Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Day 3 "The Great Journey moving along"

Happy New Year to one and all !

Garage on got to 48* today, not bad, since it was 18* when I turned the heat on. Started at 4 PM , lots of other errands to do.

Stopped at 6 pm about 2 hours work today. After all it is NYE.

Today the goal was to remove the strut rod bracket intact. The rods are attached to the TA and the strut mount must be knocked out of the TA in order to release rod from spindle assembly.

I had also hoped to remove the snub bushing which would have allowed me to disconnect the drive shaft. That was not to happen , ran out of time and I could not figure out how to attach a wrench to the bolt that hold the snub bushing, The nut is easy to get to, but without locking the top of bolt , it will just spin.

I will just crack nut or cut it of and pull down snub bracket. Disconnect drive shaft and then the FUN Begins. See that Crow Bar, Soon we do the " Sombrero Dance"

Cheers Jack

We may need this soon !

Home made "Shock Knocker "




Rod now free of spindle assembly





The "Sombrero Dance " Tomorrow if I can move....

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Day 4 of " The Great Journey " Rear End / Sombrero Removal


Happy New Years to All :woohoo:


Today's Goal was to finish the job of removing the rear end from the car. 2 hours time 1 hour work 1 hour crawl time ...lol


I needed to remove the cross member which requires the removal of the Sombrero Bushings / Nuts the hold cross member to frame. After 48 years of driving in the North East on salted roads and 300,000 miles , you would think all the nuts, bolts and rust would cause a great deal of problems.


Well , not one bolt or nut broke so far. The cross member to my disappointment , did not pop off. The bolts came right out


( I left them in when prying)


The cross member just came off with gentle pressure of the pry bar.


The most difficult part was getting the u-joint nuts off . The rear is locked up and you can not rotate the drive shaft. After dropping the rear down with cross member , I was able to do each nut .


The snuber bracket bushing was difficult because it is hard to put a wrench on the top bolt while you undo the bottom nut.


Tomorrow I will take the rear off the carrier and see what is left of the insides....


The job took 2 hours today 1 hour of work and 1 hour of crawl time on my back. It has taken me about 10-12 hours to get to this stage .


With a lift that time would be about 3-4 hours . Stay tuned for the opening of the rear tomorrow !
Gentle prying , cross member came right off - bolts came right out




Cross member now free - both sides came off - no problems





Rear supported by jack as work on drive shaft u-joints

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Here is what it looks like

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

[URL=http://s633.photobucket.com/user/jackfit87/media/Restoration%202015/Day%205%20Cross%20member%20rear%20open/7Day5_zps76be985a.jpg.html][/

[Patrick B.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Did the head of the pinion gear break off?

[Harry S.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

I had one just like that........ The fix was to replace all the internal parts.... A bit expensive.

[Timothy B.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Great job Jack!

At least now you know where the silver came from. :-) Send it to Gary and let him fix it, in the meantime you have all the other associated parts to get ready to reinstall.


Going back together will be much easier, great winter project.

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Hi Timothy,

Now that you mentioned putting it back together, the snubber bracket / bushing. How do you suggest the order of reassembly. Holding the top bolt head while tightening the nut ? , You have to put the bracket on first so the bolts don't hit fiberglass pans.

Thanks

Jack

[Timothy B.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Jack,

Yes you have it right, install the differential front mount bracket then hold the top bolt head while you tighten the nut from the bottom. You can get a wrench there, I believe the bolt should be grade eight. Make sure the u-joint bolts are sprayed down so the nuts will spin up easy because there is not much wrench room up there for that either.

The 63 to early 65 design had the front bolts removable so the bracket could be swung down to access the u-joint bolts but those bolts hammered on the bracket if they got loose so the design was changed to the two long bolts like what you have.

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Guess what? Last night I went out to garage to take a look at the struts, and what do I see? The bent one is 1 1/4 & the straight one is 1 3/8


Now it all comes back to me, in 1971 I had the rear changed, the mechanic must have broken the original rod and put in the later design.


Should I replace the old bent original with the later one (stronger ?)
For a matched pair?


Pictures later


Jack

[Gary R.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Hi Jack
I wouldn't say the 1-3/8 are stronger, at least I have not either size break. If it's not bent too bad you can bend it back on a press without much effort. The bushings should be replaced so it might be easy to pick up new assemblies. Using the 1-3/8 in the older supports sometimes causes a bind in extreme travel. I usually grind the inside edge of the "step" to allow some clearance. They are not "balanced" you can use either size or mixed size without issue. When straight I replace the bushings, when bent bad I replace the whole part.

[Jeff P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

I just received my restored Diff back from Gary and I must say its a piece of art.image.jpg

[Jack P.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

Two new c-2 rods with bushings installed seems the way to go. Most of car is stock, don't want to be called Bubba by my son!

jack

[Jack P.]

Update 2015 Restoration

Gary Ramadei is working on the rear end and I should have it by late April. (Great Rear End Man) lol


What started as a stuck plug has changed into a Under body restoration.


First the plug would not come out, then the rear end blew, and before you know it project creep.


Well I finally got the plug out. I had to remove the welded muffler pipe and header pipe, and after many failed attempts, I used an Irwin stripped bolt remover socket. I heated the plug, I put penetrate on it, I froze it.


I had to remove the pipe to be able to hammer on the socket, once on, I could use the long ratchet to remove it. Out it came see photos.


The #4 body mount bolt is the one that has me working hard.


Got the parts out of car





Got the tranny plug out after a lot of work

[Harry S.]

Re: Rear End lets go after only 300,000 miles !

We all understand project creep. Creep = $$$$.

Anyway, Gary will presenting at a Judging School for the Northeast Chapter next Sunday. May be a long ride for you but a worthwhile class.