[OCalderon]

Times are Tuff but I Finally.... saved up $1500 and have PERMISSION to spend it on my 72 Malibu Wohooo....Lookin for best Bang for my Buck here.
Here's what I Have:
Mostly Stock 454 truck motor mid 80's?(Headers, Holley 750)
Peanut port Heads, Elec ign, Rebuilt Turbo 400 W/shift kit, Disc Brake Conv Front, Non-Posi 10 Bolt.

Big picture to considerably increase HP and Torque for Street use. I will probably end up spending another 2K but won't be this year or next.

BTW my neighbor just picked up a SB 70 Charger, wouldn't want to give him bragging rights!!!!

So what do u think, what should I buy?????

 

[Dave427]

12 Bolt posi with 3.55's or 3.73's.
That should keep the Mopar away.

Dave

 

[JNorton]

I was thinking what Dave was thinking. Spend the money where the blood hits the bricks. Made a big difference in my 72 sbc with a peg-leg.

 

[greg_moreira]

Even an 8.5 ten bolt would be fine with good gears and a posi. If yours is the 8.2...I wouldlnt spend money on it, but if its an 8.5, it worth a posi unit and a set of gears as mentioned above.

You could probably find one somewhere around the 500 dollar mark. maybe more, maybe less.....seems like it just depends on the area. You will probably have more in it if you buy a new posi and gears and kit for yours.

Assuming you found a rear for 500ish(ten bolt with decent gears....12 bolt with decent gears and posi fetchs a good bit more), put in one of the 350 dollar TSI converters, and a cam(manifold too if you dont have a decent one).

so yeah... rear end, converter, cam/valvetrain, and manifold if possible. it'll wake up a ton

 

[dreis454]

1500? you could get into a 12 bolt posi AND a Hydraulic roller cam setup.

 

[grovey]

i'd dump the peanut port heads for some better ovals. you have a bunch for sale locally on the craigslist. if you use something like the 063's or the 820's i saw listed you can swap the parts from the peanuts, get a valve job, and bump up the compression. throw a hyd cam, and good dual plane at it. spend the rest on the rear if it's a 8.5.... my .02

 

[69 Malibu]

rolller cam setup, good dual plane, some small chamber ovals to get the compression up.

 

[OCalderon]

Thanks for the Info Fellas,

I was thinking rearend myself, sucks I have the 8.2 so I'll have to shop around for an 8.5 or a 12bolt, hopefully I wont pay a premium, would you buy New or Used????

Also, may go with a Hyd roller Cam, Any special considerations on cam choice knowing that il likely be swapping out the pp heads in the future....

Thanks

 

[Highway Star]

You need a good rear end. This is a sizeable investment, and the smartest thing to do is take this action ONLY ONCE. An 8.2 or 8.5 may hold up, but a 12 bolt is likely the most bang for your buck, considering that it will probably never need replacing, where the others may.

You can find them rebuilt, drum to drum in the $1400 range. Some guys here at TC rebuild them cores and sell them. I'd poke around a bit, shop craigslist/internet, and do some searching here before making a move.

 

[chuckd71]

If you drop all your money on a posi, then what? If you are looking for a noticeable difference in your car then that seems like an odd way to go about it. I noticed my car became exactly 0% more fun after I put an eaton in mine, but I don't do burnouts or hit the track so maybe that is the difference. The rear you have is clearly sufficient anyway or it would have broken by now. Only spending $1500 I'd go for something I could feel or see. Maybe suspension or interior stuff. Rechrome something, replace some trim, power windows, keyless ignition, new stereo, random fun things like that where you can make use of what you spent. Just another opinion.

 

[Highway Star]

If you drop all your money on a posi, then what? If you are looking for a noticeable difference in your car then that seems like an odd way to go about it. I noticed my car became exactly 0% more fun after I put an eaton in mine, but I don't do burnouts or hit the track so maybe that is the difference. The rear you have is clearly sufficient anyway or it would have broken by now. Only spending $1500 I'd go for something I could feel or see. Maybe suspension or interior stuff. Rechrome something, replace some trim, power windows, keyless ignition, new stereo, random fun things like that where you can make use of what you spent. Just another opinion.

This isn't just changing to a posi, it is also re-gearing. The torque multiplication of an optimized ring/pinion, with or without a posi carrier will help go faster than Chrome, trim, windows, etc.

 

[berner]

I'll jump on the gear band-wagon too. I remember going from 2:73's to 3:73's in my 68 SS. The difference was amazing. They worked very well with an auto trans and a .540ish lift, shorter duration, torquey cam.

 

[greg_moreira]

On a budget...go used 8.5. Its practically as strong as a 12 bolt, and with street tires, street driven, and an auto trans... your going to have to be doing things you should be doing if youre going to find a way to break it.

Youre just not likely to find nearly enough traction on the street to break a decent 8.5 rear. It'll cost a fair deal less than the 12 bolt also.

Hydraulic roller would be nice....but I feel that this is unrealistic to do both unless you find some real good deals.

Bare minimum you need springs, locks, retainers, the cam, and retro fit lifters. If you run a mild cam and spring and keep the R's down a stamped rocker can do the trick. I just dont know whats the "upper limit" of a stamped rocker really concerning spring pressure.

I've taken stamped rockers to 6000 plus rpm, but never with roller cam spring pressures, so investigate that first. If they wont hang...add rockers to your list of things you need.

Plus, you gotta retain the roller cam somehow. gen VI timing set and lock plate or roller cam button to prevent it from walking. Dont forget a new distributor gear for a billet cam, gaskets, and all the other odds and ends.

It all adds up if you find you have to replace practically the whole valvetrain.

 

[69 Malibu]

I'd run the 8.2 til it blows, I run one with 4.10s and a spool and it has lived for 15 years like this on the street and about 60 passes down the qtr. If it aint broke............

 

[greg_moreira]

I'd run the 8.2 til it blows, I run one with 4.10s and a spool and it has lived for 15 years like this on the street and about 60 passes down the qtr. If it aint broke............

Id be inclined to do the same thing if I had it and it was all set up that way. but from what I gather...this is a peg legger, probably with highway gears. For me....I couldnt justify spending the kinda money a posi and gears cost and investing it in an 8.2.

 

[69 Malibu]

good point. When I think back, the gear swap did make it feel like a different car.

 

[Geo71]

Start looking on Craigslist for a 12 bolt. I've been seeing lots of them popping up lately. May get lucky and find a steal!

Not much sense in more hp if none of it gets to the ground. The rearend was the first upgrade I did.

 

[trroscoe]

I was looking to upgrade my rear and found a complete rear out of a 69 that had a factory eaton posi with 3.36 gears for $100. It was ready to go and after inspecting it and changing the oil I installed it in the car. It even had good brakes and e brake cables installed. I know it was another 8.2 but for $100 bucks it got me a posi and better gearing. I have been running it for the last 5 years with no problems. I need to upgrade it to either an 8.5 or a 12 bolt but will use it until I either find another one or it lets go.

Keep your eyes open and a good deal will come your way.

 

[Andy69]

Times are Tuff but I Finally.... saved up $1500 and have PERMISSION to spend it on my 72 Malibu Wohooo....Lookin for best Bang for my Buck here.
Here's what I Have:
Mostly Stock 454 truck motor mid 80's?(Headers, Holley 750)
Peanut port Heads, Elec ign, Rebuilt Turbo 400 W/shift kit, Disc Brake Conv Front, Non-Posi 10 Bolt.

Big picture to considerably increase HP and Torque for Street use. I will probably end up spending another 2K but won't be this year or next.

BTW my neighbor just picked up a SB 70 Charger, wouldn't want to give him bragging rights!!!!

So what do u think, what should I buy?????

Permission?

 

[Highway Star]

Worst case, it will cost about $600 in parts to re-gear the 8.2...a rebuild kit, a ring/pinion, and a posi carrier. It could be done with an open carrier, but if it is a 2 series, I'm not so sure you should put a 3 series gear on it. The labor may be somewhere between a case of beer for a friend or whatever, or $400+ at a shop.

Definitely though, if you're sporting highway/economy gears, changing the gear ratio (3.73 or even 3.90) is the single most SOTP improvement there is.