Burg went a step further, strongly suggesting that we run a rear girdle rather than a stock cover. "The higher the horsepower level, the more it wants to shoot a bearing cap out the back," he explains. "And this is a small ring-and-pinion, with small bearings and carriers." The cover Randy's provided reinforces the bearing caps against just such an occurrence. "It's one of the best things you can do with these small rearends," Burg tells us.
Of course, all these high-grade parts can go for naught if a rearend isn't properly set up, and that's where Don Lee Auto Service comes in. Don Lee tech Rick Galloway has set up more than a few diffs, many of them in heavily abused off-road vehicles. The bottom line here is to take your time and set up the gears correctly-it's the best way to ensure longevity for any rearend.
So what did we get for our efforts? First of all, Stoker reports that this rearend is indeed quiet, a testament to the gearset quality and the professional setup. But more importantly for our purposes, we of course took a trip out to Irwindale Speedway to test our handiwork, and saw a nice drop in 60-foot times, from a not-to-shabby 1.64 to an even better 1.565. But will this diminuitive diff live? We'll let you know, since we've got more straightline fun planned for this slick Nova. In the meantime, check out the highlights of this 10-bolt build.
The pinion bearings come out...
The pinion bearings come out easily enough, but the bearing races must be driven out. The 10-bolt architecture conveniently provides notches, allowing the races to be knocked out with a punch.
The new gear carrier bearings...
The new gear carrier bearings had to be pressed onto the Eaton limited-slip we utilized for this build (background). While he was busy pressing bearings, Galloway took a moment to press the bearing off our 8.2-incher's original pinion. His goal was to obtain the pinion shim, which would be used later as our starting point for setting pinion depth.
The rearend rebuild kit from...
The rearend rebuild kit from Randy's Ring & Pinion contained everything we needed for the job at hand, including marking compound, two different crush sleeves, a shim pack for setting gear backlash, and top-quality Timken bearings. We only had to pick up new axle bearings and seals to be fully equipped.
Skipping ahead a bit, Galloway...
Skipping ahead a bit, Galloway had emptied the 8.2-inch housing of all its innards and thoroughly cleaned it. As we prepared to reconstruct our beefier 10-bolt, he laid out the correct tools. A proper bearing installation tool guards against damage when driving in new races. It also makes the job much easier.
Before mating a new ring to...
Before mating a new ring to its carrier, Galloway always runs a file lightly over the gear's backside to remove any burrs. The ring was then joined to the carrier with the provided bolts. Each fastener was dabbed with Loctite and torqued to 55 ft-lb.
Once our new Eaton LSD (limited-slip...
Once our new Eaton LSD (limited-slip differential) was outfitted with its new ring gear, Galloway set it into the housing, using the original carrier shims (arrow) as a starting point. Gear backlash should be set at 0.006 to 0.010 inch. Getting there is a trial-and-error process-in fact, this shot is of Galloway's second attempt. Using the original shims yielded only 0.002 inch backlash; reversing them made it 0.015.