a ton of rear gear changes. I would not recommend it unless you have someone with you that has done it NUMEROUS times before. The tolerances are in the hundreths and thousandths of an inch for it to be done right and there's not much room for error.

 

so i would just need the housing and third member upgrade and not the axels or whole rear end?

 

Yes, you would still need axles. You can get those at most junkyards for 20 - 30 bucks a set. You just have to know the application you're looking for (how many splines, length of axle, how many lugs and the bolt pattern). The guy who sells the pre made axle housings on ebay told me the lengths and he can do custom length houses too in case you want to run a wider and tubbed rear end.

Here's the rear end

It's gone up to almost 300 bucks since I last researched that and that was only a few months ago. The housing and axle package he does with Moser axles is 650. Throw in a third member then brakes and yeah, you can get up there into the 1500 - 2000 range. That's all brand new and going with name parts.

You can always go to a junkyard and get the entire rear for around 80 - 100 bucks and you'd have the entire assembly. Hopefully you'd be able to find a posi with good gearing. You'd want to look for a manual transmission as they usually had higher gears and trucks usually had posi if I remember correctly. Have someone cut and reweld the axle flanges and mounts for you for 50 - 60 bucks with the new perches costing about 30 bucks. You can get decent budget axles for your length from summit for 150 bucks. Then sell the old axles on ebay or craigslist. Slap a new set of brakes on there for 30 or so bucks and be done.

There's numerous ways to skin this cat.

 

i found a 12 bolt rear end off a 78 blazer for 150 locally on craigslist..it has 3.73 gears but no posi..it also has new brake shoes and drums..do you think i should get it?