fastpony89

Hey man , thanks for the info on your discussing the 8.8 rear rebuild...I saw it on corral.net....I have dropped the 8.8 rear off of my 89 Gt and will be cleaning it up and reinstalling new gears, differential, and axles for 5 lug conversion...will be running disc brake setup on fronts/rears....hey let me ask what you used to get the rear so black when you repainted it because I want to do that as well?
My other question is in regards to removing the differential in the pumpkin...how do you do that and what would you recommend...I still have the stock gears and track lock in my rear.... I will be probably running 3.55's and have 31 or 33 axles on my setup.

Let me know,

Jeff

HELMUT RONER

Go to Suckmart (Walmart) and buy a case (or two because the cans run out fast) of this stuff.


Wire brush all the heavy stuff first. This brand of carb cleaner works better than any engine degreaser, other carb cleaners, or purple stuff out there. I spray painted the rearend with Krylon flat black after I made sure there was absolutely no grime coming off the axle assembly onto my hands. I would suggest powedercoating, though. It's more durable and resistant. Chemicals will make the Krylon come off. I spray painted mine heavily so that it would last.

After I removed the axles, I unbolted the main caps (remember to put them back on the same exact way; mark them) and it took a tad bit of prying, but wasn't really that hard. Take the time to spray out the inside of the pumpkin with the carb cleaner. You're going to have to swap the spider gears from a truck differential or use an 8.8 31-spline trac-lock differential from a truck when upgrading the axles. If money isn't an issue then shoot for a better aftermarket differential.

I took the time to run a magnetic pick up tool in the threaded holes for the main caps. From the factory there is a lot of metal shavings left from the drill and tapping process. I ran the magnet inside those threads until no shavings stuck to the magnet anymore.

Pick your gears according to the type of use the car will see the most of. I went with 3.73s for a good all around ration for both street and strip. Highway use was great with mine being that I had a T-5"Z" in the car with a 2.95 first gear and an 0.63 overdrive gear.

fastpony89

finished the cleanup of the rearend this weekend....popped out the 2.73 diff trak lock (rear even had original axle tag still on it) and will be either going with 3.55 or 4.10's....also plan on 5 lug conversion with 31 axle splines....carb cleaner worked great and I went with the krylon semi flat instead...rear really didn't have too much grime on it and I ended up using only 2 cans of carb cleaner...to paint it I used 2 cans also of the krylon....think I am going to use the remaining cans to paint the undercarriage on the car....Hey man thanks again...this project wasn't that bad for doing it myself for the first time....don't have any pictures because I don't have a dig camera

HELMUT RONER

How does your pinion flange look on the snout? What condition are the carrier shims in?

fastpony89

the shims are actually in good shape...again this is the original rear on the car and the diff lock was never taken out of the car....everything was surprisingly clean on the rear....there was no metal/shavings in the bottom of the pumpkin when I cleaned it out with the carb cleaner

HELMUT RONER

About the shavings, I meant down in the threads / bolt holes for the main caps, not the pumpkin. My 8.8 was original, too. Gotta inspect those shims and make absolutely sure there are no groves or cracks in them. The snout of the pinion flange must be smooth, too. If not, it will contribute to a leaky pinion seal.

fastpony89

Yeah man they are clean too....checked out the flange snout and it is flat...no problems....I haven't put in the new gears yet as I am waiting on money so right now the pumpkin is clean but empty...everything else was bagged and labeled so I don't f*** it up