I did a search, but to no avail, cause I did not know the correct key words to use. So, here goes a question. On the '78 280 that I am about to buy, there is a whine, or howl coming from the rear of the car (sounds that way from the 25 miles I drove it). It only occurs when my foot comes off the accellerator and the car begins coasting. From what I understand, the rear end is a R200 w/o limited slip.

Is this noise a U-joint going South, or the arrester strap on the pumpkin? Just trying to get an idea of repair costs on this. It is not that bad, just something that I think is indicative of a future problem that I would like to address quickly.

Thanks so much.

Could be the strap, or the bushings are bad do to their age in the mustache bar and other parts as well. If the car only has 53K on it, the bushings still can deteriorate just with age.

The first thing I'd do is to drain and refill the diff and trans, and use a quality lube... perhaps even go with a synthetic. It could be the diff is just a little low and the whine you hear is the lack of lube.....

U-joints are a possibility, but since it's a 280 with the "nom-replaceable" u-joints, it's more than likely not them.... My old 75 280 is going on 29 years with the same u-joints, and the since 1989 it's been a race car......

The chassis had well over 150K on it, before I started racing it....

OK, that is pretty much what I was thinking. Really does sound like the diff is rotating when the load is released causing some biding issues. Bushings were my first thought. As far as the lube goes, every fluid will be drained, flushed (as best I can) and refilled. I don't have a clear idea of how long the stuff has been in there, and I want it out.

smokey my rear end is doin the same thing but worse do you know anything about what the best gears would be to put in when i get a rear end from the pick and pull.

thx

casey