66 Catalina restoration

[66pontiacguy]

Hello, My name is Phil.

I am hoping to find some advice on restoring my 66 Catalina rear end.  The car has an 8.875 BOP diff and I'm hoping to find some gears for it.  These seem very hard to find, especially up here in western Canada.   The car has a Butler engine and is a wagon, not the usual choice for a hot street car but fun just because of that.

Thankyou for any ideas in advance.

Phil

[Ringo64]

Feel free to ask any questions in our related question forums: https://foreverpontiac.com/forums/forum/12-pontiac-modification-maintenance-and-garage-talk/

We love to see pics too  .

[Frosty]

Hi Phil

I think this Hemmings article is what you are looking for. Let us know if you need anything else.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/b-o-p-rear-axles

 

[64 kiwi boni]

15 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Hi Phil

I think this Hemmings article is what you are looking for. Let us know if you need anything else.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/b-o-p-rear-axles

 

Welcome Phil

we would love to see some pictures of you wagon 👍👍

Great read frosty ! Thanks 👍

Edited April 8, 2022 by 64 kiwi boni

[66pontiacguy]

The Hemmings article is interesting but my rear end is the 8.875 ring gear and seems to have no support or gears available.  Fabcraft used to make the gears and posi but not anymore, or if he can get them it may well take over a year sadly.  I would have liked to retain the original rear end but may have to fabricate a lot and change to a Ford 9 inch.

 

[Frosty]

66pontiacguy - is it possible someone has swapped rear ends on your car? I can’t seem to find record of a 8.8 rear end in a 66 Catalina from the factory. Which might explain why we are having a hard time find parts for it. Can you photograph the rear end stamping when you get the chance. That might help identify the rear end for us.

[66pontiacguy]

The rear end is original, and was in quite a few of the wagons apparently.  Big and strong but now un-supported.

 

[Frosty]

Okay - I will do some more research. I'm not finding any reference to the 8.8 in most of my usual reference matter. That is what is bothering me. I'm wondering if Pontiac snatched that rear end from another divisiion's parts bin for heavy duty wagon use. Again, photos of casting / tag numbers will help.

[Frosty]

I did a quick search on Summit Racing for kicks and grins. They list the 8.875 as the GM 12-bolt. However, it lists a bunch of Richmond Gears fitting the 8.875. Here is my screen shot. So if the 8.875 is more commonly known as the GM 12-bolt, then there is a ton of gear ratio options available for you. So double check your diff case and see if you have 12 bolts.

[66pontiacguy]

No this isn't the chev rear end, quite different.  It has a 10 bolt cover and 12 bolts on the ring gear.  considerably bigger than the chev rear end.