VETMANIAC

I thought you guys might want to see what is probably one of the strongest IRS setups around. This setup is similar to Jim Moore's (427Hotrod) 67 Convertible assembly. I purchased the assembly two years ago from an NHRA class racer. I had planned to run the setup in my car, but life got in the way and I have sold my Corvette. I had the trailing arms and rearend rebuilt by Mike Dyer (tracdogg2). The Crossmember Bushings, Trailing Arm Bushings, Trailing Arm Seals and Bearings have been replaced. The U-Joints are Spicer 1480 Non-Greasable units and are brand new. Almost all pieces are powder coated. The Dana 60 Unit is a spool with a 4.88:1 gear ratio. I don't think that you will find a stronger IRS setup than this. The assembly is ready to bolt in to any C2 or C3 chassis. I am asking $5100 OBO. If you want to run hard at the track with an IRS and not worry about the rear end, this is the kit for you.
Send me a PM or email if you are interested.



IMG]http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm136/vetmaniac1/dana60_front_2.jpg[/IMG]

VETMANIAC

For anyone wondering how this compares in terms of pricing to the strongest assembly that Tom's offers, here is the breakdown:

12 Bolt 3rd member $2900
1480 Axle Kit $2255
H.D. Rear Cover $ 130
Assemble Trailing Arms $ 325
Crossmember Locator Kit $ 74
Rear Camber Control Rods $321
Total $6005

Other items included:
Poly Diff Bushing Kit (Eckler's) $ 25
Crossmember Cushions (Eckler's) $120
Spring Bolts - Long (Eckler's) $ 20
Grand Total $6170

Ultra Rare Baddest of Them All Dana 60 IRS Setup $5100

I am inclined to think that over $1,000 less for a far, far stronger unit is a pretty good bargain and don't forget the factor due to it being quite rare.

DansYellow66

That's really slick looking. Very nicely fabricated.

VETMANIAC

Thank you for the compliments Dan, although I cannot take credit for the fabrication. I simply had it rebuilt with new bearings and seals and had everything inspected, by Mike Dyer (tracdogg2). Mike has access to an excellent powder coater so he made it look nice as well.

hermit

That is a nice looking setup. Is it a bolt in to the stock frame mounting points? What spring is it designed to run? Are there any modifications needed to the body/floor pan? And are the trailing arms offset for clearance for wide tires? The only thing that would hold me back is the spool and gear ratio as I would be running it on the street.

BADBIRDCAGE

Hermit: Suck it up and grind some rear tires man. I'm just in awe of that setup.

For two years I drove a 68 4 spd Hemi Roadrunner with that rear end and could NOT break it, even when I tried. Clutches broke, transmission broke, but not that BIG Dana 60 ring and pinion.

I don't have the power or need for that setup with my car and I can't justify the purchase without both of those factors. My loss.

Rich

1coolC2

That is a bad azz piece of hardware right there!!........... and the price great! Cmon Rich, we can put a 250 shot of laughing gas on your car just to justify you buying it

BMS

That's a big rearend! Cool!

427Hotrod

No doubt there is not a stronger IRS assy out there. I can vouch for that!

You are also looking at a bit of history here. There were very few of these assy's ever built. I mean VERY few. Years ago these became popular when Super Stock racers were required to use IRS..but breakage was killing them. You found them under Lingenfelter's, Bernie Agaman and Phil Cocuzza's record holding Vette's. They were based on brand new Hemi housings because they come with a pinion snubber mount pad to allow you to fabricate mounts for a Vette pretty easily.

Look at the size of that thing! It's a 9-3/4" ring gear. Let's see...Vette's have an 8.2", then there is the 8-3/4" Mopar that came in automatic Hemi's and everything else, 8-7/8" 12 bolt GM, then the 9" Ford. Say it again...9-3/4" ring gear and a pinion gear to match!

I spent a good bit of time with the fellow Nick bought this from. He had recently spent $7K installing a 12 bolt solid axle under it using the transverse spring etc to meet rules. The theory was that it was lighter and would be faster. Guess what...he said he was actully pretty disappointed because the car was running a tenth slower and 1 mph slower even though it had a lightweight spool and same gears!

This particular one uses a spool, whereas mine uses a Posi unit, and mine mounts a little different, they are otherwise very similar. Mine uses an aluminum plate bolted to Dana and then the stock Vette cover bots to it. There were various mounting methods as Strange and others left that up to the final owner usually. You will also notice that this one (and mine) have provisions to add upper links to make a 6 link setup if desired. If you would like to have a bulletproof IRS under your car and have it all bolt to stock mounts (might have to do a little fiberglass surgery to clear hump and 1480 series u-joints...but that will depend on the car. C-2's clear a little better than C-3's around storage boxes. My boxes didn't need to be touched) then this is for you. Though it was all just gone through, you could easily change ring and pinion to whatever ratio you want. No big deal.

Nick..I'm going to jump in here to help clear up stuff maybe and give a little more info.

From what I can gather...and I've talked to a lot of folks......there were a couple of folks that did these, maybe even 3. Strange was the first that I know of and did the most. I think Mark Williams did a few. I spent a lot of time with Bob Stange (original owner of Strange). He built around 20 of them...mostly spool type...all based on Hemi housing. They came up with design while looking at a bare housing laying on the floor with no tubes and commented on how it looked a lot like a Vette diff. Strange did the MoTown Missile axles and Mopar sent him bare housings to install stronger tubes in. They drew out the design on a napkin and started making them! When I was talking to him gathering info over a few months period, he spent the time to dig up the old folder that had the notes/plans to build them. He even found the original napkin..and the list of everyone he had sold them too! The last two went to Alaska for a road racer of all things! Of course that was before I got mine! I have the last one ever made.

I know one other one with a spool was bought new by Tom's so they could see how they were done. I tried to buy it from Tom, but he wouldn't sell it.

Price out a Tom's complete assy..then add trailing arms...a few spare parts etc....and see what a bargain this is. THEN look at the pics and compare the amount of iron you're getting with a Dana 60!


So dig deep...I know Nick would like to keep this piece of functional history *in the family* with a Forum member. Someone's going to get it....might as well be you! The odds of you finding another one or anything similar is about zilch. C'mon...you've got that Govt rebate check coming right? That's a start!



JIM

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Glenn O.

Could you please tell me what type of axles are in the trailing arm assembly. are they stock or are they like the ones toms sell. The forged ones. Thanks Glenn O. I almost forgot to say that is one hell of a neat set up.

427Hotrod

I'll jump in here...not sure where Nick is. But they are aftermarket race type. They are made for the 1480 u-joint flanges. Very similar to what Tom's uses. I actually used Tom's outer stubs when I built mine up.


JIM