I'll be needing a rear end for my chevette. I need something thats 4 lug because I want wheels that only come in 4 lug, It needs to be close to the same width and the stock rear end(within 1/2 inch) and it needs to have an LSD. If you know any place that could make an LSD for my stock rear end that would be good also.
Heres some ideas I have, tell me what you think.
Pinto, mavrick, mustang 2, samurai, jeep, corolla, celica
any other ideas???????
Were early RX-7s four bolt wheels? I know some came with LSD.
spitfirebill wrote: Were early RX-7s four bolt wheels? I know some came with LSD.
4 bolt but odd bolt pattern (4x110)
84-85 RX-7 GSL-SE used 4x108(4.25)??. Miata Torsen bolts in
How narrow are we talking and are drums ok? Early fox-chassis Mustang's (79-85) had 7.5" rear axles that are pretty narrow with drums. Some had LSD's. The 83-86 TBird Turbo had a 3.47 LSD 7.5" that you can pull the guts out of for the much narrower Mustang unit.
RandyS wrote: 84-85 RX-7 GSL-SE used 4x108(4.25)??. Miata Torsen bolts in
Now that I think about it the GSL-Se pattern is 4x114.3 (4.5")
Beat me to it Randy.
RX7 axles are wider than you think, like 57 1/2" mount flange to mount flange. The RX2 axle is 53" flange to flange.
The V8 mustangs all had 8.8s with limited slips, and they're the same width as the 7.5. This one used a 8 inch from a mustang II.
http://www.fastchevettes.com/HRM.html
V8 Mustangs didn't get 8.8's until 86.
I have a rearend out of an 89 Mustang 5.0 if you are interested.
The Chevettes had a multi-link rearend setup (as opposed to something swap-friendly like leaf springs), so you're going to have to do some serious fabrication no matter what. Are you prepared for that? At the moment I can't remember if they had a conventional 4 link or a 3 link ala the 3rd gen F-body and later vegas
I remember HotRod stuffed a ford 8" into their 500ci cadi powered Chevette by using leaf springs (only about 1/2 of them) as lower control arms. That story was a comedy of briliant "don't try this at home" type hack jobs.
I'll have to measure it. anyone know where I can get anLSD made for mine?
Sticking with the 4-lug, you want to find an Isuzu Impulse rear that came with LSD. They are out there, and should almost bolt right in to the Chevette.
No good reason to stay with 4-lug, it only complicates things.
Easiest 5-lug swaps?
Have a Camaro (80's or 90's) rear axle cut down to the right width to use S10 2WD axles. It'll be about 2-3" wider than stock (55" for S10, Chevette should be 52 or so), but FWD offset wheels will take care of most of that. Someone good with a drill and rosebud oxy-acel torch might even be able to pop the axle stubs out of the S10 rear and swap them into the Camaro center housing, pretty low tech and GRM priced if you know someone with the skills. Weld on the spring buckets from the Chevette axle and cut the torque arm down to size and you're set.
That gives you plentiful gear choices, a torque arm for the Chevette suspension, disc brakes if you choose the right one, and 5x4.75" bolt pattern.
Next easiest would be to use a 2WD Toyota pickup rear axle (@54") and fab up a torque arm mount that bolts into the pumpkin mounting bolts. Again add the spring buckets from the Chevette axle and you're set, this time with 5x4.5" bolt pattern.
And now, since you have 5-lugs out back, swap the front rotors and calipers out with Fiero ones to get 5-lug and FWD offset on the front. Sure the front is 5x100 and the back is something else, but that's what wheel adapters are made for. You could also easily enough find some dual-drilled FWD rims, 5x100 and 5x4.5, and use one set of holes on the back and the other on the front.
Getting a LSD for a Chevette rear would likely cost you more than having a custom axle made.
The wheels I want only come in 4 lug. I'll look into the impulse rear. know anywhere I might find one?
I think this is a 6.5" rear axle. if so, it appears some Vegas used them but not very many and it is originally a Vauxhall piece. It may be basically the same axle that's under my J-H, if so there's no readily available limited slip out there. The JHPS was working a deal with, IIRC, Quaife to make a run of 100 limited slips and they were gonna be like a grand apiece. As you can imagine there wasn't enough interest in that.
It's probably cheaper to get a S10 axle or something like that and narrow it rather than spending a wad on one off pieces for the original axle.
Would it be alot of trouble to have 4 lug axles made for the S10 rear end?
What size 4 lug seems to be the obvious question.
You can use spacers to go from one lug pattern to another like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Accessories_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__PAIR-WHEELS-SPACERS-E34-525-530-535-540-M5-BMW-89-95_W0QQitemZ270350164025QQddnZPartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadiZ2865QQddiZ2811QQadnZCarQ20Q26Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item270350164025&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1171|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318
4x100
mrdontplay wrote: Would it be alot of trouble to have 4 lug axles made for the S10 rear end?
Redrilling isn't that difficult. I had the RX2 axles redrilled locally for 4x100 and Miata studs for $100. Sure, Moser etc will do it cheaper but I would have had to pay shipping both ways so it evened out.
The thing to watch out for: on the rear of the flange, most of them have a 'taper' as you get closer to the bearing surface. Like this:
If your bolt circle gets into the 'taper' area, the axle flange will need to be 'spot faced' so the studs will press in straight. My redrill was close, all I had to do was grind a little (~ 1/16") from the side of the press in stud flange and they went right in.
Scratch the Celica off the list. None of the solid axle ones came with an LSD. 79-81 Supra does though, however they are pretty rare finds these days, not too many were made and most were squashed 10 years ago or more.
Thanks jensenman, thats a big help.
Does anyone know what it cost to have one narrowed? Do you cut the stock axles or have new ones made?
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