Ok, first I'm not crazy, and in DEFINITELY not stupid, so we can eliminate that issue.
I am trying to change the bearings and seals on both on my rear axles in preparation for installing my new gears.
I first got the new bearings and seals from Autozone. They were the standard Timken sealed bearings and inner axle shaft seals that I would expect to buy for a BOP axle. They looked exactly the same as the bearings and seals that we just replaced on a '66 GTO a few months back.
But I have a problem, my axle bearing/seals that I pulled from my current rearend tonight are VERY different from the "normal" 8.2 BOP setup that I am used to seeing.
I read through the other posts here on the site, and EVERYONE swears that the seal fits on the inside of the axle tube before you stick in the new axle/bearing assembly.
I have the standard 4 bolt plate that holds in my axles, but when I pulled the plate off and yanked the axles, the seals were on the outside of the axle (between the bearing and the plate). Also, the bearing was an OPEN bearing, meaning I guess it was being lubed by the sloshing fluid in the rear end.
Knowing my car, and it's originality, I would put this at 99% sure this is the original rear end. The code on the axle tube decodes to a 2.78 open, and that is what it actually is.
I don't know if it matters, but I believe my '69 was a very late 69 or early 70 manufacture date. When I replaced my rear end flex brake line before, the "correct" 69 part the store pulled did not match to the piece I had in my hand that came off the car. But it DID match up to a part from a '70 Firebird. Could this have anything to do with the axle bearings and seals being totally different that what is expected on normal FGF's?
Any ideas? Any reason why my rear end would be so totally different that whats in the Service Manuals?
There was a mention on one of the other posts that '69's had either roller or ball bearings. Would this be the difference between the two? If there are two different styles, are they interchangeable (I assume no).
