Newbie needs 71 Riviera rear, and suspension info....

[Eric Animal]

Can someone please explain which REAR ENDS, rear control arms, FRONT control arms, and front end parts will swap INTO a 1971 Riviera...The B-Body/E Body thing confuses me! I would like to add a rear sway bar, and 'upgrade' my suspension....I am familiar with A- Body parts but not the bigger cars?????? THANK YOU!!!!

[bob k. mando]

pretty much all of the 1971-76 big GM cars share unit dimensions for the suspension.

most of the B, C, D and E body cars use either the 9 3/8s ring gear Oldsmobile rear or the 8 7/8s ring gear Pontiac rear. there are no aftermarket gear sets for these axle housings, so if you want more gear you pretty much have to wait for something to show up for resale. even then, you're not going to find anything much over a 3.08:1, although there were some 3.42 sets. if just trying to get gears, look for something from a wagon. those will almost all be positraction.

if looking for the whole housing, the wagon rears are designed for leaf spring mounts, so will not work with coil springs without a lot of work.

the interesting option are the small block powered B body cars. those were equipped with 8 1/2" ring gear rear ends and there are a gazillion ratio options. most of the non-Chevy 8.5s use bolt in axles, much more secure than the c-clip retention that the Chevy design employs.

also, being smaller and lighter, there's a lot less rotating mass, so that alone will make the car faster. downside is that they can't handle the thrashing the the larger axles can take.

[Eric Animal]

Thank You Bob! I now understand. I was confused by the entire E Body thing....I thought the axle housing was exclusive to the Riviera....I will see what I can find!