Hello Neil, nice to hear from you again sir! Appreciate all the kind words and offers for help very much. Was thinking about you the other day when I was removing the broken sway bar from the Camaro. Already have the one you gave me cleaned up and ready with a new bushing set, thanks again for that sir! Hope you're enjoying your summer. I probably will just order another set of stands from HF pretty soon. For now, I'm going to go and grab a few assorted blocks from the Depot in the morning when I head into town. That'll free up one set of stands for me to use on the rear end for cleaning/painting and help me get the shell lifted up a bit higher. Really need the extra height to make it easier on my arms and back. Hate waiting on the HF shipping times but the cost savings does make it worth while in the end. Might take you up on the offer though in August, sure I'll be in need of something again at that point.

I hope to obtain a Griffin radiator at some point in the future myself, but it'll be an addition way later after the car is on the road. Something tells me I'll be having cooling problems with the stock radiator and mechanical fan but as always, I hope for the best.

It's now 2:00 a.m. and I'm just taking a break for a few. Got the springs removed from the rear end and the shackles off the springs. Hoping to get the old bushings out before calling it a night/morning. Nice breeze and cooler outside than it is in the house so it's good progress weather. Hope to get some pics up soon! Here's a couple with the front wheels polished and installed on the front end, sans center caps. Same wheels as my profile pic but closer. I'm quite positive there's a bunch of opinions about the wheels I'm using on my Camaro and I'll just say that they're 12 years old, still look incredible and what I will use for now. Not my ideal choice and if I was wheel shopping, wouldn't have picked them but they're out of the ordinary and still look great to me. Beats the hell out of 14" tubines with 195/70 series tires! (arguable I'm sure.)

 

A productive evening, got the whole thing broken down. Well, I can't really say that, didn't get the bushings out of the front eyes. Did I just get lucky or do the rear spring bushings usually come out by hand? They did for me. I had a miserable time trying to get the bolts out of the front eye/perch. Shouldn't there be a metal sleeve through the bushings? Maybe I'm wrong but mine didn't have a sleeve (front or rear)and the bolts were in there so tight I couldn't get the bolt pulled out once the nut was removed. Had to use a 3 lb sledge and beat them flush which took about 40 hits each. Then I ruined a punch trying to get the bolt out the rest of the way. Held the punch with channel locks and used the sledge again. Sounds stupid but that was by far the longest amount of time spent on the disassembly of everything, over an hour! All the other nuts holding the retaining plates and sway bar came out without any trouble. By the time I finished I'm pretty sure I was a few pounds lighter from the steady stream of sweat that poured off my head/hat. It's apart though, so I'm feeling pretty good now.

Here's a pic of the fuel sending unit that I pulled out and mentioned earlier. Not a good look at all. When I order the new unit it'll be ok to get the single line one right? Not sure what a/c has to do with fuel sending units but I removed the a/c and don't have the return line anymore either. When I look at new sets at rockauto that's what the description says - 2 line for a/c and 1 line for non a/c so that's why I ask. Strange to me but sure there's a reason.

 

Everywhere EXCEPT the beautiful NW! We were 83 yesterday! Brrr!

 

Just a quick update. So here I am getting everything all cleaned up nice and finished one of the springs. Looks almost like new again. Then, I go to the second spring. I could swear this wasn't broke when I pulled it off and removed the old pads, rust sort of says otherwise though. Don't know how I could've overlooked those breaks. Had absolutely no plans to buy new leaf springs, the one I just cleaned is in such good shape! Looked on Summit and all they have are lowering springs which I don't really need for the back end. Time to visit Ebay again, maybe get lucky and find one around here but doubt it. Any ideas where I could get a used one?

 

I guess my first thought would be to check Craigslist for someone parting out a 2nd gen Camaro or Firebird and see if you can get a pair of springs from them cheap. I think I tossed mine in the scrap run, but I'll take a look today in case I set them aside. If I still have them you can have them for shipping cost, but it might be spendy to ship from Oregon to Mich. with the size and weight.
I'd probably change just the main leaf, and reuse the rest of yours if you do find springs.

 

I appreciate you checking and for the offer Vall. It is just the main spring that broke at both sides of the pad. That's the same side the sway bar was broken on also, not sure if any connection there? There's a guy that I've gotten parts from before but he's almost 100 miles from me. By the time I factor in fuel cost and his cost (never cheap) I'd be better off buying a new set. It's not the end of the world but something I wasn't planning on especially after taking the time to make the first spring look so good AND remove the bushing/sleeve! Can't remember the last time I've seen anyone around here with 2nd gen parts cars other than the guy I mentioned. Just doesn't make sense to spend the money on gas and a used spring(s) like that. Checked ebay last night and same situation, $150 for used and $50 more would get me a new set from Summit.

I'm draining the diff. today so I can put the old cover back on and finish wire wheeling the housing. What weight of lube should I use to refill? I think the norm is 75w 90? I have the Detroit Truetrac in there now and was told I don't need any additives other than the lube. Just want to get some Royal Purple ordered and not sure what I should be getting.

 

If you get lube that's specifically for LS rearends, then you don't need a bottle of friction modifier. But you don't want to just put regular gear oil in and not either add the friction modifier, or use LS specific gear oil.
The 75-90 wt. should be fine.

 

Appreciate the confirm as well sir. I just now found some info from Eaton on what type of lube to use in their Detroit Locker and Truetrac diffs. and found it interesting. Here's what it says:
Truetrac

What kind of oil should I use? Can I use synthetic? Do I need friction additive/modifier?
A quality petroleum/mineral based oil works best in the Truetrac units. We do not recommend synthetic oil. Friction additive/modifier is not required.

I know I just drained synthetic lube out of there as that's what I was told to get for it when I had everything installed. I started checking again last night because every time I pulled up the list of "suggested lubricants" for the Truetrac on Summit's website it would only show me Lucas non-synthetic 80w90 or Lakewood 8090 with LS additive. That's fine with me, $7 a bottle instead of $22 for RP. I think most people (including myself) are now more accustomed to going with synthetic lube's for the added benefits/protection. I realize my question was about weight choice and not synth vs nonsynth but I'm glad I found the info direct from Eaton. Doubt using synthetic in there for a couple hundred miles was "bad" for it but it specifically says not recommended.

 

Ya know I just went through this when I filled up the ST10. Last time I filled it sythetics werent even on the shelf. I had 90w in it but I see now RP has 80/140 and everything in between. I thought why have it get that thick? But I tossed it in just to see if it ran any cooler. That trans used to cook my butt all summer. I wasnt the dirt head riding with no shirt because I though I was cool. I did it so I wouldnt suffocate. lol

 

Could someone please tell me what this plastic piece is called on the diff housing and/or where I could get a replacement? I chewed it up pretty good with the wire wheel and fluid is now leaking out of the cap. Doesn't seem to have threads and I couldn't get it to pull off of there. Didn't try real hard but all I know is that I need a replacement. It was a white-ish color at first.