this look's like a lot of fun. Had some noise coming from the posi last summer so I decided to take the rear out and have it rebuild't. It is 37 years old and probably could use it. Anyone have any tricks up their sleeves on how to proceed.

Jack,
If this is your first time the best thing is to get a repair manual. Also bag and tag everything you take off. Be carefull taking the spring off. Just go slow with a jack releasing pressure off the spring from the shock. Everthing is pretty straight forward as long as you follow the repair manual. You might even get a couple of them because some are not as good as others in regards to pictures and descriptions. Go on E-bay (where I got mine)and get a Corvette assembly manual. It has EVERTHING about the assembly of the Vette. It is the actual assembly sheets used by the factory. It is a exploded pictoral description of each assembly with part numbers.It is well worth the minimal cost. If you want to do anything in the future it is wealth of information.
Scince you are doing the rear end open up the cover. Check for bits of metal in the oil and condition of the ring gear and carrier. The most wear on the carrier is at the left (looking straight into rear)carrier bearing. This is because the ring gear is placing a lot of stress on it.
Probably the single best thing you could do to strengthen a Corvette rear end internals is a billet carrier cap from Toms differentials (Tomsdifferentials.com). I did this to my rear and I am glad I did. It is $60.00. It comes with a large billet steel carrier cap and 1/2" bolts versus the 7/16" stock ones. You want to replace the left one or both for complete strengthing but is not nessesary to do both because the majority of the stress is on the left bearing. I only did the left. You will have to drill out the bolt holes and tap for the larger bolt and set the .001 rock. Toms has a lot of good items for the Vette rear and you might want to check him out if anything just for good info.
Remember do not try to get this project done all at once. If you have a few buddies to give you a hand that would be great. If not you still can do it yourself. Just have a plan of attack and while you have the rear apart you might want to replace any item that can be replaced like bushings,universals,shocks (bilstiens are my favorite) and maybe a new TRW composite spring. You will definatly notice the ride quality.
If you have any questions let me know and I will try to help you out. I enjoy helping any fellow C3'er as much as I can.
Phil

Jack, Been here, done this. One of the main problems with the Vette diff is that the stub axles run against the spider pin. This inturn wears the stub axles down. Mine were just starting to hit the clips that hold them in. This causes the clutch plates to make noise. Phil has the right idea about the factory manual. Ditto about the cover and h/d parts. The March issue of Vette Enth. has a good artile covering the job also. Wait till ya try and get the preload springs back in, a fun job.

Have fun, Dave

Hi All, did this last year, and yes it is tons of fun.

You will find everything well rusted and probably will need to replace many things not considered. I learned the hard way about the cover. I had EVERYTHING back in except the spring....went to tighten this up Very Carefully, and yes, the cover broke.....it was cracked to begin with and the fancy paint job from the rebuilder covered it up.Nothing like tearing everything out again, work is a good thing, but not this kind.

Now that the car is running again, it is very quiet, rides much better, and it is SAFE!

Take your time, work safe, and you will be amazed how much you can do...I replaced everything or rebuilt it...not cheap, but never again I say.

well we found out what the noise was. Took the rear apart and found the spring from the front seal had gone through the gears. We checked the seal in the rear now and it's still there, so it must of been from the one that was replaced, won't use that mechanic again.So while the things apart, complete rebuild is in order. Drive shaft, 1/2 shafts, ring and pinion, up grade posi clutches and springs.

Jack, how's the trailing arms? Most of this stuff is toast on mine with only 73K miles and course 33 years of neglect. Park brakes, wheel bearings, brake lines, spring liner, blah blah.....I could go on, but while yer in there, check it out. I like to do it once, Ha !