Had Jerry MacNeish inspect our COPO this week, was a lot of fun learning all the stuff that is and isn't original to the car. After Jerry was finished we pulled the cover off the rear to see what was inside the BE rear end. Bad news was that the original COPO ring and pinion gears 3916226/28 have been replaced with standard 3862526/28 4.10 gears and are dated 2/70. Good news is that everything else inside the rear end is the original COPO specific parts including the 234 carrier, spider/side gears, spring plates and clutch springs. Jerry had zero doubts about the BE stamping.
Spoke to the original owner this afternoon to ask him if he ever had any rear end issues and he said the only warranty work the car had while he owned it was for a blown head gasket so the rear must have been worked on after he traded the car off in 71 or 72. Would love to find the second owner of our car to find out what happened to the 427 and rear end after Jim traded the car off to Soerens Ford for his new station wagon!
|