I took my 69 w/12 bolt to a shop for gear change he called me and said 1 of the spider gear shim/washers is missing the rear worked good before I cant find 1 locally and am scared to leave my car there for more than another day.If he was to put it back without it will this cause any problems can it be put in later without removing the carrier maybe? and are these available still?
Thanks In Advance Mike

I believe Chevy still sells the Spider Gears as a service set with the Shaft and Washers. Check with your local dealer (try other GM dealers too) to see if they have a listing.

Well I would have better luck getting it from auto zone than my local Chevy dealer
they dont care about old stuff and dont want to be bothered with it.Anyways I told him to go ahead and put it back together for now Im hoping I can get a new 1 put in without removing the carrier later Big Gear Head if you see this can you offer some advice on this.I couldnt wait because even though the guy installing the gears is very good its a small shop and I know it would be a matter of time before someone carring a crank or something by it would bump it or scratch it or something bad would happen.

Hello 3DUDE, The pinion gear thrust washers are still availiable from GM ( at least they are in Canada ), the part no. is # 3957940 for the eaton posi unit, and #3880141 for the open case ( non posi ). Not trying to second guess your mechanic, but sometimes the washers slip out from under the pinion gears when the crosspin is removed, and they are still inside the case. I would not run it without the washers as the pinion gears will have to much backlash and they will also auger out the case. Hope this helps. Mike.

Thats what we thought happened at first but after searching for about 1/2 hour and even searched the hot tank hoping it maybe fell off while the carrier was in the tank with no luck. IM pretty sure it was gone before.
Thanks for the part numbers im just hoping I can replace it without removing the entire carrier and having to set up gears again.

Sorry I got here late, but you have already got some good advice. The part number Mike gave you, 3957940, is correct and is still available. Running without it will ruin your case, if it hasn't already. The washer probably fell out sometime when a axle seal was being replaced and the person doing it didn't know where it came from and threw it away. You can put it in later without taking the differential out. If the other one is brass I would replace it with a new steel one too.

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'69 RS/SS396 pro street
427/4spd/9"
Byars Performance
High Performance Drive Train Parts And Service
www.lubedealer.com/biggearhead (http://www.lubedealer.com/biggearhead)

[This message has been edited by big gear head (edited 04-05-2002).]