I finally completed the install on the 12-bolt Tom's / Mike Dyer rearend conversion. I outlined the parts in this thread:http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...onversion.html

I started on this project around Thanksgiving of last year (2011). I would have to say that the most time-consuming part of this install was the trailing arms. I have done these countless times in the past but never to this level. I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Mike Dyer(tracdogg2)! I was on the phone with him a number of times and I really appreciate the time he spent with me to get this done right.

The first thing I had to do was make a bushing for the spindle set-up tool in order to use it. On these axles, the inner and outer bearings have the same ID so I made the bushing and pressed it on the shaft. Next up was breaking in the bearings using the lathe - something I have never done.

Getting the spacers cut to their proper length was quite an adventure. I used the lathe and ended up having to make two(2) additional spacers because I made them too short - by .001". After I set up everything with the correct clearance I thought I was good to go. I called Mike and he told me to grease the bearings and then check again. I had an extra .003" clearance so it was back to the lathe.

The next recommendation from Mike was to fully weld each trailing arm. After I finished that I put them in the milling machine and used an end mill to machine the hub mounting plate. They weren't even close to being flat after the welding and 40+ years of use.

The last part was making sure the rotors were running true. Lucky for me they only had about .002" runout.

Here are a few pics of the trailing arms and the rearend mounted (finally) in the car. Next up is finishing my front end and rear end alignments. (I do my own alignments because I don’t trust any shops to do it correctly.) Then it is back to the dyno to see how the car likes the 4.11 gears.

Steve

 

Looks great Steve! I'll need to get up close and personal with my rear end at some point - I am holding off. Lucky for me Mike (trackdogg) lives nearby. He is a nice guy and I'll be talking with him as I go thru my rearend. I'll look forward to your dyno photos/vids/etc.

Gary

 

Nice job! clean and perfect looking....

I looked at your 12 bolt in the parts thread and it doesn't look like a posi. Am I missing something?

 

Thanks! You are indeed very lucky to be so close to Mike. I hope you take advantage of it. He is a wizard!!

It definitely is a posi. Mike tunes these and thereby eliminates the springs that you would normally see. Like I said, he is a wizard!! Thanks!!

Steve

 

Looks awesome, great work! I just bought the same VB&P traction bar that you have. Does it actually work? My car used to be an automatic with no wheel hop issues, but when I changed to a TKO600, I also got major wheel hop issues!! Not fun. I noticed on the bracket I got that goes under the spring has the supports welded on an angle, I assume the bar is to be angled towards the driver's side because the driveline is offset to the passenger side, right? Your bracket looks to be straight, or is that an illusion?

 

Very nice and clean. Nice Looking rearend.
I am also close to Mike's shop. He was working on a 12 bolt last time I was at his shop. I got to see a little of what he does to make it all fit. Heck, it might have been yours.
Mike sure knows his stuff.
Steve, was this installed in one of your 67's? I enjoyed the thread about the stock iron intake/tri power set up.

 

Schweeeet........!!!!

Man...you're just turning into quite the welder there!

I repacked my trailing arms last year. They hadn't been apart since I out the Dana 60 IRS in there. Luckily everything was still great and my original setup still held good at .0005" clearance. But I remember having all that fun doing them originally!

I've stilll got stock trailing arms in mine too..they are pretty darn tough!

Good stuff!


JIM

 

Looks awesome Steve! Yeah Mike does awesome work... I have a whole front end and rear end out of a 66' up at Mikes shop right now.

I look forward to seeing your 67' go down the track ... I think that thing is gonna MPH like crazy! It wouldn't suprise me if you ran close to 140 mph...

Get some Mickeys on that thing...

 

My bar was made by Lakewood and I bought it back in the early '80s. I have had it on 3 different cars and it has completely eliminated the wheel hop on every one.

There is a very slight angle on mine but the front of it mounts in the middle of the rear crossmember. It is an incredibly simple device that flat works and has no effect on the ride quality.

Steve

 

Thanks, Rob. This setup is installed in the red '67 convertible. It actually has the stock aluminum tri-power intake manifold and a set of stock cast iron exhaust manifolds. That Mike is one popular guy. I feel like I am living on an island up here in Washington. I know of no other C2 or C3 guys. Heck, when I retire maybe I should move to Texas....

Steve

 

Hey thanks, Jim. I TIG welded everything but going over that factory crap is quite a challenge.

That is phenomenal on the .0005" clearance. Your deal is flat amazing. I hope all is well.

Steve

 

Thanks, Alan. I am looking forward to going down the dragstrip as well. I now not only have the M/T ET Street Radials in 255/60x15 but I just purchased a set of Goodyear 28x9.0-15 slicks. I am thinking about trying the M/T's first and if they don't work that good go to the Goodyear slicks.

Now, as far as that 140 mph, that's about what Jim is running with his 850+ hp 555. I don't see how I could even be in the same ballpark.

Steve

 

Well...I guess it all depends on your front half numbers but..... Yours made 670rwhp, assuming every bit of a 15% loss (which I bet is really more then that since you have a mechanical fan, pumps etc etc) you are converting to 788 chp by my math..... Probably really 800 chp without the fan... Depending on how heavy your car comes in and how well you can launch/shift it, you may be suprised....

Ofcourse Jims car is a freak and leaves hard and he shifts hard so he loses less then most stick cars but.... MPH wise I don't think you'll be too far behind.... I bet you go ATLEAST 135 mph....

FWIW, my Z06 makes 622rwhp on a DJ224 and it ran 134 mph at 3350lbs with complete crap front half numbers.... Only 102 in the 1/8... And I can't launch, can't keep it from spinning and I can't shift....LOL Only 11.36 ET but the mph was 134.

Either way you are going to have a blast with your car....

BTW I am taking my 71 back to the track tonight in attempt to set a PB and avenge my screwed up single full pass last year.... We have -1200 DA right now... I'm HOPING for 10.50@129...all depends on if it hooks...

 

I will definitely be looking out for a thread this weekend on your results from tonight! A 10.50 is jaw-dropping to me.

134 at 3350 for your Z06 with those issues is also phenomenal. I didn't realize you were racing that car. Evidently I need to try to follow your expoits with that car as well.

I weighed my car with the small block and 15 gallons of gas and it weighed 3234 lbs. I just weighed it again with the big block and it weighs 3355 with 15 gallons of gas. According to the readout, the extra 121 lbs is on the front tires - the back end weighs exactly the same.

Good luck tonight!!

Steve

 

I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with Mike yet, but referred a friend of a friend to him recently, after searching the forum. Like everyone else on here, got really good feedback. Said he actually didn't need the full-on 12-bolt conversion, but gave him the list of parts to get him where he needs to be. That's a class act in my book!

The guy was originally going to back-half the car, which I knew was completely unneccesary. There are some real fast IRS cars out there.

 

You just can't go wrong dealing with Mike. Like I said, he is the best!! Not to mention that he does all kinds of work on these cars, not just rearends.

Steve

 

Same experience here. Was referred to him by someone. I've only talked to him on the phone but he is a good ole boy. I wanted to get 5 minutes of his time because I figured that he was too busy to mess with calls. We must have talked for over an hour about all aspects of what I needed to do to the car. I just have to make time to drive over and take him out for lunch or dinner and set up a time for him to do some work on the car for me.

 

Thanks Steve, and you are welcome. Everything looks great. And Jim is right, those are beautiful welds. I build a lot of trailing arms and can relate to how much work you put in yours to get them loking like that.
Nice touch painting the QA1 shocks factory gray. Hopefully you'll be able to get more than one pass down the track before they catch on.
Mike