ok, ok, I know its an old topic, and I have the Mike Mercury instructions posted on the wall of the garage, but before i get started swapping the 2.73's for the new 3.42's, has anyone actually done this themselves??? I'm mechanically inclined, and can accomplish most complicated tasks with time, so I have hope, but I sure would like to hear from someone that they did it with no previous experience, and it all worked out per the instructions. Anybody??? thanks in advance, Ragtop Man

 

There are a few people here who have done this themselves but by and large the majority of that few were very mechanically inclined and had some automotive background.

Two people I recall off the top of my head here who have done it themselves are Patches, and Cucchiara. There is a third but I cannot call his name right now. He also has a write up with pictures, and then there is Mike Mercury of course. Of these, I believe that Mike would be the only one without an extensive background in automobile repair.


I have seen this done on my own car twice (don't ask, its a long story) and it is more than I would be willing to tackle by myself, and I too am mechanically inclined and can handel very many automotive jobs.

But there are a lot of steps in a rear end swap on these cars. And it helps to have an extra set of hands or a couple extra sets of hands and a variety of tools which you may or may not have at your disposal.

I have seen the write ups about this procedure and I have personally seen it done. From what I have seen, if you have any doubts, my advice would be to pay someone who knows what they are doing, has all the proper tools and experience, and has actually done the procedure a time or two and has it down to a science, the $500.00-$600.00 to do it and do it right. Just my 2 cents.

 

http://mikemercury.home.att.net/342.htm

 

I did it myself over a weekend, even pulled out the tranny for a new TC. Mike Mecury web page helped out a lot. If you are mechanically inclined you should be able to do it also. You don't need to pull the tranny to change the differential alone. I've done that once also.

Good Luck

 

No previous experience here, and I ended up doing it twice because I cut the transmission plate seal. It was not too bad at all because I did not remove the torque tube and transmission. There is enough clearance between the firewall and engine, pictured in the GM service manual and other instructions, that will allow just the differential to be removed. I will be adding a torque converter next winter.

 

I did it with another set of hands. Heres the link:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ghlight=ST3500

Good luck and use this thread to ask questions if you need to.

Mike V

 

Gone a bit further with torque tube removals for clutch changes and such but I agree with the above that pullling the torque tube and back is not necessary. You have enough tilt to pull the differential just by titling the drivetrain. There's a label on the tube illustrating this.