Rear end assembly swap?
 

My car was originally a v6 and still has that rear assembly in it - open dif, 3.08, and drum brakes. I did a lt1 swap with a cam, but the rear in the donor car was no good. I was wasting time on craigslist and found someone parting out a 95 z28 so I asked about the rear assembly. Which brings me to the questions.

Would I be able to simply swap out the two rear ends or would there be mods required because of the disc brakes on the new rear?

He told me to make an offer when I asked about price - so what's a fair price for a working rear with 3.23s (or whatever gear a4 z28s came with)?

Is this about the best option to get a posi rear with disc brakes, or should I put a new carrier and brakes on my rear end?

I think this would defenitely be cheaper/easier than modifying your current V6 rear.

Everything should swap right over. If your lucky and the brake lines are in good enough shape to come apart in one piece I believe they should bolt right up, assuming both cars were 3 channel without TCS, or both had TCS.

Thanks. That's what I was hoping for. Both rears should be 3 channel, and hopefully the one I'm looking at doesn't have TCS. If it does could I just put a cap in the plug since my car doesn't have TCS?

Also, what kind of price would be fair - I was thinking about offering $200 and being willing to pay $250. That seem about right?

That's not a bad price, you'll need the ebrake cables too.

I would offer like $150, I see them go for pretty cheap regularly.

Where are you located btw?

Wow - I had no idea that they went for that cheap. I've seen a few on craigslist around here wanting like $300-$400 which I think it a bit much for something I'm going to replace a bunch of shit on.

I'm in Wilmington NC.

Average price is 150.00-200.00.... the 3.23 rears go pretty cheap whereas the m6 rears generally go for 200.00 by me. There are a few select people that try to get stupid money for these rears and they usually have them for a long time.......

Yeah - seems like the expensive ones get reposted quite a bit. Is there anything that makes the m6 rears more desirable? Is it the 3.42s, or are there other difference?

I've had my rear ends listed on CL and the forums. A complete 3.42 for $350 (I think) and a 2.73 w/o carrier for $200 and don't get many calls. They're probably not worth what I'm asking, but they're both still attached to the cars and the only thing keeping them rolling, so I'm not in a hurry to sell them. And it's barely worth my time removing it for $150.

If I had one taking up room in the shop, then I'd sell it for $150.

Point is, I agree with 96lt1m6. If you're buying, don't pay more than $200, If you're selling don't take less than $150, but don't be surprised when someone doesn't want to budge off their asking price of $300-400.

Where are you located? I have a complete rear (3:23) brake to brake with all the lines and cables. Im in NY 10567.

I would like to move this rear before the snow flies. Worked awesome before I cut the car up.

I get that. Especially if it's bolted to an already working car I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell for cheap either. I think this was a donor car or is not currently running, so hopefully he will take $200 for it.

I'm in NC 28411. You can deliver it if you like :lol:

On a related note - does anyone know about how much a shop would charge to swap out the rears?

Probably alot more than the rear itself is going to cost you.

It isnt that hard if you have tools and a place to do it yourself.

Yea do it your self or with a buddy who has access to tools.
I didn't see anyone touch on this but are the master cylinder or the proportioning valves different between the drum cars and the disc cars?

That's kind of a bummer. Do you know of a good guide to show me the process? I have a decent set of tools, but no spring compressor or anything like that, which I assume I will need right?

That's a good point - and one I hadn't considered yet. Hopefully someone will be able to answer that.

rear end swap is easily done with a decent socket/wrench set that includes some 1/2 inch drive sockets and a breaker bar (for the Lca bolts and tq arm bolts) as well as a floor jack and 2 jack stands.

i can do a rear end swap in about 2 hrs with help or 3 or so alone, and this is in a driveway with the above tools

this is from memory, and it has been about a year since i did this so i might have forgotten a step, and for you there will be other steps due to the drum to disk swap
let me know if there are any missed steps, and i will edit

lift the car untill the rear is at full droop
put jackstands under the car, in front of the lcas
support the pumpkin with the jack
unbolt the lower shock bolts and tap them out of the holes in the rear brackets (height adjustments with the jack will be necessary, rear will need to be close to full droop for easiest removal)
rear end should drop
you should be able to remove the rear springs and isolators
remove e brake cable from calipers (or car, or both if necessary)
remove the rear u joints clamp bolts and remove the driveshaft
remove the rear sway bar, not absolutely necessary but makes dropping the rear easier
remove the lower tq arm, and the upper tq arm
remove the abs sensor(s) (either in pumpkin-3 channel, or in brake backing plates-4 channel) and associated wiring (will be attached to rear end )
remove calipers and rotors/drum assembly from the rear
I normally remove the calipers and unbolt the brake line junction box from the rear (drivers side next to the pumpkin) and hang the calipers (zip tied) no need to bleed brakes after

remove rear from vehicle, and reverse for install

Most auto cars came with 2.73 gears and here in fl they go for 150 and 3.42 go for 3-400.

easiest way to check is via the rpo codes (either in the glove box or drivers side door depending on year) A4 2.73 cars also had first gear locked out under the center console (via a rubber stopper block) so if the center console shows first gear its likely a 3.23 car

Sounds reasonably straight forward - thanks for the write up. I guess there is not a whole lot to fuck up if I take my time and put it all back together in the right way. I am a bit worried about the whole drum to disc change though...

I am okay with a set of wrenches and messing around with stuff, but once I run into unexpected problems I tend to go into flipout/shutdown/accidentally break shit mode. Which is never good. Or cheap.

Looks like I will definitely be calling in some favors for my buddies to help out.

yep its nothing but nuts and bolts. and to be honest i dont remember if you really need to ubolt the upper tq arm assembly, but it makes it easier iirc, just plan ahead and spray all the bolts the previous day with pb blaster incase they are rusted

one thing is when you unbolt the tq arm, the rear is going to want to "roll" towards the rear of the car ie. the driveshaft yoke will try to go vertical, be ready for that

Master cylinder is the same on L32 and LT1 cars from 93-95, for 95-97 V6 and V8s as well. All use the same one...