I'm looking for other people's thoughts on what to do with my diff. I've got an '81 in the middle of a body off and at the very least need to replace the seals in the diff. I'm also going with an auto to manual conversion and am considering changing the rear gears from 2.87's to 3.70's. Keisler recommends going with a 3.73 and their TKO-600 tranny. It sounds like the way to go; I'm already putting a ton of time and money into the project so I might as well get what I want the first time around.

So, I've priced getting my '81 diff rebuilt locally at a cost of around $550 without new gears. Add another $280 - $330 for the new gears and I'm at about $830 - $850 for the complete job. That work would come with a 3 month warranty and I know there is no way the vette will be back on the road within 3 months so the warranty is pretty much useless.

The alternative is to go to the Eckler's reunion this weekend and get 10% off of one of their rebuilt diffs with 3.70 gears already installed ready to go. They are priced at $899 so would be about $810 after the discount. They also come with a one year warranty but even with that I'm not sure the vette will be road worthy before the warranty is up. I'd wait to do the diff except I'd like to get it in the vette and be done with it since I'm starting from the frame up.

Has anybody ever gotten a diff from Ecklers? Does anybody know who does the rebuild work for Ecklers on the diffs? I don't think they do them in-house because the don't ship from Ecklers. I'm basically looking for reasons to either go with Ecklers or go with the local guy. Or, even better if somebody can recommend somebody else that does fantastic work at a better price; including any shipping. I think the gear change is what's going to drive the prices up.

Thanks in advance for any additional input.

 

Why don't you price one from VanSteel? He is a forum sponsor.

 

Van Steel doesn't rebuild the 80-82 diffs any longer. The price I have is one I got from Dan at Van Steel to have the guy they send them to do it. The Eckler's one comes out a little cheaper in the end with no rebuild time and a better warranty. However, if the craftsmanship isn't as good at Ecklers that may make a difference.

 

I would ask the local builder to have the warranty start when the 'Vette is completed to the point you can road test the diff. Maybe put 50 miles on it to check it out. Don't hurt to ask.

 

Do you have to pay a core charge at Ecklers ? If they sell the differential without core charge you could sell the old one and get some $$$ back.....

 

Tracdogg2 (Mike Dyer) does lots of Rear End rebuilds for forum members. His work is as good anyone's and he is very fairly priced.

214-728-8482

 

If you are mechanically inclined and would like a challenge rebuild it yourself. GTR1999 will sell you high quality parts and walk you through every step. Gary helped me with the info to do it and the diff works great. Its very satisfying to attempt something like this and then see it actually work.

 

$450 using my old gears plus I paid $70 for the ups shipping to and from Mike.

 

How much are you paying for those gears? Summit Racing has a set of 3.73:1 gears for a Dana 44 for $145.95! Eckler's site shows differentials for 80-82 'vettes as being Dana 44's. Am I missing something here? Why pay $300 for something you can get from Summit for half of that?

Summit part number is SAG-D44373

Just a suggestion...

Mwieczorek

 

probably b/c of the quality of the gears. Anybody can sell Yukon gears for $150 all day. Will they whine is a vette, just about every time. Most richmond gears do too. US gears are the only way to go, IMO. You pay for what you get when it comes to gears.

 

Thank you Gene for the recommendation but I don't work on these either. I do the cast iron units from 63-79. The 80-82 are not ones I want to get invovled with as they are not as strong and I wouldn't feel comfortable buiding them for higher HP use. Stock 200 hp is ok but there aren't many mods to do to these like I can with the older, stronger units like you have. I'm glad I was able to help you out with this job and it has worked out great for you. You did break the gears in and change the oil at 500 miles, right? LOL You may want to try the 85-140 Lucas gear oil too, not the synthetic oil the regular old gear oil.

If Mike does the 80-82's I'd send it to him.

I know there are guys here that have some HP engines in these years with the stock diff, but the ones I've seen were reduced to junk.

 

If Gary and Van Steel doesn't do them I would check with Tom's to see if he rebuilds them.
Bernie

 

Thanks everybody. After talking with Dan at Van Steel some more I've decided to have the guy they use do the diff rebuild and put in the 3.73 gears. I'm taking a bunch of other stuff to them anyway and I appreciate Dan's customer service and honesty.