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Howdy everyone! Been on the Buick V8 forum for a while and my 72 XGS has an Olds Type "O" rear end in it. Frank, Mr.Olds69 sent me! Bill in Two Rivers, Wi.
Just checking out how sharp you guys are, and ya'll PASS! The BAD LAD is a 1972 GS 350 that the P.O. cloned into a 455 GSX. I never claim it to be a real GSX so therefore its an X-gs. The PO redid it in about 1990 with new 1/4s door, fenders and drive train and it turned out "a bit better than fair". Ive spent the last few years "re-doing" some of his handy work.
If you guys will indulge me as a Ferener from across the hall, Im sure we'll all get along "hunky Dory". Thanks for the welcome!! Bill in TR.
Yachtsmanbill
Two Rivers, Wi. The land of the free and the home of the brave.
Nothing comes alive like a 455 !
Last edited by yachtsmanbill; December 11th, 2017 at 04:24 AM.
Yeah...you got to figure what ratio is in it Bill, and what ratio you want. I think there are 3 different carriers. Like a high 2:??, a low/mid 3:??, and a high 3/low 4:??. Maybe you can use ring gear spacer(s), too.
If I were not into Oldsmobiles I would be into Buicks. I worked for a Buick dealer right out of high school in 1964-66. The 65 Buick Gran Sport is one car I would love to have. It wasn't as fast a the GTO or 442 due to the small valves I the 401 but it was a beautiful car with the taillights all the way across the back. It is interesting that Buick has had two of the fastest muscle cars every built. Notice I did say two of the fastest and not the two fastest. Not going there.
If I were not into Oldsmobiles I would be into Buicks. I worked for a Buick dealer right out of high school in 1964-66. The 65 Buick Gran Sport is one car I would love to have. It wasn't as fast a the GTO or 442 due to the small valves I the 401 but it was a beautiful car with the taillights all the way across the back. It is interesting that Buick has had two of the fastest muscle cars every built. Notice I did say two of the fastest and not the two fastest. Not going there.
A co-worker that I car pooled with years ago had one of these.
That thing was stupid fast back then. Is this one of the ones you
were thinking about Red?
Welcome Bill. I have owned several Buick A bodies and one Centurion.
Good cars, I have to admit. Well, back in the day anyway.
WOW!! Im already beginning to feel at home here too! I must confess, I did own a 1 owner 1972 Cutlass S in about 1978, Fire Orange with a black top and insides with a bench seat. Bought it from a co-worker for my first(!) wife. I had a few Toronados, but the true allegiance (now that I am old and broke!) still lies with 455 Buick stuff.
A few guys responded to my main query here and 442Mark in particular about an ad he placed (and sold) for a 3:42 posi unit and axles. I havent quite figured out forum protocol here yet, but it seems like pics cant be included in PM's just like V8 Buick. I am going to post some stuff here so even I can keep track of whats what.
So I have the 72 XGS 455. Over the years its had the rear end changed; no shock there! And although I havent had it apart yet or even looked at the tube numbers the tertiary inspection has shown me a few pointers. Still losing on pin the tail on the donkey, but hopefully some guys can point me in the right direction. For now, it appears to be a Type "O" Olds rear unit. I am guessing the ratio to be about a 3:42. She rolls at 65mph (wife following in my 2008 silverado) and 2800 rpm. Could easily roll at 75, but theres a few oil leaks that smoke on the headers pretty good.
The housing has a 12 bolt cover and I THOUGHT it had 31 spline axles. I had one out (RR) for a new seal last year and will post a few fuzzy pics here. It seems to have an odd number of splines. The axles bolt in, no C clips and is a peg leg. That 455/400T needs a double spinner to paint the asphalt with. Right now it'll boil that RR at any given time. Heres some pics, so please feel free to beat me up a little LOL...Please click on pic to enlarge! Bill in TR
Last edited by yachtsmanbill; December 11th, 2017 at 01:11 PM.
The axle shaft has an open bearing, which identifies it as the 1970 version (Timken SET9, same bearing as used on the 71-up corporate 10 bolt rears). The HD 31 spline rears were the early version with a sealed bearing and supposedly were only used in 67-68 OAI cars, so yours should be 28 spline.
That's actually good news as you need the more common 588 carrier instead of the HD 672 carrier.
Last edited by Fun71; December 11th, 2017 at 04:27 PM.
WOW!!! Actually some good news. That jives with the same news from BobK. He also informed me of the differences in the outboard bearing seal thicknesses. I had a new seal installed and the axle floated in and out about .119,5". the fatter seal brought that down to about .002" when all buttoned up. Im actually getting enthused about the extraction. I have all winter but like gettin' stuff done. ws
So as a matter of course, and still plan on pulling the whole differential out for a "go through", whats a 588 model posi carrier worth? Just window shopping before Christmas LOL... ws
Well me an' ol' Captain Ahab had a chat the othe other day, face to face! I told him him that I am gonna keep his ol' peg leg and he can deal with a crutch.
Got the whole deal extricated from under the BAD LAD and found some interesting stuff and yet, I am still confused. "Talking" with Mr.Olds, Frank gave me a link to determining the build date numbers etc off the axle tubes. Havent found them yet and they are pretty well rust free due to lotsa paint. I will continue searching tomorrow. He had mentioned on the pass. side FRONT over by the lower arm mount. Anyone with a picture of theirs? Just to make the foresics' job a little easier! FWIW, the unit does have 28 spline axles.
So the gear is a 16:41 set. I think I am gonna keep it as the racing days are over, the wife and I do like our little road trips, and a taller gear is just that much harder on the car and the wallet. Besides, nothing comes alive like a 455!! I can live with a 14.00 1320!
Check out the shock towers on the Gabriel air shocks! Ever seen anything like that? I do need 4 new shock rubber bushings ( the antique gabes still held 20PSI!) and the control arm bushings seem OK. I will need to do some work on the lower arms , as in to box them and re-enforce the bolt areas. Theres also a non Buick sway bar on there. The PO merely drilled new holes about 3/8" off from the OEM mounts. What a DUFUS. Anyone recognize the swaybar? Its just for grins as its gonna stay in place, but I do like to know whats what. Any input here is appreciated! ws
Last edited by yachtsmanbill; December 20th, 2017 at 05:32 PM.
I don't know how much stress is in the sway bar mounting area and although the control arms look fine. Things have a way of breaking at the worst time when they are modified. Not trying to be a killjoy but it just doesn't seem right. Anyway, thumbs up on the Buick, nice job on the restoration. I don't even see Skylarks on the road anymore! Good luck, welcome to the site.
Hey Shifty! Driving by todays standards, I tend to take it easy on the old parts. OLD stuff is Model T Ford that I still frequently work on. I would guess that the bar itself would be of a pretty tuff grade of material with the arms being cold rolled steel and cold formed as well.
That leaves me with a few choices; one being cut the bar, lengthen it 1/2 inch between the bolts and still have double drilled arms, or use the bar as it sits since it fits pretty well and weld closed the extra OEM holes and make a 8" X 1-1/2" flat plate welded on the outboard side of each arm and re-drill accordinly.
In the next day or two Ill have the arms all off and start in earnest. Pulling the diff out was the easy part LOL... So no one recognizes the sway bar from post #12?? GTO or Trash Can maybe? Id have thought GM would stick with one style across the board! ws
Oh...yeah...I guess it does Jim! I just got back from the dark side. So...Bill, how did your test go? The rear bar looks to me like a factory 1978-87 GM A/G bar. Aftermarket bars are typically in the 1" range for that ap, so I assume that's a stock bar because it looks smaller. But the larger aftermarket bars were to match the aftermarket fronts, so it's probably just right for you. As far as boxing the control arm goes, at one time they sold several types of kits to do that. Something like this..... https://www.opgi.com/chevelle/RCAI001/
The advantage of that is you just slap it on and it spaces the bolt holes so you don't need to cut lengths of steel tubing or shape the bottom metal. The prob is if the spacing of the bolt holes on your bar is the same. If the bar is too short to reach the arms, you can get spacers...like shims to reach. Some GS + 442 cars have them, some don't. I know you posted pics across the hall, too. I know the holes lined up on 1 side if I remember.
Anyways...it's some stuff for you to think about.
"Talking" with Mr.Olds, Frank gave me a link to determining the build date numbers etc off the axle tubes. Havent found them yet and they are pretty well rust free due to lotsa paint. I will continue searching tomorrow. He had mentioned on the pass. side FRONT over by the lower arm mount. Anyone with a picture of theirs? Just to make the foresics' job a little easier!
I have never heard of nor seen build date codes on an O-Type rear, but I have seen them on the later corporate 10 bolt rears.
Here's a pic of the code on my 1970 O-Type 2.56 rear.
That pic gives me an idea where to look; Thanks Ken...
Only had 5 <1-2 mm polyps removes so Im good for another 5 years. Only 2 hours from door to door and then steak and eggs for breakfast followed by a long winters nap. Ahhhh! Back to reality tomorrow! ws
Yo everybody... My sincerest apologies for having been absent for almost 2 years, but I am still here! I got into a rather rabid discussion across the hall, and wasnt sat in the corner with a dunce cap; even worse... had to walk past the deans office to the big double door. EXPULSION for voicing a comment about censorship. It wasnt political or obscene, just didnt sit well with a moderator. It snow balled until the forum owner let me have both barrels on the thred. I got the buckshot and he got the recoil.
So last December, the wife bought me another project. Being old (gonna be 64) I really need to keep busy. We traveled cross country with a trailer several times and came home empty. Things being as they may, we find a project 50 miles from home.
A guy with a resto shop finds a 1964 Buick Special DeLuxe 2 door post in a barn. Its grammas car, parked since 1980. It was sporting a V6 with a 3 on the tree. After grandma died, Johnny got a new tool box for christmas and decided to restore grammas car. Well at least 99% of the parts were in the trunk and all the bolts were in coffee cans. Thats as far as he got. I know you guys are all about Olds' and thats great. We are brothers under the flesh.
So I spent the last 6 months redoing ALL the single piston brakes, new springs and shocks, and built a jim-dandy 465CI (455 +.040") BBB and a BW super T-10. It retains the OEM 3:23 open gear which is good for the torque monster around town, and some highway driving. Im gonna post some pics and hope its OK to do so here. Just think... if it were a '64 Cutlass or a '65 442 I wouldve jumped on it too.The pics start out "as delivered" with a smoked 455 BBB. a wasted crank, 4 bad rods, and 2 bad mains. Was reported th have been retired with a "rod knock". ws
So can anyone tell me how many pics will post per reply? I take LOTS of pictures and can resize them at will. I dont do the crack phone thing, just a digital 16Mgp camera.ALL GM cars get fair play around here! Bill
Im a bloody chameleon... I adapt haha. I spent some considerable time figgerin' and findin' a new aluminum crossflow radiator for the BAD LASS. That a stock width 72 GS 455 upper hose I had and just cheaped out until I can get a proppa' 66-67 hose. You should see it. Im proud of the perfect cut LOL. You could butt weld the joint with crazy glue. Theres a copper pipe sleeve inside (boat style) for corrosion prevention. Now that she's up and running, I kinda have a direction to follow. That whole job started with a block that was shot and used as a boat anchor. I think I did good for being an old timer. 40 years ago, a pal wrote a book called "Gettem' home, Packy". Ol' Packy had a million roadside fixes (and stories) about travelling cross country with a post war Harley. A 1947 Knucklehead. Had many long lasting repairs with duct tape and a lousy coat hanger. If I were a NYC metro motorman, I could merely buy new stuff, but I served my sentence for 30+ years and now live on a fixed income. Not too terrible, but no more Hawaiian vacations either, LOL...
That gold car looks great. I "think" it also sports an EFI. Cant quite see under the air cleaner and the owner wasn't around. Next time I see it I will ask though. The Vortec style coils caught my eye. Does that need a crank or cam pick-up to signal a fire mode? Just something different.
The Vista Cruiser wagon (one of my faves) is owned by a nice young man locally. He calls it a rat rod, but its in black primer with a fresh BBO (400 or 455?) with chrome headers. He said he drives it daily to work, almost 50 miles each way. Nice kid, he parked it on the street as he wasnt sure it would "fit" in the show. I convinced him to enter it and he got a trophy! My work is never done haha.
Gotta go make Pat a nice dinner. Tomorrow is a finish up on the duct work on the atom smasher in shop "B". A few years ago I built a new shop out back. I outgrew shop "A" and did a nice "workcave" with a 100K furnace in the rafters. Nothing like a T shirt when its 40 below! Cheers guys! Bill
December 10th, 2017, 04:25 PM
Is this one of the ones you
