1964 G10 Panel in Alabama

I was just curious why people would switch to a 2nd Gen when I first already has one.

So my progress on the van has been a bit slow since I have been trying to make some funds by making parts, which has been slow. I have a lot invested in my CNC and not many people in the vanning community, earlies anyways, that want or ask for custom cut panels. I am thinking of trying Vannin.com to see if I can get some interest there and also going to be looking at making some stuff for the Fiat community to see if I can spark some interest there.

Moving beyond that point... I got the van up and the front end dropped and the rear end taken loose from the van. (I just need to lower my floor jack and it will be down) I looked at the rear end and it is a 12 bolt, not sure what gears it has since I have never done a vehicle this in depth before. We are putting in the 350 with auto from the 3rd gen we bought, so here are a few questions I hope to get some answers to.

1. Do I need to crack the case to see what the gearing is?
2. What gearing would be ideal with this auto with OD?
3. What kind of wear should I look for and what parts are good to replace to make sure I get optimum use from the rear end? (bearings, seals etc)

I got some pictures of the rear end. I read another post about being cautious of rear covers that dont have channels that funnel the lube to the axle feed areas. So is this one of those universal covers?



I pulled the cover. It was VERY low on lube, hopefully that hasnt ruined anything. What do I look for here to see what my gearing is? Count the teeth on 2 of the gears? I put the cover back on since I dont want to stick a ton of time into this unit till after I get the bottom cleaned and coated again.





Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

that looks good from what i see look on the largest gear behind the teeth for the gear size, like 3.23 3.53 3.91 . turn the tire and look ifthe gears are touching each other near the middle of each other, that a good thing,

look on the large (ring) gear - should be a id # and possibly even a ratio #. You can also =count the teeth on the large ring gear & then count the teeth on the drive pinion gear ( gear the driveshaft connecs to) and then divide the larger # teeth by the smaller teeth # for ratio.The one u have pictured is not a posi rear end .

Thanks guys for all the input. I knew it wasnt supposed to be a posi rearend, was more looking for gearing to know if it would be a good match for my auto or not. Dont want to stick a bunch of time into a rear end if isnt going to be a good driver for the wife.

I will check the gear tomorrow to see if I can find the ratio on it. I dont want to pull it all apart and have yet more parts all over my shop when I am pretty tight on space as it is.

One step of this project at a time.

So last night my dad and I talked and I think I may change my plans of blasting the whole bottom of the van. We will use a hot water sprayer and get all the old junk off then touched up and reinforce the sealant already on the bottom.

On a side note, the 235 that got pulled from the van was just sitting on my shop floor and I had never started it after I bought it. We decided that was a crying shame so we wired everything up on the floor and hook a set of boosters to my truck, poured a bitto gas in the carb and jumped the starter. 2 turns and it fired right up. Ran smooth as silk.

I am thinking of looking for an older Chevy Truck to put the motor in or selling the motor. Runs great, has a new starter, alternator, points, cap, rotor, etc. Just hate to see it go to waste.

We found the stamp on the ring gear and it is a 2900 12 bolt rear with 4.11 gears. We are not sure how it is going to run with the 350 with auto tranny with OD so we are going to just use the rear end as is till we get it on the road then go from there.

Regardless, I wanted to replace the bearings in the rear end. If this was for me to drive I would have just thrown it together, cleaned it and painted it, and put it back in the van. Since it is for the wife to haul 4 kids, I want everything new under this baby.

Got the Axles pulled, and the ring gear assembly out. I had called O'Reily auto parts and they said they had the right bearings. I went in and got what they said went in the axles and the carrier bearings (these go on the ring gear assembly I guess?)

Looking at my Shop Manual Supplimental (I take it this is like an add on manual or something?) it said to use tool # blah blah to install the bearing and oil seal into the end of the axle tube. Well we used a bearing puller and slide hammer and it ripped the guts out of the bearing that was in the axle tube and didnt budge the bearing sleeve itself. So we stuck a piece of tubing through the rear end and pounded it out from the other side. Something was definitely WRONG.

The bearings I got from auto parts store looked like regular bearings and they didnt even have a number for the oil seal or the pinion inner and outer bearings. He showed me a "Repair Bearings" which was about an inch and a half wide and that is what it looks like was in my rear end. These bearings didnt side flush with the outside of the axle tube, stuck out like a quarter of an inch on both sides!





Can anyone give me a break down of WHAT goes in the rear end? Part numbers from a parts store would be cherry since they dont have a phish to show parts and where they are going and such.

Is the inside of the axle tube suppose to have a step? Wookee showed a picture of the bearing installed in his and it looks like the bearing was flush with the outside of the axle tube, is there a seal behind that. If this is the case, how does the bearing get lubed? Just with bearing grease??

Seriously confused and I want to get this back together. Even if I have to order bearings online and get a full set for the rear end that is fine, I will return these I got and buy the full set.

Forgot to mention that the outer axle bearings they gave me are way to small to fit flush to the outside of the axle tube.

Ok so took some more pictures.

Here is the SLEEVE of the bearing assembly that I pulled. I just pushed it in to the first step in the tube just as reference.



Here is me holding the sleeve right outside the axle tube where I took it out.



The sleeve has the same step that is in the axle tube, however, it is too long to fit flush with the outside of the tube, it stuck out almost 1/4 on one side and a little less on the other.

Suggestions? Is there a source for rear end bearings so I dont have to deal with a parts store that apparently isnt giving me the correct parts?

That bearing in the picture is to replace a bad bearing, that put a grove in the axle. If the axle has a step or grove in it you have to use that type of bearing or you need to buy/find a good axle. If the axle is good, you can use the stock type or the repair type bearing.

I would want to use the stock type because the other is really a band aid. All it does is space a stock bearing to a good place on a bad axle. They use an o-ring because they sometimes don't seal very well.

They are going to stick out like that. Post a picture of your axles.

Yeah I gathered that since they called it the repair bearing. I appreciate the info, so I went out and looked at the axles.

Here is the drivers side and it looks like it had pitting or chatter on the axle. I am not sure where THIS bearing was running and if that was the stock location or not?



Here is the passenger side. The shiny areas I took as the machined area where the bearing and oil seal were supposed to run but now not so sure.

The dull 3/4 - 1 inch section is where the stock bearing was and damaged them. The real thin line (in the second pic) is where the seal rides, the first pic shows that it would never seal because of the pitting. They both look kinda rough.

Your only options are use both repair bearings or find new axles. The only nice thing about the repair bearing is that the bearing and seal are one.

I posted in looking for parts. Maybe best to just find a different rear end since the 4.11 gears are going to scream on highway speeds even if I am running an auto with overdrive.

This project just keeps getting better.... **sigh**

I appreciate the input! Thank you!

Rear ends are tough but when they go bad it gets $$ real fast.

get that overdrive tranny - it will be fine with that 4:11-1
ratio - figure about a 27% reduction with overdrive trannys .Therefore @ 3500 rpm X 30%- around a 1000 rpm drop -2500-2800 rpm just figuring off top of my slow head .. You may need all that 4-11 when ur loaded up with family & all the stuff!!

Just to add to that, get a lock up converter and that will help quite a bit also. 700R4 with lock up is what I will be putting in mine. According to my Trans expert who will be freshing it up said this will work great. Lock up on a switch or pressure switch will be the way to go. I want to keep my 4:11 rear as well.

Matt , the 4:11 is totaly streetable with the OD tranny, It might not be the best combo but its OK, I'm running the same thing also using the repair bearings. I see they did not remove the ridge where the axle and flange meet when they put those in, the seals were probably almost if not already toast anyway. There are several threads by Donivan and some input from others including myself on the installation of them. Better axles would be the best solution, but they are tough to find and I believe a bit pricey to have made but I don't think I have ever heard any hard numbers on that cost. Your entering the "been there done that " club.

This is what you need to do to get the repairs bearings on without destroying them.

This side goes towards the housing, they are sealed supposedly and do not use the grease in the pig. I have not heard how long they last. I have 2 seasons on mine.

Side towards flange, the reason for knocking the ridge back is to allow you to push the axle in far enough to put the C-clip back in without wrecking the seal.

And this is how they end up, sticking out a bit.

I see you have some threads going on another rear end, it might be a good idea those axles look extra shabby to me but I'm no expert on what can be saved using the repair bearings. Mine were not good either and its doing ok, but thats all I can say on it ,,LOL