Reply To: High Speed Rear End Gears poll

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

In December 2007, myself and another PAS member bought gearsets for our 1931 and 1932 eights from the man currently listed in the PAS parts and service directory. I will let the owner of the 1932 to identify himself and comment about his negative outcome if he chooses. My gearset had a date code of 0108 (no serial number).

Starting last winter, I attempted to install the gears myself and was unable to get an acceptable wear pattern. My local machinist/mechanic friend with 30+ years of experience was also unable to get an acceptable pattern. We got the best pattern we could and installed the assembly back in the car. It was quiet under load, but not under a non-load condition. The housing was removed and the seller was contacted. He recommended a professional mechanic/PAS member in Michigan that has installed 100+ gearsets for classic cars. I then took my assembly to the Michigan professional for him to setup the gears. His first attempt yielded the identical unacceptable wear pattern/result that I had. The gears were then returned to the seller for re-lapping. When the re-lapped gears were returned, the professional was still not able to properly setup the gears. It was then suggested by the seller that something must be wrong with my housing. I immediately dismissed this possibility, and made arrangements to get a refund for the purchase price of the gears (last month).

I am out approximately $1,000 of out-of-pocket expenses and have spent in excess of 50+ hours of my labor to end up with my original gears back in my car. My Pierce has also been down for the season with the exception of the past two weeks.

While the PAS message board is GREAT, it is a somewhat limited forum for the entire membership. I certainly do not want any other Pierce owner to run into a problem with new gears from this seller or to possibly end up with the gears that I returned. PAS board members have been contacted about my situation. It is my hope that the society will take appropriate action to warn members about possible problems.