1970 Chevy Chevelle Currie Enterprises Rearend Installation - CHP Step By Step Landing Gear

Currie's 9-inch Finds A Home

writer: Sean Haggai
photographer: Sean Haggai

What? Did you really think we would leave you hanging without an install of our mail-order 9-inch rearend from Currie Enterprises ("Mail-Order 9," Aug. '08)? Think again. We recently followed along with Currie as they produced one made-to-order rearend for a '70 A-body Chevelle. If you recall, the '70 Chevelle was purchased as a leftover project car, and we've been following along as owner Robert Varoujanian from Santa Clarita, California, has been converting it from an all-out drag thug into a much more pleasurable street/'strip sled. In order to achieve this, we had to remove the original rearend, which incidentally was in great shape, only it was encumbered by a spool and C-clip eliminators, and the short gearing wasn't going to allow for any enjoyable street excursions.

Currie has the ability to get a high-quality rearend built exactly to your specifications with door-to-door shipping. It's important to note that nothing is too crazy or out of line for Currie. In our case, we got our 9-inch built for the stock dimensions of the '70 Chevelle. For added strength, we added stock-length 31-spline axles, a 1350 yoke, and a set of 3.50:1 gears with a limited slip, and even upgraded to Currie's Explorer 11-inch disc brakes for improved stopping power.

Before we could get the new Currie gear up and underneath the frame of the Chevelle, we took out the old 12-bolt by first removing the rims and tires and then unbolting the whole assembly from the upper and lower mounts. Since our new Currie unit was raw, we completely disassembled it on the crate, removed the brakes and axles, and gave it a couple of coats of semigloss black paint to protect it from potential rust. Once the paint dried, we spent the next couple hours swinging the new unit in. Honestly, it was simply a matter of replacing the old with the new. It only required simple hand tools and a few hours out of a Saturday afternoon. Even better, we were able to use all of the hardware we took from the old unit. With a little more work and time, this '70 Chevelle will be ready to lay down some rubber, hitting everything from the street to the 'strip and slicing around cones.

Quick Notes

What We Did
Installed a Currie rearend

Bottom Line
The 502-packing Chevelle won't be breaking this rearend any time soon

Price
$3,000

The upgrade is simple and only involves swapping in the new components. Here, we raised the jack up and met the upper (short) control arm to the perfectly welded Currie mount.	To prepare the Chevelle for its new rear, we rested the framerail on two jackstands and chalked the front tires. Next, we positioned the freshly painted Currie 9-inch under the chassis using a simple hydraulic jack.	We lowered the hydraulic jack for the lower (longer) mount. Then, applying the same technique, we slid the lower arm into the mount and used a 3/4-inch ratchet and wrench to clamp the nut and bolt tightly.
With the upper and lower rear control arms fastened, we extended the Currie 9-inch rearend low enough to place the springs back onto their perches. Then we actually raised the rearend housing back up a bit in order to keep the springs from popping out.	The shocks were next, so we extended them to reach the mounting hole bracketry. From there, we guided in the stud and snugged it down with a 3/4-inch nut and a wrench.	We then positioned the backing plate and installed the four T-bolts loosely in order to prepare for the axles.

With the axles snugged, we slid the optional Explorer 11-inch discs in place...	...and installed the calipers on both sides.	Up next were the brake lines. Since these brake lines were from the older rearend, all we had to do was mock them back into place and see where we would need to cut. From there it was only a matter of flaring the line and reattaching the fittings to the ends.
Our last step involved fitting the rims with the 275 M/T ET Street Radial combo. We started by making sure the brakes would clear the inside of the rim and checking for clearance between inner fender and framerails-perfect!