1960 rear end

[Greg L.]

Is there any way to tell if the rear end in a 1959 corvette is original to that car or if it's from a regular pass car? Or are they each fully interchangeable?

I'm sorry but the the owner of this car that I'm considering buying just informed me that it's a 59 and not a 60 as she had previously thought.

[Mark P.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Greg - the posi rear end casting number is 3743833P.

My friend Ian Gaston has a December 58 car and mine is a May 60 car and most of the part numbers are the same. I just e-mailed you a full set of 1959 part numbers.

Mark

[Gary C.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Greg, are you talking about the entire rear axle housing or just the center pumpkin? Gary....

[Greg L.]

Re: 1960 rear end

I guess I would like to know about both. Keep in mind that I really don't know much at all about these years and what is basic info to you will be quite helpful for me. I just want to make sure that as I look at this car that I'll be able to tell passenger car parts from corvette parts.

It's a project car so you never know what could be there....

[Gary C.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Greg, easiest way to ID if it's a '60 Vet rear axle housing is the sway bars and mounts. If sway bar mounts are present then it's righteous Corvette axle housing and correct for your car. If no sway bars or mounts on the axle housing check to see if the brake backing plate flanges are rotated 25 degrees (not horizontal with the ground). If neither are present it's not a Corvette axle housing. Here's info provided by another Member on '57 rear gear numbers and applications. Gary....

1957 positrac unit C-30743X for the series 3; and C-30751 for the series 4. Another check is the series 3 ring gear mounting flange is beveled, where the series 4 flange is square across. 1961 P&A Group 5.510 shows 22211X for 3:70 p/trac, 21005X p/trac 1st design

[Greg L.]

Re: 1960 rear end

That should be easy enough to see. Did the 59s have the rear sway bar too? I know this thread title says 1960 but the car in question is actualy a VERY early 59...sorry.

[Gary C.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Greg, according to the JM all 59's had the rear sway bars. Gary....

[Roy B.]

Re: 1960 rear end

56 to 58 can use the car bango but the spring mounts need to be moved about 3/4 inward

[Jim L.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Greg, according to the JM all 59's had the rear sway bars. Gary....

The JM can't be right...... '59s got the "traction bars" but the rear sway bar didn't come along until '60.

Jim

[Jim D.]

Re: 1960 rear end

The JM can't be right...... '59s got the "traction bars" but the rear sway bar didn't come along until '60.

Jim

That IS what the JM says. Gary must have read it wrong.

Jim

[Gary C.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Sorry, used wrong terminology. Meant radius rods started in '59. What can you expect from a 56-7 guy. Gary....

[Tom P.]

Re: 1960 rear end

It is correct that the 59 cars ONLY had the radius rods (factory equivalent of traction bars) ABOVE the forward portion of the leaf springs.
The 60-62 cars got the sway bar which mounted to the shock mount plate below the springs and crossed over under the spare tire well.

The removeable center section, REGARDLESS of posi or non-posi, for the same respective years, is totally, completely, 100% the same rear as 55-64 passenger car center sections.
The 55-56 pass car axles and 56 Vette axles are the same-----------AND WILL ONLY FIT IN 55-56 AXLE HOUSINGS (56 ONLY for Vettes). The 57-58 pass cars and 57-62 Vettes shared the same axles.

The ONLY difference between 55-64 passenger car and 56-62 Vette center sections (of the same respective years) is the code stamped on the PASSENGER side of the center case.
Sooooooooooooooo, for example if you have a 56 Vette with a NON-posi 3.55 rearend, and you want to convert it to a 3.08 posi, or even a 4.56 posi, you can simply swap in a center section from a 64 passenger car and go on down the road.
Uh oh, whoops, that's wrong. If you install a 57-64 posi center section in a 56 axle housing, you will have to cut off 1/8in from the end of each axle! Almost forgot to mention that. And for sure, someone here would be quick to nail me on that omission!

So Mark, to properly tell if a rearend center section is from a pass car or Vette, you gotta look at the stamped code to see if it is from a car or Vette.

[Roy B.]

Re: 1960 rear end

Tom, I think you need to memtion the bango spring pads need to be moved because the car pads are wider