i want to put some 3.73 gears in my 82 c3 corvette . i am struggling to fined what i need because i dont have a clue what i need . looking for decent ones with install kit could anyone here give me links to what i need . cheers kev

 

Contact Gary Ramadei. You might be SOL on availability of those (or any) gears for that car, but Gary will know.

EDIT:
I take that back. Your rear end is that odd-ball Dana (80-82 only), and Gary won't work on those. Very limited parts for them, and few people willing or able to set them up right. If you don't know what parts you need, you're sure as heck not setting it up or building it yourself, and most pre-built differetials sold by various Corvette places and outlets are pretty lousy quality with lots of problems. Beware...'82 Vette is a lousy choice for a car to do those types of mods on...

 

80-82 Corvettes used a Dana 44 center section. Randy's Worldwide sells Yukon ring and pinion sets for the 80-82 Corvette Dana 44 in an assortment of ratios. Though I can't vouch for the quality of the Yukon gears, I've been happy with the things I've bought from Randy's. Hopefully Gary will come across this post and chime in.

https://www.randysworldwide.com/shop/yg-d44-373

 

With US Gear gone now, there's only Yukon, Motive, and Richmond. There are some others out there but they don't tell you who makes their gears so I think they are reboxing the others. I won't use a gear set that I have no info on or the seller won't disclose where they're made. Then there is US Standard Gear, I know Rock sold them but probably others as well. If you research them, they are made by Yukon in India. I've read where they said they were not up to the standards of the Yukon brand and thus were sold as US Standard Gear. Take that for what it is. I have not used any to say how they setup.

I have setup Yukon, Motive, and Richmond. The last Richmond 10 bolt set was 10+ years ago when they were still made in the USA and didn't sell out yet. The pattern was textbook perfect, they whined so bad I replaced them with US Gear, same ratio, same procedures only the US Gear were quiet. I have not used Richmond since and they are now made overseas and owned by the same company that owns Motive.

Motive only makes a 355 & 370 for the iron diff. The ones I used setup nice.

Yukon has or had the same gear run as US Gear including the thick 4 series gears. I set them up without a problem. Yukon prices have gone up a lot and I don't think Randy owns the company anymore? I may be wrong, but I recall he had some issues with Eaton suing the company for copying the Eaton posi case. Regardless, not my concern.

My choice is still NOS US Gear.

Those are all for the iron diff's. I don't want to debate with those out there that say their 80-82 diff takes a beating and is better than an iron diff. I have been through that discussion too many times and just let people think what they want now. Me, I wouldn't put a dime into one if I owned an 80-82. I would build a stronger iron diff and convert it, but that's me. You have to know what to look for in an iron diff, the difference between the years and how to set them up beyond the common slapped together diff's sold everywhere.

There are still vendors advertising rebuilt DANA's so you can call them to see what parts they stock. I would do a lot of homework before you call.

 

Not to step on any toes here or hi-jack the thread, but what does someone do if they have a failure with an 82 rear end? So no one rebuilds these? Are there any alternatives? Can one be obtained from an earlier C3 and bolted in? Assuming one is ok with the stock gears, is the bearing set available at least?

 

Several places rebuild them. Parts are available, some such as the axles are harder to get. I don't like the whole design. The parts are smaller, the clutch retainers get chewed up, the cross get chewed up a lot and the axles have the same issue the 70's iron axles had. They don't use a crush sleeve, shims instead. The shims for the pinion depth and lash are in between the bearings, which are pressed on, you need slip fit bearings.

Yes any 63-79 iron diff housing will bolt up to the batwing. The iron diff's are stronger and can be built much better, but you need to get the diff, the brackets, rods, 1/2 shafts and probably make a new driveshaft. The outer axle yoke should be replaced with the flange used from 64-79. Some vendors sell kits with basic parts but you can source them all from anyone parting out a C3.

 

Thank you for the info. Im ok at this point, just wondering about the future possibilities.

 

Zip Corvette sells them as assembled center sections. At least they did back in 2021. They'll either exchange the one you've got as a core or rebuild yours. I got my 3.73 there for my 82 back in early 2021. It's just a sample size of 1 but I've been beating on it with about 500 hp driving in autocross and haven't had any issues.

 

thanks everyone for the help . my 82 has been rebuilt by previous owner and never been on the road but used 308 gears . i have fitted a t56 magnum and been told 3.73 would be good .

 

Wow....never knew that.....

Jebby

 

thanks for the info .if i was to to put an earlier iron diff on my 82 batwing would i be able to use my 82 drive shafts . would i need to do any work to the trailing arm end will it all bolt straight on . cheers kev