1958-62 Rear End?

[Tom Spurgeon]

Greetings,
The 1960 Corvette I purchased is still in need of a lot of TLC (www.ageless-makeup.com - restoration project). The rear end currently in it only contains the driveshafts -nothing else. It also has, what appears to be, the "bottom-out" low-profile rubber insert mountings welded to the top of the shaft -beneath the frame area. Does this sound like a Corvette rear end?
I purchased a correct 1960 rear end on ebay. While the cost of the rear end was reasonable. The cost of crating and shipping it is making my stomach upset! I guess I will have to convince myself it's just part of the overall cost to assemble it... If any of you have any ideas on what type of rear end this is, I would appreciate knowing. To summarize, did Corvettes come out with a rear end that did not have the rear strut towers welded to the top of the rear end housing?
Sincerely,
Tom Spurgeon
corvettethomas67

[John M.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End?

Tom,
I can't answer you question about your existing rear end without some pics of it, but I can tell you that 1960 cars had the rebound bumpers screwed to the underside of the frame over the rear housing tubes. It also had the strut rods that mounted to brackets on the top of the axel housing tubes and went foward to mounts that were welded to the frame. In addition the 60 model had a rear sway bar which hung from some brackets on the rear of the frame and mounted to brackets that were attached to the lower side of the spring mounting plates.
Eariler cars did not have the strut rods or the sway bars and the frames did not have the approiate brackets welded to them as well as the rear end housing.

Regards, John McGraw

[Bill B.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End?

Hope I understand what you actually have? I had similiar problem on my 58 which came with a banjo which had rubber bumbers mounted in welded brackets on top of the outside of banjo--is this what you have? If so, it is a passenger banjo. One problem with this arrangement besides you not having appropriate strut brackets is that the perches are mounted a little further outboard. This causes your rear leafs to cant somewhat although you might never notice. The flanges are also mounted vertically versus some degress canted on the vette banjo. I also think that the passenger banjo bearing inset is about 3/4" from the flange versus the vette offset being only about 1/4" or so. The right thing to do is get the vette axle housing. I believe the axles from the passenger are the same lengths--not positive on this. If I missed you question, hope this info helps someone else.

[Roy B.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End?

You are both right , it's a car banjo must likely a 55 or 57 but you can have the spring perches removed and re-ajusted for your corvette. This is common for 53 to 55 Corvette owners, when the pumpkin gears go out , because the ring and pinion are impossible to locate for the 53 to 55 Vett.Or if you have the original pumpkin for a 53 to 55 you can use the banjo from early 1948 to 54 chevy car and do the same.Early car axles are the same as 53 to 55 vett, as is the 55 to 64 axles from car the same for the 56 to 62 vett.55 to 62 car axles may need to have the bearings and cover plate changed to accept the vett. banjo.

[Bill B.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End?

Glad Roy had more detailed info on the banjo. If you have the passenger axles, you will have to change the bearing cover plates if your new banjo is vette. This is were the bearing and flange offset issue comes up. Also, think the strut and stablilizer brackets started with the 59 and up. The 58 for instance had nothing other than rubber frame bumpers (and the rebound stuff) on the frame underside. Suspect all the earlier models were just like or similiar to the 58.

[Roy B.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End? Bill

Your right 56 to 58 Banjo were the same but for posi and bearings, posi banjo had bafflers and the banjo end flange was reversed for heavy duty bearings.

[Tom P.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End? Bill

The 59 housing was the first year for the strut rods (essentially factory traction bars). The 59-62 frames have a bracket welded to them for the forward attachment of the strut rods. And 60 was the first year for the factory rear sway bar, thus, the anchor plates for the U-bolts were different for 60-62. The 60-62 frames have BOTH a bracket for the strut rod AND a bracket for attachment of the rear sway bar links. I have upgraded my 56 chassis with ALL the suspension/HD steering/HD brake components used on the 60-62 Vettes and I really like the way it drives/stops (for an old Vette that is). Also, instead of segmented linings on the brake shoes, I use the regularly available 50s-60s 2 1/2in Olds front shoes (from any parts store such as NAPA) and 2in shoes on the rear (same as standard Vette front shoes).

[Christopher R.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End? Bill

What did you use for drums on the front to accommodate the 2 1/2" Olds shoes?

[Tom P.]

Re: 1958-62 Rear End?

The 57-58 passenger and 57-62 Vette axles are the same. The 59-64 passenger car axles will physically fit and work in a 57-62 Vette housing, but, the dimension BETWEEN the axle bearing and wheel flange of the 59-64 passenger cars is about 1/2in wider. Thus, if you were to use a set 59-64 passenger axles in your Vette, the rear tread width would be about 1in wider overall.