Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

What was the cost of labor if you mind me asking?

I will hopefully be doing all of this sooner than later.
Did you stick with the stock rear end cover?

Yes, the stock cover is on. It has to come off for the 500 mile lube change, so I'm probably going to add a drain plug at that time.

When calling around to find shops that would do the rear work and did gears on a regular basis, the estimates were all over. From $200 to $800. I finally got a recommendation to use Steves Transmission Repair in Stillwater, NJ. Steve runs a very nice and small custom shop where the builds 1/4 mile cars for clients, and supplies built transmission for any racing application. So gear changes and differentials were second nature to him. He said the price was a flat fee of $300 plus extra labor charge for problem situations, additional parts, etc. Sounded fair to me so he got the job. I was surprised that even though he had to pull the pinion to shim if after going for a test drive, the extra labor charge was only $80. That means he had to pull the axles, differential, etc to remove the pinion and add shims, then reinstall everything. Like doing the whole job twice.

So, if you can find a good trans shop, they do rear gears regularly and should be able to do the job quick, efficiently, and most importantly, set the gears correctly.

BTW, I did a lot of reading up on gear install. I was surprised to read (more than once) that the bearings should not be changed unless they are high mileage or damaged when pressed off the carrier or pinion. Steve agrees with that assessment, and having 33k miles on my car, he had no problem reusing all the bearings. But he did use new bolts for the ring gear and new nut on the pinion shaft.

[pace2006]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

You'll have to let us know what you think of the Truetrac and gears once you're past the break-in period. I'm in need of a new rearend and have my eye on the same setup you have. Might have to be a nice after-Christmas present to myself. :D

[LETZRIDE]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

You'll have to let us know what you think of the Truetrac and gears once you're past the break-in period. I'm in need of a new rearend and have my eye on the same setup you have. Might have to be a nice after-Christmas present to myself. :D

told you not to go with Torsen!

[ssms5411]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

told you not to go with Torsen!

Torsen is great , I have my torsen with 3.73's GM motive gears with RP gear oil, T/A cover & ARP main bolts and it makes zero noise and grabs like crazy ,esp. around corners. Straight line is outstanding just grabs without spinning the tires, do to the UMI TQ arm (I think, plus other suspension mods) and just chirps 2nd and 3rd. A GM mechanic that had over 25 years doing rears did the whole rebuild on the rear. Its like I had my old stock 3.23's with a open diff in sound, except around 70-80 MPH where the RPMS get up there. But when it does go out, a 12 bolt or 9" will go in and I think they only come with Auburn True tracks or just a locker with 31/35 spline axles, should hold some power.

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

told you not to go with Torsen!

Truetrac is Eaton, not Torsen.

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

You'll have to let us know what you think of the Truetrac and gears once you're past the break-in period. I'm in need of a new rearend and have my eye on the same setup you have. Might have to be a nice after-Christmas present to myself. :D

Its not fully broken in yet, have about 225 miles on it. This morning I drove to the office, 40 miles, and for the first time had the car up to 65 - 70 mph. I was surprised that the gears run quiet at higher speeds and make a "white noise" sound at the 35-50 mph range when feathering the throttle. In other cars, the gears got louder the faster the car went and made a whine and metallic ring. This is fine with me. The gears are running quieter as the miles roll by.

Truetrac is performing just as advertised. Really works great, especially in the rain (Saturday) when the open rear would have spun the tire.

Yesterday afternoon the sun was out and the pavement dry. Gave the car a bit of throttle from dead stop and it immediately broke both tires loose and left about 30 ft of rubber. I was surprised, because this was far from WOT. So the 3.73's really multiply the torque.

Will give another update after 500 miles.

[ssms5411]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

I would look into some suspension mods to plant the tires down more, if their spinning alot. Maybe LCA's , relocation brackets, springs/shocks and maybe TQ arm. LCAS really helped mine and the TQ arm, can't spin the tires unless its wet out, this is with 3.73's, Transgo shift kit , vette servo and trans shift points/properties changed W/ HPtuners.

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

..... Transgo shift kit , vette servo and trans shift points/properties changed W/ HPtuners.

Was looking at the B&M shift improver kit (valve body mod) in the stage1 setup. The transgo does manual gear overide with the shifter, and I don't want that in a DD.

Any particular reason you went with the Transgo over B&M ?

[ssms5411]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

I went with the Transgo because they have been around for years and help the tranny last longer and the mechanic recommended it. I control how firm it shifts with HPtuners, so it is fine DD, it will act like normal if I drive regular , but as soon as I go WOT it will put you in your seat, only used 1 spacer, since the mechanic said 2 was too tight and was affecting the solenoids, on mine anyways. He has been doing trannies for over 40 years. Dale had his own shop back east and sold it to work part time at a shop here while he is retired since you can only make so much on social security before you get pentalized. He did mine for $160 , inastalled my Transgo HD2 , Vette servo, and replaced some of the factory plastic pieces with metal and installed a new fillter. Great guy to talk with about cars. Hptuners can do so much its crazy, 97RS4life gave me the settings for my tranny shift properties which were great.
With my suspension, I can stall my car to 2400 RPMS and gun it with alittle spin out of first and then chirp from 2nd and 3rd shift. Just gunning it from a stop It just pulls you back no slip out of 1st and will chirp 2nd and 3rd. It just sticks to the road and is really fun to drive. Can't wait for the turbo to go on.LOL But talking to LETZRIDE , I might go with a TQ convertor around 3000 to 3200. Have to see where the turbo is making power so I can choose the right one.

[pace2006]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

Its not fully broken in yet, have about 225 miles on it. This morning I drove to the office, 40 miles, and for the first time had the car up to 65 - 70 mph. I was surprised that the gears run quiet at higher speeds and make a "white noise" sound at the 35-50 mph range when feathering the throttle. In other cars, the gears got louder the faster the car went and made a whine and metallic ring. This is fine with me. The gears are running quieter as the miles roll by.

Truetrac is performing just as advertised. Really works great, especially in the rain (Saturday) when the open rear would have spun the tire.

Yesterday afternoon the sun was out and the pavement dry. Gave the car a bit of throttle from dead stop and it immediately broke both tires loose and left about 30 ft of rubber. I was surprised, because this was far from WOT. So the 3.73's really multiply the torque.

Will give another update after 500 miles.

Glad to hear you're enjoying them. Like Steve said, definitely look into doing some suspension mods to help put with that spinning. It's fun to lay down some rubber, I know, but even better to get it to hook sooner. I'd recommend the Moog LCA bushings and some new shocks at the minimum. When I had the 3.42 LSD combo installed, mine had some pretty bad wheel hop. The rear LCA bushings and Koni shocks pretty much eliminated that though.

The gears I had installed were also quiet at higher speed and had that "white noise" sound you speak of. That's a good way of describing it too, lol. Unfortunately the housing in mine got damaged along the way and water toasted the bearings, so I'm looking at upgrading to 3.73s and now a Truetrac. :D

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

Yeah, I'm really liking the way the car feels. There is a jump in RPM's, but not too excessive for me: 1900 rpm was 65 mph, now 2300 is 65. So its not screaming by any stretch of the imagination. That is a 21% increase over the 3.08 gears, but only 9% more than the 3.42's.

I called around to the local trans shops. Those that do shift kits all do the B&M Shift Improver stage1. They said this is a good way to extend trans life, especially for a daily driver. One shop said "unless you like having your head bounce off the head rest every time the trans shifts, go with stage1". LOL! I'll go with stage1. And this is a job I will do myself to save a few $$, as I have done trans kits before. Plus with the cover off, its a good time to install a drain plug kit.

Ordered two drain plug kits and a rear gasket the other day so when 500 miles come and the gear lube is changed, I will install a drain plug kit to the cover while it's off and use a magnetic drain plug. The other drain plug kit will be for the trans when the shift kit is installed.

Regarding tire spin, I think I will leave the suspension alone until after enough money is saved to install 17" rims with the 275 tires. Then determine if more traction is needed. Right now axle wrap and wheel hop are not an issue.

This car may not be ooozing HP, but it will be fun as heck to drive!

[Blizzard242]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

17" rims with 275 tires will be definitely enough traction for you if you get the right tire.

When I upgraded just my tires to Nitto555R Drags 275/40R-17 with an open diff it was like night and day. 3.08 gears but I could still burn em in my driveway if I worked up enough boost before launch. btw, if you do ever get any nittos they leave lasting tire marks. My Dad and his driveway know all about that.

[Mark42]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

Latest update on this project:

Got the PCM tuned by PCMforless.com. They adjusted the fan speeds down to work with a 180 thermostat (which is now installed) and the fans work great. Temp gauge is also riding much lower.

Had to do a "learn" on the PCM because it was not the original one in the car, and after the car runs so much better. Dealer did it for about $40.

Been driving for a week now, and the car has come together very nicely. Runs better with the Tune, gears put the RPM right into HP so it responds very quickly to throttle, and with the PCM adjusted for the gears, the shift points in the automatic have been moved down in MPH accordingly. Really makes for a much more responsive and fun to drive car.

Time to start saving my pennies for a Magnaflow cat back! :D

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

Time to start saving my pennies for a BORLA cat back! :D

fixed :D

nice work by the way man, i'm about to finally upgrade my rear end too and go 3.73's --- you've got me pretty pumped for them!

[Bonemaro]

Re: Woo Hoo! Santa came early....

Have you hit the 500 mark yet and gave it hell? I'm about to go 3.73's and want to know the dirt.