[lluciano77]

I am about to swap 10 bolts in my '73 Camaro. The old one is a 2.73 and the new one is a 3.42. I have a set of 3.42 gears already but I got this rear at the wrecking yard for $40 is excellent working condition.

Should I change out the brake springs and hardware? None of them are broken. I will definitely change the pads.

Should I change out the wheel cylinders even though mine seem to work properly? I might get the Rusell speed bleeders too.

I am thinking about wheel studs. I am looking at the ARP 7/16" press in studs. I have to run wheel spacers and am not getting all of the stock stud with the lug nuts. I have 8.5" Convo Pros with Bf Goodrich 295s just barely fitting in the wheel wells.

I am going to be bolting on some Caltrac bars as well.

I was thinking about bagging the factory rear swaybar assembly. Would that be worth it?

Any comments, ideas?

[67 Deuce 4 Me]

I just went threw this on my Nova. I changed the hardware,wheel cyls, axle seals and pads for under 50.00. I thought is was worth it, if the parts were expensive I would say just clean em up. In your case unless your really tight on funds I would change em. Any time you tamper with wheel cylinders esp old ones the likely hood of leaks is very good. Which leads to fluid on your new shoes and bad brakes etc... I would change the lug studs.

[lluciano77]

I got new brake shoes, wheel cylinders, and the hardware kits (springs etc.) today.

I am thinking about ordering the wheel studs tonight. Are they hard to remove/install? I wanted screw in studs, but I couldn't find any in 7/16".

What kind of weight oil should I use? How many quarts?

I was looking at the Russell speed bleeders. Are they any good?

Come on, come on, waiting on replies so I can order them tonight!

[tresi]

If you're using wheel spacers you want the best wheel studs that you can get. You shouldn't have any problems changing them.
I've had good luck with the speed bleeder. Never tried Russels I just used the ones on the rack at the parts store. No problems with them yet and have over 4 years on one set.

[jimfulco]

I had a bad experience with wheel spacers a long time ago. They were aluminum, made by a famous hot rod parts company, and they broke, causing a front wheel to come off. Luckily it didn't make it out of the wheel well, so damage was minimal. I had some steel ones made, & they worked much better.

As far as the brakes go, if your old brakes were working fine, you can swap the whole backing plate assembly (including parking brake cables) from old to new, but you have to pull the axles out. It's always a good idea to check the condition of used axles where the bearings ride on them anyway, and you can put new seals in while you're at it.

[lluciano77]

Well I already got the parts listed above. I am not going to change out the seals and bearings yet because I am planning on a Detroit Truetrac later on which will require setting up the rear end again.

I have a second set of 3.42 gears. I might take the 10 bolt that is on the car now and install the Truetrac into it when I get it. Then I would have to swap back again. I know it sounds a little strange, but it is much easier to install gears and/or set up gears to a new carrier when the rear is out of the car.

[lluciano77]

I removed my old 10 bolt today. The ring gear is pretty thin on it. The old gears are 2.73s. My rear end with the 3.42s has a ring gear that is almost twice as thick.

I also got my Caltrac bars in the mail. I will be installing those as well. Hopefully the Caltracs will make up for the lower gear and the car will still hook up.