I thought you guys might want to see what is probably one of the strongest IRS setups around. This setup is similar to Jim Moore's (427Hotrod) 67 Convertible assembly. I purchased the assembly two years ago from an NHRA class racer. I had planned to run the setup in my car, but life got in the way and I have sold my Corvette. I had the trailing arms and rearend rebuilt by Mike Dyer (tracdogg2). The Crossmember Bushings, Trailing Arm Bushings, Trailing Arm Seals and Bearings have been replaced. The U-Joints are Spicer 1480 Non-Greasable units and are brand new. Almost all pieces are powder coated. The Dana 60 Unit is a spool with a 4.88:1 gear ratio. I don't think that you will find a stronger IRS setup than this. The assembly is ready to bolt in to any C2 or C3 chassis. I am asking $5100 OBO. If you want to run hard at the track with an IRS and not worry about the rear end, this is the kit for you.
Send me a PM or email if you are interested.



IMG]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm136/vetmaniac1/dana60_front_2.jpg[/IMG]

 

I sure wish I had five grand right now...I'd LOVE to buy and install that gear.

 

No doubt there is not a stronger IRS assy out there. I can vouch for that!

You are also looking at a bit of history here. There were very few of these assy's ever built. I mean VERY few. Years ago these became popular when Super Stock racers were required to use IRS..but breakage was killing them. You found them under Lingenfelter's, Bernie Agaman and Phil Cocuzza's record holding Vette's. They were based on brand new Hemi housings because they come with a pinion snubber mount pad to allow you to fabricate mounts for a Vette pretty easily.

Look at the size of that thing! It's a 9-3/4" ring gear. Let's see...Vette's have an 8.2", then there is the 8-3/4" Mopar that came in automatic Hemi's and everything else, 8-7/8" 12 bolt GM, then the 9" Ford. Say it again...9-3/4" ring gear and a pinion gear to match!

I spent a good bit of time with the fellow Nick bought this from. He had recently spent $7K installing a 12 bolt solid axle under it using the transverse spring etc to meet rules. The theory was that it was lighter and would be faster. Guess what...he said he was actully pretty disappointed because the car was running a tenth slower and 1 mph slower even though it had a lightweight spool and same gears!

This particular one uses a spool, whereas mine uses a Posi unit, and mine mounts a little different, they are otherwise very similar. If you would like to have a bulletproof IRS under your car and have it all bolt to stock mounts (might have to do a little fiberglass surgery to clear hump and 1480 seris u-joints...but that will depend on the car. C-2's clear a little better than C-3's around storage boxes.) then this is for you. Though it was all just gone through, you could easily change ring and pinion to whatever ratio you want. No big deal.


So dig deep...I know Nick would like to keep this piece of functional history *in the family* with a Forum member. Just seems right!


JIM

 

That's a very setup!! If I'd be on the market for one, I'd definetely get that one!!

 

I guess this is why they came up with the term "wish list". I had planned for something along this line for this past winter but I had not planned on my motor breaking

Good luck with your sale

Doug

 

Mike Dyer (tracdogg2) does amazing work...he's one of the best there is when it comes to anything vette related.

 

Not that I'm in the market, but I'm curious to know if this one of Strange Engineering's units.

 

TheSkunkWorks,
This is definitely not one of Strange Engineering's new S-60 units. This one is way too old for that, i.e. probably built before most forum members were even a "gleam" in their daddy's eye. This would have been one of the units originally destined for/installed in a manual Hemi car and pulled for "blasphemous" use in a Corvette. I am really hoping the Mopar guys don't get wind that I have this.

 

Timing is everything. I want it! This timing sucks!

 

 

absolutely beautiful.
Good luck with the sale!

 

Someone's going to get it....might as well be you! C'mon...you've got that Govt rebate check coming right? That's a start!

Price out a Tom's complete assy..then add trailing arms...a few spare parts etc....and see what a bargain this is. THEN look at the pics and compare the amount of iron you're getting with a Dana 60!

Nick..I'm going to jump in here to help clear up stuff maybe and give a little more info.

From what I can gather...and I've talked to a lot of folks......there were a couple of folks that did these, maybe even 3. Strange was the first that I know of. I think Mark Williams did a few. I spent a lot of time with Bob Stange (original owner of Strange). He built around 20 of them...mostly spool type...all based on Hemi housing. They came up with design while looking at a bare housing laying on the floor with no tubes and commented on how it looked a lot like a Vette diff. Strange did the MoTown Missile axles and Mopar sent him bare housings to install stronger tubes in. They drew out the design on a napkin and started making them! When I was talking to him gathering info over a few months period, he spent the time to dig up the old folder that had the notes/plans to build them. He even found the original napkin..and the list of everyone he had sold them too! The last two went to Alaska for a road racer of all things! Of course that was before I got mine! I have the last one ever made.

I know one other one with a spool was bought new by Tom's so they could see how they were done. I tried to buy it from Tom, but he wouldn't sell it.

I don't think we are positively sure who actually built this originally...but it has all the earmarks of Strange. The mounting setup is different than mine. I know Strange usually didn't build the mounting setup and left that to the person putting it all together. So it's entirely possible to see a few different versions out there. This one is similar to the ones I've seen under some of the folks cars I mentioned above. Mine uses a large 3/4" aluminum plate bolted to the Dana and then the stock Vette cover bolts to it. I believe there were only a couple of others maybe done this way and was developed later by Strange. This one uses a fabricated steel cover and mount assy that is likely even more solid and structural stiffness adding than mine is.


JIM

 

Jim, great info!

I found an article, "Taxing the IRS" (not the current version with the title recycled) in an old (1978) Hot Rod Magazine's Corvette issue #2 that has a pic of that Strange Dana 60 IRS diff. If my HP officejet hadn't taken a crap this weekend, I'd post a pic of it. This was the same article that turned me on to Henry's for my 12-bolt, and had I been drag racing my C3 rather than the Gold Rush Buick at the time I would have gotten a Strange unit myself.

 

For anyone wondering how this compares in terms of pricing to the strongest assembly that Tom's offers, here is the breakdown:

12 Bolt 3rd member $2900
1480 Axle Kit $2255
H.D. Rear Cover $ 130
Assemble Trailing Arms $ 325
Crossmember Locator Kit $ 74
Rear Camber Control Rods $321
Total $6005

Other items included:
Poly Diff Bushing Kit (Eckler's) $ 25
Crossmember Cushions (Eckler's) $120
Spring Bolts - Long (Eckler's) $ 20
Grand Total $6170

Ultra Rare Baddest of Them All Dana 60 IRS Setup $5100

I am inclined to think that over $1,000 less for a far, far stronger unit is a pretty good bargain and don't forget the factor due to it being quite rare.

 

If I had the cash right now, I'd definitely pick that up (even though I just rebuilt absolutely everything on my rear suspension). I need to win the lottery

 

Stinger12,
Thank you for the kind words and keep us updated on your project. It is good to see some of the young guns out there showing an interest in the old muscle instead of the new imports.

 

I fu**ing hate imports I laugh at people whenever I see one - they sound like crap and look like crap too

 

TTT for a bad *** IRS.

Good luck selling this Nick!

 

Thank you very much Mark! It should definitely move the "fuse" to another part of the drive train for a serious drag racer.

 

vette maniac i sent you a message did you get it......