New R&P, blows up..why?

[TDW]

I have a 62 year "P" series third member. It has had a 4.56 in it for years. I pulled the pig and took it to an experienced rear end guy, who has done many before. He does it for a living. I had a Richmond 4.11 installed. All new bearings. Reinstalled the pig, filled with Amsoil Synthetic lube , added the posi lube. Took the car for 4 10 mile trips, letting it cool for 30 mins between drives. 1,2,3, sounded good. Had a howl in 4th at 2500-3500 rpms. It wasn't consistent. Seemed to come and go. I read all I could find about gear whine , howl, and noise. This symptom wasn't found in the reading. I did a small burnout, took it for another ride. Ran 1st gear out to 6000, hit 2nd pretty hard. It blew. The bearing retainers are both broken. It destroyed the ring and pinion, the bearings are floating in the carrier. What happened? It looks like the entire carrier moved where the caps are. Thanks.
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Tony

[John Brown]

If you're talking 55-64 type Chevy, then that's not too unusual, especially if you have lots of power and lots of bite in a heavy car. The main caps are the weak link and need to be reinforced with machined caps or straps which also keep the main bolts from spreading apart. The caps usually break apart right where the adjuster lock bolts go. Waaaayyy back when I was racing a 57 Chevy, I had my local machine shop fabricate a pair of straps that fit on top of the factory caps that had a crush of .003 . They also machined flat spots on the factory caps for the new caps to press on. The new machined steel caps were drilled and tapped on the side to accomodate the modified adjuster locks. I had to use longer allen bolts to hold the whole affair together and had to cut the rear cover off and weld in a piece of one inch strap to space the cover back for clearance, but I never broke another rear end. I used to come off the line at 6000 with a 4.88 rear end, 40 pound flywheel, Schiefer Rev Lock clutch, slicks, Summers Brothers axles, traction bars and all. The front tires were six inches up on most tracks. Those puny rear ends used positraction units made by Dana and side gears out of some type of 60's Mopar could be substituted so larger and stronger axles could be used. Now all you need is a 60's Car Craft or Popular Hot Rod stocker magazine "How To" article, or get on the phone Monday to some of the more knowledgable rear end guys.

[TDW]

Thanks John. That the info I am seeking. Sounds like you have lots experience with these old style rears. I will make some calls in the morning. Can you recomend one of the aftermarket suppliers for a complete pig set up? I have Summers Bros axels and a decent set of traction bars. No wheel hop anyway with them. The caps broke between the mounting bolts.

[John Brown]

The shop that did mine is long closed. This guy, http://www.bruneauperformance.ca/ races a 62 409 car, and while some may have a problem with him, you might at least run through his site and see what he has to offer. You could do the same as I did though and have the caps made up locally. I sure wasn't the first one to come up with the solution to the problen, but I sure did break a lot of rear axles and rear main caps before finding the solution. Luckily, I had my problems at the height of the Junior Stock era, when everyone shared solutions.

[TDW]

Thanks John. I took a look at his site. He has some nice stuff!

[scuncio]

Hey Tony, I guess the 427 is making too much power! I have an old 12 bolt housing you can have if you want to go that route.

[TDW]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Tony, I guess the 427 is making too much power! I have an old 12 bolt housing you can have if you want to go that route.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks Tony. I came down to your neck of the woods last night and picked up a carrier. I am having A&A Machine put another one together so I can drive it. I am going to put a complete Moser 9" in it in a couple of weeks.
You are correct about the 427. 500 HP is a little tooooo much on these old things without the bearing girdle.