I just drug home a nice solid 62:hurray: , lovely 13" 4 lug wheels and all... What axle does :confused: this have??? it has a third member style rear axle like a ford 9, but after looking around, I saw many pics of other 62 and 63 nova's with this same rear end! Any help will do... I'm considering my options. Thanks:beers:

Those stock rears were very weak. An 8.2 is better but not much. My suggestion is the have an 8.5 made to the stock dimesions or a 1/2" narrower on each side so you can put a 7" wheel with 4.5" back space and a 235/60/15 radial.

You have a Salisbury style rear end used by Chevrolet up until 1963. I would not swap it out just yet because there may be an Olds or Pontiac (Poncho) rear end on e-Bay with your name on it. The early Olds rear end used a 9" ring gear like the Ford but had bigger axles. These rear ends were put in all of the old sling shot style dragsters up until the Dana 60 was introduced and all of the top fuel guys swapped over to a narrowed Dana 60 after that (What many racers think is a Ford 9" in dragsters today isn't; it is an 11" ring geared Strange or Moser custom made hogged out of unobtainium billet).

Another choice if you are serious about performance is a brand new Chevy 12 bolt with a high nickel cast center section, and 3" tubes with Ford bearings in the ends to retain the 31 or 33 spline axles. It is the same price as a Ford style 9" but it is stronger and much lighter. Plus it looks like it belongs beneath a Chevy.

Big Dave

The '55 to '64 8.2 Chevy rear end can be built pretty strong, but it takes some work. You can get axles and a new Eaton posi for it, and there are steel bearing cap supports and other parts available for it too. These rear ends are being built to handle some pretty strong 421 Pontiacs and 409 Chevys by some guys in Canada. Then there is the other option, swap in something else that is already stronger. You can have a 12 bolt, 8.5, 9 inch or any other rear end built to fit your car.

Christian,
I'd say find yourself a 64-67, swap the rear end out (direct bolt-in), and while you are at swap the spindles, steering arms, and lower control arms. This will give you the 5-bolt pattern which makes wheel selection easier and also make it easier to do a disc conversion up front in the future if you so desire.