I want to transfer alot of the suspension from a 93 up T/A to an 81 El Camino and was wondering how hard all this would be. I want to get the rear axle assembly, rear disk brakes, rear sway bar, front upper and lower control arms, front brakes, tie rods, and spindles.

The T/A parts have some real advantages oover the early El Camino parts and would be nice to swap IF they'd fit. Unfortunately, I've read your list a couple times and can't find anything that will fit. The rear end is not even going to be close. Just look at where the four mounting arms go on the Camino and you will find zero places for them on the T/A. The disc brakes take an entirely different mounting bracket and the list goes on. Someone else may know of something that will fit here, but in my experience, the answer is no. Want rear discs? Call Baer Brakes and get the 1LE camaro package for the g-body. They even come with e-brake cables.

About the only thing you could use is the brakes but that does require some work. I'm currently doing LS1 rear brakes http://www.thirdgen.org/ls1reardisc on my Elky. The fronts you would need to make a bracket and cut the spindle. Or you might see if Ed makes one http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/taramiller72/my_photos

Well the main thing i want is the axle. The mounting points are not the problem. I dont want to narrow the axle. What i want out of it is a reliable posi and gears that arent too steep. I believe t/as came with a 3.42 in them. that sounds about right for me. also I will only have about $150 to do this with. If you have any other ideas get back to me.

I'm not sure what the width of a T/A rearend is or if it would even fit without being shortened, which by the way if it did would mean shorter axles too and that alone is going to cost more than $150 for the axles alone. Then you have to figure in the cost of removing the suspension brackets from your 7.5" rearend and having them welded to the T/A rearend. By the time your done, it's gonna cost more than if you find yourself a used 8.5" rearend (which is a bolt in swap) and then having your driveshaft shortened. The 8.5" is much stronger than the T/A rear or the rear in your Elky now. You need to evaluate your suspension plans or you better have a big wad of cash in your pocket that your willing to throw away with no real gain. Figure on adding another 0 to that $150 too just for the rearend work. An 8.5" rear will cost between $600(low) to $1200(high) depending on condition and/or internal modifications. The front suspension can be improved upon using aftermarket parts and going with larger disc brakes, again adapting the T/A front suspension will be of no real improvement and will cost a lot (got another wad of cash in that other pocket?) Use the search function and find past posts about suspension improvements and rearend improvements. If you already own the 93 T/A, sell it off and use the money toward the right parts.

On my 79 Monta Carlo I did a gear swap. I did a 3:08 gear. As I remember, as this was a long time ago, the 3:08 was it on that carrier. Is it not possible to change to a different carrier, a posi and the get the 3:42 gear he wants?
Then I did my 12 bolt in my '69 I bought every thing I needed to upgrade to a posi and a gear change for about $600. I went through Randy's Ring and Pinion.
Seems this option would make more sense.
Mike