57 olds rear end: sta wag vs sedan ratio

[benkerr]

I have a 57 Olds convertible and I beginning to dive into the rear end. I think when we hauled it out of the boneyard a few years back, we had to scavenge a station wagon rear end to get it rollin'. My question is this: are there any problems associated with using the station wagon rear end in my convertible?
Thanks,
Ben

[monzaz]

As long as the rear bolts in correctly there is no problem. The gear ratio maybe different then your original and may throw off the speedo and gas mileage depending on which way the ratio goes up or down. You can find the ratio on the edge of the ring gear when inspecting the rear diff and changing the fluid. Pig nose same but you will be required to remove the hog head and spin the ring gear till you find the ratio (example 11 39 = 3.55 ratio 15 41 = 2.73 and so on ) The smaller number is the pinion tooth count and the larger number is the ring gear count. divide the small into the large and you get your ratio. round up if it is 5 -9 in the third digit past the decimal. Good luck. Jim J D Race

www.jdrace.com for more questions