I'm going to be in the doghouse for saying this, but I just simply haven't had the time to go any further with the research. (ducks flying tomatoes) :duck:
As a former first Gen V owner and car nut, I definitely feel everyone's (differential) pain, but the shop has been overflowing with business lately and there's little tolerance for a nosy Salesman taking up two lifts to tinker with a V. There's also the slight issue of disassembling a brand new 2009 before selling it to someone so we can experiment- not gonna happen.
Lonestranger's offer is awesome, and it provides one of the pieces to the puzzle: A Gen 1 V. Unfortunately, there's several other pieces:
-Someone is going to have to be the person to order and pay for the parts, then deal with their car being down for an unknown amount of time while everything gets figured out. There will be speedbumps and unforseen parts needed-
that you can count on with any project like this.
-Work will need to be done to the upper spring mount. How much, I don't know (and neither does my guy at GM). More parts may need to be bought or made at that point of the install
-The axles probably can't get made until someone has one of each (old and new), in hand to provide to the axle builder. I don't know if Luke ever nailed someone down to do that part.
-Ditto on the driveshaft. Now that this has been brought back to the front of my brain (thanks guys), I'll see on Monday if the Parts computer lists the dimensions for the driveshaft. I'd bet just about anything it's different.
Quite frankly, it's more of a job for a fabricator/speed shop than a Dealer. Most Service Managers won't let a Tech ignore customer/warranty work long enough to devote real time to this project, and if they did it would be at Dealer shop rates

ohnoes

.
I'll continue to do what I can on my end to gather info. Since the Parts guys shoo me away when I hang out there too long, Luke can come through with the part numbers and prices (like always), but I suspect that the final project will be done either at a speed shop or by a Dealer mechanic after hours (which means the car will be down for a while).
Boy, that sounds awfully negative when I go back and read it. :lol: There's just still a lot of question marks that won't be answered until someone bites the bullet and says
"I'm going to be a guinea pig, and it's going to cost some money and time".