Thinking of putting a Chevy 10 bolt rear into a 39 Chevy Sedan.I’m told most Chevy rears are practically a bolt in to most Chevy cars. I read that the 71-81 10 bolt rears are stronger than earlier 10 bolts, but they also say the spring perches are mounted an inch wider than earlier rears.. thanks for any info.
I mounted a ten-bolt into a 39 Chevy sedan about 25 years ago. Not sure what it was out of, probably a late 60's Nova or Camaro. It requires new perches. I made my perches out of some square tube, and snuck a little lowering into them as well. Make sure to offset the spring centerbolt hole correctly in the perch to make the tire sit in the opening right. It's not exactly in the middle.
I used a G-body 10 bolt in my 50 chevy delivery. Made up a "lowering block" welded to the axle tubes with the spring center bolt hole drilled offset to get the wheels centered in the wheelwells. I was amazed it never broke!
I have the 10bolt in my '84 c10 that i might be able grab measurements off of tomorrow if you need them. I put a 4link in it but im guessing i probably left some evidence of the original spring perches.
Yea it has a Ford 8” in it right now. I learned the hard way about offsetting spring centerbolt ..thanks for letting me know.
84 C-10 rear would be too wide and 5on5 wheel bolt pattern 68-72 Nova & clones, 4x4 S-1o rears work (2 wheel rears are too narrow)
There are two basic versions of the Chevy 10-bolt as Bomber is asking about. The earlier version has an 8.2 inch ring gear and was used in the 60's, such as the 67-69 Camaro or 68-70ish Novas. In the 70's GM made the 8.5 inch ring gear 10-bolt, as found under the 70-81 Camaros and many other cars. Then there is a third version, not sure if people consider it in the 10-bolt family, that has the smaller 7.5/7.625 ring gear used in later 70s-80s; this is found under the S-10s and the G-body cars. I think fit wise, the 67-69 Camaro or 68-72 Nova rearend is the better choice due to width and adequate strength, than the later Camaro as they are a tad wider. Just to add, the 12-bolt Chevy rear has 8.875 ring gear. There are also the GM B-O-P versions of the 10-bolt that are mostly 8.2 inch ring gear. Kind of similar, but not the exact same as the Chevy version. It gets confusing....... A tri-five Chevy rearend is also a choice for the 39 Chevy, it will bolt in and work. These have the center dropout pumpkin style rather than the rear inspection cover. Might be a little harder to find, but they are out there. These also have an 8.2 inch ring gear, coincidentally. But they are generally thought of as not as strong as the later 8.2 10-bolt; which is not as strong as the 8.5 10-bolt.
It was actually 1973 when the "good" passenger car 10 bolts came out, with that had the 8.5 inch ring gear, and the pinion shaft that was the same diameter as the 12 bolts had. Up until that time, the ring gears were 8.2 inch, and the pinion had a smaller diameter shaft. Any Nova, or the others such as the Apollo, the Omega, and the Ventura's, after 1973, and the same year Camaro's, are what you want to look for. The Chevelle's, and bigger car 10 bolts are too wide, and have coil spring setups; there are still plenty out there that came from Nova's and Camaro's. I would't even consider the 7.5 or 7 5/8 inch diameter ring gear 10 bolts, although a lot of guys use the (the 4 X 4 rear ends) in 49-54 Chevrolet swaps. Trucks are a different animal, and too wide also. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
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