Ive got an Olds/Pontiac rear in my '57 Chevy. Im pretty sure the housing is a '57 or '58, but its been changed over to a 31 spline 3rd member and axles. The axle splines appear to have been shortened slightly to fit the earlier housing. Last week I decided to undertake the simple task of swapping the open 3rd member for a posi. I slid the axles into place and they both bottom out 1/2" before the axle bearing seats in the end of the housing. Shortening them is out of the question as there are only 1" of splines now and there is no way I would trust 1/2" long axle splines. So now Im on the hunt for aftermarket axles a wanted to check and see what everyone else has had good (or bad) luck with.
Brad is the MAN! I know he is on here, but can't recall his handle. Fabcraft Metal Works, Southlake, TX 800-208-8242 www.fabcraftmetalworks.com specializes in Olds rear ends, very knowledgable, easy to deal with, fair prices. none better
Something does not sound quite right. It sounds like what someone did was to chop off an inch or so from a 59 and up axle because I have had 59 and up axles cut and resplined to fit the 57 housing and for both axles to be short seems to indicate tha the axles are bottoming out where the spline ends at the wheel side(end). In any case Moser is what I run in my MG and have had in a lot of vehicles. Hope this helps. Pat
BOP in your Chevy, Poncho on your Ford..................jeebus Gun Guns if ya wanted a Tin Indian that bad you should have just asked. =OP
that posi you have has 2 piece side gears and i think the in side ones are not lined up with the out side ones that will give you the 1/2" difference i have seen this many times hope this helps Clay >>>>>
Bobwop: Thanks for the info, Ill be calling them tomorrow! 1934coupe: Moser was one of my first choices, but when I was doing a search, I noticed that someone said they had discontinued the Olds/Pontiac axles...Ill have to look into that. Looking at the posi unit, it seems that the clutch packs on either side of the spider gear shaft dont have an open center. The spline end of the axle bottoms out against them rather than the shaft making, the axles stand out the thickness of the clutch packs. Brandy: Sorry darlin', I cant handle the prestige of a Tin Indian just yet, Im slowly sneaking up to that stage by sampling Poncho parts on other makes.
Ill have to look a little closer, I had never thought of that. If this is the case, is it as simple as holding the pinion in place and rotating the axle to get them lined back up?
Thats why HAMB is the greatest I forgot all about this problem. And Clay picked right up on it. I don't recall if its as easy as holding the axle and turning the pinion tho' it seems to me that you loosen the bolts that hold the posi case together then align the splines.
I just went in the garage and looked at my posi 3rd member. It does not have 2 piece side gears. The posi unit itself bolts together and has 4 spider gears in addition to the side gears. Like I said earlier, when you look into the side gears, you cant see the shaft that the spiders turn on. Im thinking that the friction discs and steels being on either side of the shaft is the cause of the axles to not fitting. If I run my open carrier, everything works fine. Thanks to everyone for their help, looks like Im back to buying new axles!
im no expert by any means but i do know the poncho rear ends changed in '57 and have slightly different length exle shafts than the '56 and earlier
Just got off the phone with Brad at Fabcraft. Helluva nice guy and a living, breathing encyclopedia on Olds/Pontiac axles. With the combo I have I will need new axles to make it all fit, and with their knowledge level, I feel Fabcraft is the place to go.
Not many of us are experts...thats what makes the Hamb such a cool place, it gives us access to those who are and to info we would never find anywhere else! Pontiac (and Olds) rears did indeed change in 1957. 1956 and earlier rears are a bit smaller than the '57-'64's and I believe they had a very coarse spline axle (16?) campaired to the 29 spline used in '57-'58 and 31 spline used from '59-'64. Axle lengths also varied between the years (and between Olds and Pontiac).
I had Moser axles made up for my '57 Olds rear axle a couple of years ago. I don't know why they wouldn't be available anymore because splines are splines.....they don't know what brand name car or rear axle housing they're going in. I do hear that the early Olds/Pontiac brake parts, like drums for instance, are getting hard to come by and I had my housing ends changed to the large Ford wheel bearing style ends so brake parts are readily available and everywhere.
The only thing I have seen that might explain it is from a web site I found last night and now cant locate! There was an axle comparison chart that listed the 31 spline Olds axles as having a 30 degree pressure angle, whereas the 31 spline Ford axles have a 45 degree pressure angle, so there is some difference...wether it would be a reason to quit making the axles, I dont know. Ive been told that carrier bearings are getting hard to find. No one local to me stocks seals or pumpkin gaskets, but at least they can still order them. I will be calling Strange, Mark Williams, Moser and Dutchman tomorrow to see how their prices compair to Fabcrafts and will post what I find out about availability.
That same spline degree is also a known fact of Mark Williams 9" 35-40 spline Ford parts, they do not interchange with other folks such as Strange, Moser etc. But I believe the odd one was stronger, ??
I made my calls this morning to Fabcraft, Strange, Mark Williams, Moser, and Dutchman. Everyone was friendly and very knowledgable and they all still do axles for the Olds/Pontiac rear. I priced street/strip axles with bearings, retainer plates and studs and Dutchman was the lowest price by from $65 to $100. They had one of the shortest turnaround times and they are located closest to me, so Ill hopefully save a little on shipping. Thanks again for all of your comments and suggestions!
I posted this in another area at another time. Its worh posting again. 57-64 Olds/Pont rear drums <HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5; COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Here is some info on rear drums for those Olds/ Pont. rear ends in those gassers and altereds. The drums in my MG where shot and I could not find new 57-64 drums so I dug into some Bendix and Raybestos books and came up with a perfect interchange. Bendix # 140201 24# drum measures 4" wide and fits these early rear ends. It also fits; 82-76 Checker 89-76 Pontiac 95-71 Buick 95-75 Chevy 93-71 Olds 95-91 Caddy It is for a 11" x 2" wide shoe and has a 5 on 5" bolt circle. Raybestos # 2057 and Carquest (what I got) #8873. Cost around $50. bucks shop price. That price seems to be for resplined stock axle cores, I believe Mosier charged me 225 or so for street/strip alloy axles in either case they are plenty strong for the street. Pat
Great brake drum info, really appreciated! Im no metalurgist by any means...Dutchmans web site lists these axles as a stonger than stock, street/strip alloy axle (1541 H material), NHRA accepted and meeting current SFI specs. Moser was my next choice, they are $65.00 more ($445 vs. $380), also with bearings, retainers and studs, plus the difference in shipping costs to CA from Indiana (vs. Oregon) within about the same time frame.
I think you'll be happy with them. I ran Dutchman axles in my 34 International, raced it quite a bit with slicks (7.20s in the 1/8) and they never twisted any, looked brand new everytime I pulled them out. Larry T
The Jalopy Journal
