Gearheads!

Reg Kmet · Post by **Reg Kmet** » Fri Dec 01, 2000 2:22 am

hi guys, i was thinkin, in the summer i wanted to go with a 3.43 rear end in my firebird (3.23 now) after checking prices here, i was thinking would it be possible to go with the entire rear end from a WS6? that way i'd have disc rear brakes, 3.42's and POSI! is it possible, and would i be able to get such a thing from a wreckers? also, how much???

REg

Lmandrake · Post by **Lmandrake** » Fri Dec 01, 2000 11:49 am

Certainly it would probably bolt right in and I am sure you can find one somewhere, but you would probably have to pay top dollar. Here are some considerations I would put some thought into - vehicle speed sensor - you will have to research the availability of a new gearset for your vehicle speed sensor - which is driven off the trans. It is not like the old days where you could drop in a 4.11 rear and live with an inaccurate speedo and odometer. The engine management system and other systems in the car rely on the VSS and your new rear would screw that up. So you would have research that and see how to address it. I would also bet that you might need to replace your master cylinder as well. I believe that the proportioning valves are integrated into the master cylinder and you would need to check part #s for disc and non-disc cars. If they are different you will have to change that out as well. Not real difficult, but GM step bore master cylinders can be a bitch to bleed. Your parking/emergency brake setup will change as well, but that is probably not much of problem.

I would also check the driveshaft part numbers as well, just to make sure that both configurations use the same driveshaft. If the part #s are different, then the shafts might be a different length as well.

There are plenty of salvage yards on the web. Some may have a free search function.

[Edited by Lmandrake on 12-01-2000 at 11:52 AM]