12 Bolt

[oldskydog]

Has anybody re-tubed or shortened a 12 bolt?
I picked up a 68 full size 12 bolt posi sunday at the swapmeet and was wondering if anyone had done this to convert the longer axle to a shorter one to fit a Camaro or Chevy II. The big problem seems to be the necked down ends where the outer bearing housings/backing plate mounting flanges are welded. I know some cut them off and replace with Furd ends and bearings, but I would rather not do that cuz then you end up with Furd brakes.
What I'm thinking is drilling out the rosette welds in the housing, heating the casting and inserting dry ice inside to pull the whole tube out then cut them on the inner ends to length and reinserting in the center housing. Any ideas?

 

[RCampbell]

I did one years ago and put Olds bearings on the ends...worked well...as I recall the chevy brakes fit....but maybe that's just the mist of time. It was on a race car and I do remember that in the final version it had disc brakes...maybe I put discs on from the get go...been too long. Russ

 

[bubbletop1961]

I used a 67 full size 12 bolt in my 61. I used new moser housing ends on it. I think they used a mopar bearing. But they were made/drilled to still use the stock Chevy 67 drum brakes. Give them a call. They were good to deal with and nice products.

 

[jr.W]

I used a 67 full size 12 bolt in my 61. I used new moser housing ends on it. I think they used a mopar bearing. But they were made/drilled to still use the stock Chevy 67 drum brakes. Give them a call. They were good to deal with and nice products.

I did this also. Yes give them a call.

 

[Bugsy]

I did one many years ago. what i did was take the 12 bolt out of a 70 wagon cut the ends off cause the wagon used bigger bearings & took the ends off an old 10 bolt and used a set of chevy II 12 bolt axles that way i could use the drums and hardware. Bugs

 

[SSpev]

If you had furd ends I would think you can drill out the backing plates to fit.
I plan to change the ends on mine. My brother did his 10 bolt.
If you order the ends I would expect, like other said, you should be able to get needed parts. I'm sure someone else has tried before. Good luck.

how much was the rear???

 

[oldskydog]

If you had furd ends I would think you can drill out the backing plates to fit.
I plan to change the ends on mine. My brother did his 10 bolt.
If you order the ends I would expect, like other said, you should be able to get needed parts. I'm sure someone else has tried before. Good luck.

how much was the rear???

$200 for a 2.73 12 bolt posi rear. Planning to cut it down for the 67 Nova. Won't need overdrive with that ratio, but will need a deeper 1st gear as in an M-20. Looks like Moser has the parts.