I have an 81 el camino and was wondering how much power the stock rearend could take.

The 7.5 is not considered to be the best performance rear out there. It will live with 350-400 HP if you run on street radials. Once you get a pair of sticky tires, the rear's life is going to be short lived. They offer stronger posi units, gears, and axles, but the basic design and inherant weakness would make such upgrades foolish if you are producing decent power with sticky tires.

An 8.5 10 bolt from a Buick GN or Olds Cutlass 442 (or Hurst Olds) is a very popular bolt-in housing choice. This rear is just about as strong as a 12 bolt Chevy. Many Buick GN racers run well into the 10's or faster with an 8.5 rear. Expect to pay about $600-800 for an 8.5 if you go that route.

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Todd Geisler
79 Malibu
Malibu Muscle
http://www.MalibuMuscle.cjb.net
Naive...I was.
Skeptical...I am becoming.
Determined...I have always been.
"The only way to fail is to stop trying."

I agree with Todd.
2 scenarios...same owner
1. 1986 Monte SS 406 SBC.....7.5" 3.73 posi; survived perfectly fine with slicks and 12.0 passes.

2. 1979 Buick Regal 350 10:1.....low 14 second car, destroyed ring and pinion from 7.5" 3.42 posi.

YES!! Its backwards........what does this tell you? Yea a 7.5 can survive, but there are some inherrent risks. Anything can break, but why chance something exclusively on the basis of luck?

79 Impala, stock LM-1 350 170 HP, broke spider gears in the 2.56:1 7.5" 10 Bolt spinning the peg leg on wet leaves.

Those 8.5" housings for G bodies are not exactly easy to find. IRRC only Hurst Olds or GN/T types had them, not the more common 442's I've never seen a GN in the junkyard justlots of crappy regals or cutlasses. One of the 9" or 12 bolt conversion units may be a better way to go.

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Frank W
Forgotten Chevelles Rule
74 Laguna S-3 454 soon, 350 sooner 3.42 Posi
Homepagehttp://www.chevellepages.com/folingo
Club Page clubs.hemmings.com/bearingburners (http://clubs.hemmings.com/bearingburners)

You may want to check with www.turbobuick.com, (http://www.turbobuick.com,) www.g-body.org, (http://www.g-body.org,) and the montecarlo mailing list. Everything I have been told by theses sources claims that the 442's had 8.5 rears. The Monte Carlo SS never had the 8.5 though.

I see 8.5 rears advertised on the net for sale all the time. They may not be in your local bone yard, but they are available. I recently saw one for $350 complete in which fellow snatched up real quick.

I currently run a 12 bolt in my car, and feel it is much cheaper and easier swap to search out an 8.5 rear...I sure wish I had.

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Todd Geisler
79 Malibu
Malibu Muscle
http://www.MalibuMuscle.cjb.net
Naive...I was.
Skeptical...I am becoming.
Determined...I have always been.
"The only way to fail is to stop trying."

Right now I have the stock gears (2.43, or something like that don't remember off the top of my head), and a 355 with arround 400hp. I want 4.10 gears... think I should find a 8.5 or keep the 7.5? I'd like to be able to keep the 7.5, been running it hard for like 3 or 4 months and haven't broke anything. But on the other hand I'd love to have a 8.5, or even a ford 9, but I'm kinda short on cash.

Ohya... Todd, you have one badass malibu.

[This message has been edited by ? (edited 01-30-2001).]

I can't tell you... yet.

Have the power (around 400 @ near 6000 rpm) but have never tried slicks or even drag radials.

The most fun you can have with this car is roll ons from 30 - 60 mph. A downshift (or two) and she FLIES!!!! Very little else will go with it!

Dave H.
Houston

If I were you, I would begin a search for an 8.5 10 bolt. Start saving some money and get one when you can afford it. It's no like yours will blow up tomorrow, but you are living on borrowed time. Just don't waste any money on the 7.5 you have now.

BTW, thanks for the compliment http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif
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Todd Geisler
79 Malibu
Malibu Muscle
http://www.MalibuMuscle.cjb.net
Naive...I was.
Skeptical...I am becoming.
Determined...I have always been.
"The only way to fail is to stop trying."

[This message has been edited by Todd Geisler (edited 01-30-2001).]

When I had a 7.5 in mine it made 8 passes with the 7.5 and stickies before it trashed.
South side makes a kit to bolt in a 65-72 12 bolt. You can also do it your self by modifing the spring location and upper control arms. The 65-early 67 is narrower and fits better than the late 67-72 rear. The early one is harder to find and usually brings more money. I put a 9" in mine but would have gone the 12 bolt route had I forseen how much it all would cost to put the 9" together after I bought a bare housing.
my .02

If a 12 bolt is to be used, the SSM kit is the easiest way to bolt one in. The 12 bolt uses different angles for the upper and lower control arms requiring fabrication to be done on both (upper & lower) to work. If you "force" the cars to fit without mods, the suspension will bind and not operate as expected.

I have an article on my site about the different G-body rear choices.

I still feel the 8.5 is the easiest and cheapest swap.

I do not recommend the 12 bolt as a swap unless you use the SSM kit. I know a fellow who runs a 12 bolt with the SSM kit and his Malibu runs 9.0's in the 1/4 mile with a 1.30 60' using 10.5 x 29.5 slicks (nitrous BBC of course).

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Todd Geisler
79 Malibu
Malibu Muscle
http://www.MalibuMuscle.cjb.net
Naive...I was.
Skeptical...I am becoming.
Determined...I have always been.
"The only way to fail is to stop trying."

Todd I would have also suggested the 10.5 but I run across 5 12 bolts before I see a 10.5. A few months back I looked for one for another buddies 78 Malibu. Searched for over a month and all I could come up with was a bare housing for 350.00 A non- posi unit rear for 600.00 and a rebuilt unit for 1,100 plus freight. I seems every one that has one thinks they are made of gold. We ended up finding a late 12 bolt with posi for 400.00 and I knew a guy that had a new in box south side kit for a used price. By the way Todd I found your sight about 6 months ago and it led me to this one. You have a great site and this one is by far the best on the web. I stop here every day.

Not what I wanted to hear, but I figured the rear end sucked. Ohwell, looks like it's time to find a 8.5... why did my friend have to take his t-type to the junk yard...

Alright, I've been looking arround and found a Ford 9 for $675...
http://www.artmorrison.com/F_FordRearEnd.htm

Theres the link, sound like a good deal?