I am in the process of restoring a 68 and I noticed that the big ring gear in my 10 bolt has a few teeth that are chipped. My question is, should I put the money into rebuilding this rearend, or find an aftermarket one to replace it?

How deep are your pockets?

Not very deep! :clonk:

Chip,

Are you just planning on normal cruising, back and forth to work and out for joy rides? Or do you plan to race it a few times a year and improve the handling for spirited road performance? A bigger, more powerful engine?

The original 8.2" 10-bolt will be a lot less expensive to rebuild than to replace, obviously. A new set of gears and a rebuild kit with bearing/seals will run you a $300, plus the cost of having them installed. Add $540 if you want to swap the carrier to a posi unit. Look at spending $500 or $600 to fix that rear end. $1200 to make it posi.
These are just guess-timates. Prices may vary in your area. ;)

A 'new' rearend, when all said and done, will gouge your wallet for $2000. A used rear end might cost you $100 or $1000, but it's used.
The original rearend is just that... original to the car. If you want to keep it original that is.
You can have the gears and bearings replaced locally. If you're on a budget, that's what I'd recommend.

If you want to rebuild a rear end I recommend finding an 8.5 10 bolt from a '71 or later Nova, or one of the GM Nova clones. This is a stronger rear end and it will cost less to build it because the parts are cheaper. You will probably need a set of multi leaf springs because not many of the 8.5 rear ends had mono leaf springs. If you want to make it look like the standard 8.2 10 bolt you can swap the cover. The 8.2 cover will fit the 8.5 rear end.

Freddie,

Has the Eaton 8.2 posi gone up that much? Like Joe mentions they are $540 from Summit. It's been awhile but I bought one from you for $349.

I just rebuilt my 8.2, and I had about $900.00 in the rebuild. I put an eaton posi in it, all new bearings and seals, and motive 3.73 gears. I am happy with it, everything is tight and fresh. You could put a solid pinion spacer in it to make it a little stronger if you want. I don't run my car w.o.t. from a dead stop, I'll wait til I'm running about 25 or so then nail it, so I don't worry about grenading it. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt the rear running street radials but thats my philosophy. Plus when you drop all of that money in it, it makes you think twice about abusing it.

rojo: I just got my Eaton posi back in June from Rick's Camaro and gave right at $400 for it. I think they've gone up to $430 now.

The 8.5 Eaton is $410, and I think the 8.2 is about the same. All Eaton prices went up early this year.

I agree with Freddie, unless your going to be at the track a lot or drive it hard by power shifting and the like, lots of burnouts, the 8.2 will live.
I bought all my stuff (for the 8.2) from Freddie not all that long ago and haven't looked back.
Eric68 was running one for quite a while (1.5 60's, and low 11's high 10's) but moved on to an 8.5.

I do not plan on racing. I am building it more for a street "driver". I am looking at putting a 350hp crate motor in it, with a 5 speed tranny.

National Drivetrain in Chicago (800) 507-4327. Purchased in Sept:

Motive Gears 8.2" 10 bolt 3.08 28 spline ring/pinion $250
Differential install kit $61.45
Eaton posi 8.2" 10 bolt 3.08 $375

"Street driver" in progress....