Does anybody know what rear diff likely came in a 61 4 door Phoenix with a 318?

8-3/4

The 'green' bearing kit is listed for 65 and newer-any idea what the differences are or if anybody offers one for the older rear? Thanks in advance for any input...

Because the older rears had the stub hubs.Dr Diff has a kit to swap to new style drums and axles.Most just use a later rear end.Rocky

Thanks Rocky!

Why do you want to change from the original taper bearings?

The car belongs to a guy that was referred to me by another enthusiast who knows I'm into Mopars. He came into my work looking for an exploded view of his rear and I have (had) all the fiche back into the early 60's. Little did I know the fiche had been ruined in a big flood we had 3 years ago and I never took it out to look at or clean since then. I admittedly know little or nothing about the earlier years and was just trying to find him some information.

The original design taper roller bearing is superior to the Green ball bearing, the only logical reason to change to the Green bearing is when doing a disc brake swap.

I'm currently restoring the rear end in my 57 Plymouth (same rear as your 61). John Krunkel is right, the stock bearings are great, if bad or rusty just replace them with oem replacements. Tappered axle rears get a bad rap for having the drums you have to use a puller to remove, it's a pain but with the correct tools is a breeze. When I did mine the hardest part for me was the learning curve in pulling the brake drums off of the tapered axle rear, they are usually tight and stubborn to come off. I learned the hard way that you need to use the correct puller to remove them, if you do it's a piece of cake. Use the Les Fairbanks puller....PERIOD! You have to pull evenly on all 5 lugs or the drum will bind, I used a 3 leg/lug puller the first time, the drum came off but it required a sledge hammer and was VERY difficult, not good on the drums or axles.

Fairbanks Puller

Great info-Thanks guys!

Also, if you need to do the brakes, keep your old shoes, some of them are obsolete and unavailable but you can get the originals re-lined as long as there are still pads left with no bare metal showing from wear through, I had mine done at NAPA.