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68poncho
06-20-2010, 02:26 PM
Hi, i was wondering if maybe someone here can help me id the rear end that i just bought, it is a 8.5 10 Bolt, has 3 Large "A" stampings on it, 1 on the top of the pumpkin and 1 on each side, the cover is the irregular one, i was told it came form a 71 Cutlass but cant know for sure, it has LCA similar to those on my GTO but they have holes drilled for sway bars and they look like factory made holes, BUT i was told that all LCA that came with the sway bar holes were boxed and this arent boxed. ok, going back to the rear end, i found the following cast in the passenger side axle tube: SA B263 1, i just couldnt find ANY info on this stamping, anyone out ther has ANY info about what it may be?, i know this is not a Posi, and i know that i can check the teeth numbers to see what ratio i have, but if someone can help me before i tear it apart, that`ll be great.

Thanks A Lot.

big gear head
06-20-2010, 06:52 PM
The early A body 8.5 rear ends had bolt in axles similar to the 9 inch Ford. The '73 and later 8.5 rear ends had c clip axles. The cover for the early rear ends had cut out areas at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions. The c clip rear ends had round covers. You might have bought a '73 or later 8.5, which will not work in the '72 and earlier A bodies.

68poncho
06-20-2010, 08:30 PM
Thanks for the reply, actually it has the cuts at 3 & 9 and doesn`t has c-clips, BUT for some reason i just can`t find info on exactly what it came from.

I really hope that i can use it thou.

novaderrik
06-20-2010, 10:04 PM
it's a BOP rear axle.
i don't know if they put them in the 64-67 cars, but they used them in probably millions of 68-72 cars, and probably just as many 73-77 A bodies, too. i've even seen a few in the early downsized B bodies that came out in 77, so it might be from any of those vehicles. they changed the upper control arm mounts for the 73 A bodies and used pretty much the same suspension in the 77-96 A bodies. the 73 and newer upper control arms are mounted out wider and lower on the center section- the bolt holes for the upper arms are a couple of inches out and for ward from the center section, and the older housings have the mounts closer in and farther back towards the cover.
beyond that, you'll have to pop the cover and see what gears and differential you've got.

68poncho
06-20-2010, 10:53 PM
Thanks, i guess i`ll open it up tomorrow, i`m pretty sure it is a 8.5 rear, it has the 2 square edges on the bottom of the carrier. anyone knows the length of the 73-77 control arms?

Rhino
06-21-2010, 07:46 AM
Here's something I previously found when trying to quickly identify rears. I have heard that the BOP rears did have the square housings as well. No personal experience, however I've heard they're not much stronger than the standard 8.2

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/06/rears-1.jpg

big gear head
06-21-2010, 11:21 AM
The 8.5 didn't go into production until '71 and was used in some Cutlass and Skylarks in '71 and '72. This is not the same as the BOP 8.2 rear end. This is the corporate 8.5 10 bolt, but for some reason the A body got bolt in axles and the cover with the cut outs at 3:00 and 9:00. All of the other 8.5 parts work in this rear end except the axles.