I want to change my 4:11 gears to a set of 3:55s that I have in my 51 Chevy. I have the gears and a factory repair book. But after reading it, I am worried that I wont be able to get it swapped and adjusted correctly. Has anyone here done this swap before? is it as hard as it seems, or am I making a way bigger deal of it than I need to. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, just use the whole 3.55 center section, driveshaft, torque tube and all, in the '51 housing. No fooling around with settings.
Seriously? Swap the entire rear end? I have a gear set, but maybe its less work to swap the entire rear end. I wonder if most of them are still in decent shape. I would hate to swap in a worn out rear...
just delt with all this . ends up bearings were bad in both rear ends so that kinda shot the idea in the foot about just swapping the center sections.
Definetly easier and cheaper to find a torque tube and gear section from a low mileage 50-54 powerglide car. Save the funds and instead get a new set of wheel bearings and seals and differential gaskets. I did mine last year and found one for just $150 at a local junk yard owned by a HAMB member who responded to my Wanted ad in the classified section. I got a pic from the simple swap in my signature link of the coupe. Maybe the simplest, cheapest and most effective upgrade you can do to the 40s and 50s stick shift cars. Unfortunately truck rears don't interchange with car rears. The new complete 3.55 R&P and bearing set costs me 5 times as much. However after 7 years of daily driving, I got the funds back just from gas savings...
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