needing a better rear end

[whitefirebird96]

So I came across a 97 trans am that had a head on with a semi at 70 mph, the guy is fine, but I was asking him if he wanted to sell his rear end. I have a 96 bird, I know that it will match up, I will also now have rear disc instead of drums. I know I will need a new proportioning valve for the discs. Are there any certain things I should look at on his differential so that I know I am not getting one that is messed up. Also will that rear end have LSD in it?

[RallyRed 98]

most likely it will have 3.42s... it's sort of difficult to tell if you're getting a "bad" rear unless the car is able to move so you can check for clicking noises, squeaks (bent axle), gear whine, etc.

i think all V8 cars had LSD.

[hockeyman]

You won't need a new proportioning valve. The drum propportioning valve works with disks too as long as it's within the 93-97 years. I used the V8 valve on the 95 T/A rear on my 96 V6 rear, it was a plug-n-play.
This will be a straigh bolt-on! All you will need (besides the rear) is the emergency brake cables. Like mentioned every single time someone is doing a swap, the e-brake cables for drums are different than disk cables.
A good thing to do is replace the rear differential fluid when doing this swap. Although I was told to buy Posi Additive from GM, and I did, some will say you don't need it and just go with a good synthetic fluid. The bottle I bought from GM was about 1/2 of a pint, and costed me a whopping $6. I added that to the rest of the diff fluid.

[FireFighter]

Yes change the fluid and put in the additve.

[crasher]

well since this is a rear end descusion. I wanna put a new rear end on my Camaro. I have a 94 3.8L v6 with the stock rear end. What I would like to know is what rear end could I get that will fit on my camaro and hook up with the break lines and have 4 wheel disk breaks. What camaro or possibly firebird could I take the rear end off of and put it on mine.

Gary

ps sorry to be a thread hijacker

[hockeyman]

Originally posted by crasher:
I have a 94 3.8L v6 with the stock rear end. What I would like to know is what rear end could I get that will fit on my camaro and hook up with the break lines and have 4 wheel disk breaks. What camaro or possibly firebird could I take the rear end off of and put it on mine.

Any 93-97 trans am, firebird or camaro posi-disk rear will bolt right into your 94 camaro. They are all compatible, no modifications needed. Just get the e-brake cables! It would suck to get everything bolted up and forget to buy them.
I've even heard that the 82-92 f-body rears bolt up to our 4th gens, but I have yet to see it done.
In all honesty, it's a really easy swap too. I did it myself within 6 hours, and that's including brake bleeding and the re-installation of the wheels too.

[crasher]

when was the first year they put disk breaks on the rear end of the camaro and firebird thats the main reason why I want to do the swap that and to have a lsd rear end.

[RallyRed 98]

all 1LEs had them... i think 98 was the first year for standard discs all around.

you have a 94 3.8?

[crasher]

no 94 3.4