I am new to the site and excited to be on here! I bought a 1967 Firebird coupe that is a 400 4-speed custom interior with power windows. This car has always been my dream car since I was a teenager, and I finally took on the project of restoration of one. I have completely disassembled the car, with only the shell remaining. My question for now is the axle, as I am confused as to why I do not have traction bar welded mounts on the axle. The traction bars were attached to the underside of the floor pan, all aspects of the underside were equally rusted, with mono leaf, original shocks, drum brakes.
I was able to decode the axle with the following information:
The stamp on the axle: PH 0620 G2 The number stamped on the Housing of axle: 3894859
The info stamped on the Pinion gear: 2 GM 3790627 11 39 4 67
I figured out it was 3.55 gears, and on my build sheet from the factory it shows 3.26 for car W/O Air and then over it says 3.55 under perf. axle.
Anyone who could help me figure out why the axle looks original as to when I took it off, but is missing the traction bar mounts that were welded to the axle?
Welcome, I am fairly new too. This is a great site. That is strange. The bars are still under the car hanging from the body? I had a 1967 parts car, 400 HO, 3 speed manual trans, 3:55 rear gears, and it had the traction bars on both sides. AFAIK even the 6 cylinder cars had the pass side traction bar. Does the axle look like it had the brackets cut off? Or maybe the carrier and gears were swapped into a different axle at some point? Strange things happen over the years. I purchased a complete set of bars from a guy in Connecticut, all the parts had been removed from the axle. They are pretty desirable. I think if you scrounge around a bit you may find the axle brackets on Fleabay or somewhere. The axle brackets are ambidextrous, but the body brackets are specific for each side. HARD to find those. It would definitely be worth restoring that. Take it from me, the mono leafs will experience wrap-up under the 400's torque.
Last edited by Oldslowandugly; 07/12/2302:53 PM.
Mark in Queens NY. Home of Spiderman and the Ramones
I do have the brackets under the car, and I have one of the brackets that attaches to end of traction bar (That slides into the bracket welded to axle). I do not see any evidence of the axle ever having them, so it makes me wonder if the axle was off a camaro or? The only thing is that it all looks the same wear and rust on all the parts.
It could be from a Camaro. The correct code for a 1967 3:55 posi rear is UW. Not PH. The mono-leaf springs were prone to wrap-up so in '68 they changer to multi-leafs. EDIT: Yup, it is a 1967 Camaro rear. See this link: Camaro drivetrain codes Now you need to find the axle brackets and get that stuff operational. Whoever did the swap was stupid by not transferring the brackets to the new rear. The brackets and bars are unbelievably rare, so having a metal shop fabricate some may be the best answer.
Last edited by Oldslowandugly; 07/13/2311:13 AM.
Mark in Queens NY. Home of Spiderman and the Ramones
Thanks for the info, that is the same site i found that made me think it was a Camaro rear end. They must have switched it before they sold it to me, that is why the traction bars were still there but not attached to the axle.
yea i think I can fabricate my own, those are crazy expensive. I have searched just for the brackets for the axle, but can not seen to find any info on them.
They usually go to the junkyard with the rear. No one knows how valuable they are. They are not hard to make. I have a 1979 Trans Am disc brake rear in my 1968 convertible. The angle difference of the '68 vs '79 springs is only a small amount, but it needed to be corrected. After cutting and re-welding the spring perches, I added the brackets for the bars. I cut them off a 1967 rear, had to grind a lot of welding slag off, and it was so bad I almost made new ones. My buddy showed up with 7" angle grinder and that saved the day. I ground down the arc so it fit the axle perfectly. Just like for the springs, we loaded the rear into the car on the 1968 springs, bolted up the ladder bars, and saw where the brackets landed on the axle. I spot welded them in place, took it all apart, and welded them on for good. If you don't think these are important, my buddy had this same set-up in his 1968 hardtop. The 400 engine with 'S' cam, lifted the front wheels off the ground. That is how solid the rear gets planted with both ladder bars. I am not condoning this, but his hobby was doing burnouts around town until the cops chased him. He got away every time!
Last edited by Oldslowandugly; 07/13/2309:45 PM.
Mark in Queens NY. Home of Spiderman and the Ramones