I have a 1980 Camaro RS with a 350 in it. The rear gears in it are 2.73's. I was wondering which would be cheaper, to keep the rear and put new gears in it or find a junk yard rear with 3.73's. What vehicles would have them and would they be a complete bolt on. Also does anyone know any book or web sites the tell you how to work on a rear end?  

It's a whole lot easier to swap a whole rear.  I think the z 28 may have the gears you want and it's a direct bolt in maybe an hour at the salvage yard and a hour and a half at home and your done.  I can't recomend a good site or book sory about that.  But with the crush sleave cost of cogs or gears chance of leaking your way better off just grabing a used one with the gears you want.  Novas are also a direct bolt in although I'm not sure which years.  Good Luck.  

A link was posted on the 80 Z-28 thread that has good info on the different gear ratios available in 2nd generation Camaros.  Here is the link:

http://www.nastyz28.com/

3.73 posi was stock with the 4spd 77-79.  You can check out the other years for more possibilities.

Tom

Personally, I'd ask yourself how fast you want to go with this car.  The rearend in our cars ( i've got an 81 ) is fairly tough, but isn't bulletproof like a 12 bolt.  There's a good thread on another site i'm on, I see it's already been mentioned.  http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/Forum23/HTML/002851.html

My philosophy, if you're going to do it once go all the way on it.  Moser axles and aftermarket stuff isn't cheap, but if you want to run 11's it's the way to go.  If you need any other info, do a search on the site.  There's everything from how to tune tunnel rams on there, to interior restoration.  I spend most of my time in the BS topic and High performance, there's a lot you can learn on that site.

I drive the car on the weekends only. I just want a little more perfromance, its fun peeling out and driving fast. I dont plan doing 150mph, but I might go to the track a few times just for fun. I dont want my rear end to cost me more than my car. I just need a cheap simple solution. Thanks for link to the web site.  

It would be cheaper to swap to a junkyard rearend, and also easier.  Finding a rearend with that gear will be like finding a needle in a haystack in a 2nd Gen Camaro in a junkyard.  Check your RPO codes as you're hunting, listings are available with a Google search.  RPO G80 is something you want to see (POSITRACTION).

If you change the gears, you'll need a spacer for the ring gear.  That or the special thick ring gear for the 2-series carrier.

Do you have Posi, or a Locker or Limited-Slip of some type?  If not, they're well worth the investment.