1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby Fasterthansome » Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:54 pm

This is 8.5 a Camaro pulling low 1.3 high 1.2 60' off the brake. Hard to see but its the same deal mounted to webbing on the side. I know these pics are almost worthless but all I have right now.


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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby 80 MONZTA » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:04 pm

I have heard that back in the days of the 3rd and even 4th gen F-body's, you could order a 8.5" with the torque arm mounts on it from the dealer. Wish more people would have ordered it back then. Every time I see any F-body in a junkyard, I always look at the rearend just hoping to see a 8.5" under there.
Too bad GM had their head up their a-- when they put that 7 5/8" rearend in the F-bodys. :bang:
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby Roccosvega » Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:35 pm

I used to weld axle stops years ago with nickle rod for the cast iron then I would put them in a bucket with oil dry in it so they would cool off real slow.
I guess you could use insulation to do the same here when the welding is done.Those welded on sleeves are they welded to the side of the upper gusset
too.I am very interested in this set up. IS could be dialed in with the length of the torque arm also.I like the use of the hiem joint's for pinion angle
adjustment too. Thank you for posting these pic's it looks like a very nice set up. I would really like to lean more about it.

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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby Rowdy Mclaughlin » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:32 am

Fantastic, thanks for the pics. Ive heard lots of theory on it could be done but until now have never heard of anyone actually doing it. That is great, Ive got an Explorer 8.8 and Impala 12 bolt sitting around, I think the 8.8 has alot more webbing to work with so I might go with it. Thanks again.
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby starfire383 » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:06 pm

80 MONZTA wrote:I have heard that back in the days of the 3rd and even 4th gen F-body's, you could order a 8.5" with the torque arm mounts on it from the dealer. Wish more people would have ordered it back then. Every time I see any F-body in a junkyard, I always look at the rearend just hoping to see a 8.5" under there.
Too bad GM had their head up their a-- when they put that 7 5/8" rearend in the F-bodys. :bang:


You've heard incorrect. No 3rd or 4th gen F body had 8.5s. Not even turbo TAs, cop cars, firehawks, or 320hp SS with stick shift. Pretty safe to stop looking.

Back to the original subject, if cheep is the goal you won't beat a 9" ford simply because there's so much used stuff out there. Any of the existing F body 9" torque arm brackets can be adapted or mimic'd to work on an H body. Not to mention the ease & expense of future gear swaps, since anybody that fast will be wondering about a different ratio fairly soon. With a 9", usually you can find a whole pumpkin setup the way you want for the price of installing a new R&P in a chevy rear.

One reason so many run ladder bar or 4 link is the trailing arm location. A lot of guys don't want to waste time reinforcing the stock setup since it limits tire size so drastically.

12 bolts are not as sturdy as their reputation. Back in the day we routinely broke them with 300hp 350s backed by auto trannies and street tires. If you have one, it's worth more to somebody who's car it fits right now than it is to you as raw material. 8.8 is a much better starting point as it's a reverse-engineered 12 bolt, yet cheaper and has several decades less fatigue. If you break it the next housing won't cost $500. Try that with a 12 bolt.

good luck with the car!
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby Rowdy Mclaughlin » Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:44 pm

starfire383 wrote:If you have one, it's worth more to somebody who's car it fits right now than it is to you as raw material.


:D I wish it was a Chevelle or Nova rear and it would be worth something, but its for an Impala, so its worthless!! Cant even get $200 for it I doubt, and it has an almost new Lock-right in it. Oh well, probably just going to scrap it, weird world we live in where classic Impala parts are worthless! I think I will go with the 8.8, it has a 3.73 gear and factory posi in it, so I just need to get it narrowed a little. Nice thing on them too is disc brakes are factory on some so new parts are cheap from the parts stores like Autozone and Oreillys. The thing that DOES stink about the 8.8 though is supposedly the axles cant be narrowed because the splined ends are thicker than the non-spline part. :(
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby 80 MONZTA » Fri Aug 27, 2010 2:19 pm

starfire383 wrote:You've heard incorrect. No 3rd or 4th gen F body had 8.5s. Not even turbo TAs, cop cars, firehawks, or 320hp SS with stick shift. Pretty safe to stop looking.

I know they did not come with them, but you could order a 8.5 from a dealer and install it yourself.
Ok, here is an 8.5 F Body rear with a CAST IN TA mount
I was going from memory, maybe it was actually a Dana 44 that you could buy seperate. But if your local yards charge a flat rate for rearends like some do locally to me, ($200 for any rearend at King's Automotive) you could make out pretty good by simply looking under every F-body don't you think?
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby starfire383 » Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:38 pm

That link to an 8.5 is not to an 8.5, it's a link to a dana 44 that was available as an over the counter performance accessory and cost $3500. Not to be confused with the australian 9 bolt, also not a good choice. I've had several IROC owners with the australian rear call it a dana 44, perhaps that confusion leads to thinking they're actually out there in higher quantity

Far more 3rd gens and 4th gens have been equipped with 31 spline moser 9" rears. If you're going on a pointless search at the junkyards, why aim low? Shoot for the moser. :th: Then pop the hood and look for the $3500 supercharger they also left behind. :D

The swaps I sell at....the impala 12 bolt described wouldn't last a half hour at $200. Craigslist that sucker before junking it. Regarding the 8.8s "drawback" of axles that can't be resplined.....you got no business with resplined axles and 11 second ETs. It's fast enough aftermarket axles should be considered mandatory.

good luck with the project
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Re: 1980 Sunbird turbo 4.3

Postby 2lucke4u » Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:14 pm

Rowdy
8.8 or 9 will work no problem,quick perf housing bare at 54.5 wide,comp engineering bracket for camaro/firebird 9 inch conversion 249.00,junk yard 15.00 cam/firebird used torque arm,cut /splice to fit,then weld it up,remove old brackets from rear and weld them on,adjustable torque arm from ebay for 120.00,you will not spend 1500.00 on the rear and it will be a bolt in,i have done it twice now and have been running the cars for almost 10 years,check my garage for a picture,pm me with questions,,car has now run a self imposed best of 10.28 @ 128.9 mph on a poor 1.50 60ft, car has run 1.40 60ft without brake,i just race for fun and like the cars,nothing to prove,
Charles
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