Back in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s the Lucas Family enjoyed traveling the countryside in our American Graffiti 58 Impala to attend the Annual Late Great Chevy Conventions.
At that time, the 58 was equipped with a 348 cuin Engine, 4-spd Manual Transmission and 3.08 Posi-Traction Differential. This driveline worked well by keeping the RPM’s low which resulted in less wear & tear on the driveline and lower road noise when driving all those miles.
Fast forward to 2025, and as we all know the Late Great Chevy Conventions are no longer being held.I decided it was time to return the car back to the 3.36 ratio rear it was originally equipped with from the factory.
Fortunately, Jersey Late Greats member Tom Merring, aka “Doc Reardon”, is quite the expert in restoring 58 – 64 Chevy differentials and built a 3.36 Posi-Traction for my 58 Impala.
Tom has a lift in his shop and we swapped out the rears in a day. The swap went smoothly except for a stubborn passenger side axle bearing. It took quite a bit of mussel to get that axle out, but we did it.
Once the project was complete, I took the car for a test drive. I noticed right away the car had more “Pep”. It also is easier pulling out in 1st gear on a hill. Overall, the car just feels better to drive! A big Thank You goes out to my friend Tom for all his work in making this happen.
Submitted by,
John Lucas
