Now that the engine and transmission were off to the shops,
I focused on the rear end. After much beating and whacking,
I finally got the rear axles pulled.
(thanks to Jason's custom fabricated slide hammer)
Now that the axles were out I could see daylight through the tube.
It was time to pull the "pumpkin" (a.k.a. the differential housing)
The good news, it's the rock solid 9
inch Ford variety
(one of the few Ford parts a Chevy
guy will actually endorse);
the bad news, the previous owner had
set it up with 2.50 ratio
ring and pinion gears. 2.50 gears are
pretty extreme highway
gears, and I'm not looking to do 180
mph in the mile;
I'd rather do 100 mph in the quarter
mile, so I had to add a
new ring and pinion set to my shopping
list.
In addition to the new ring and pinion
(3.50 ratio, good for
street & strip: $200), I opted
for posi-traction; for the 9 inch
Ford, the de facto standard for posi
is the Detroit Locker
third member ($500). Of course, I also
had to get all new
bearings ($150) and pay the guy to
put it all together
and set up the gear lash ($150). After
all was said and done,
I was the proud owner of a $1000 pumpkin.
Ouch.
While I was at it, I also had the outer
axle bearings replaced.
This meant that my rear end was ready
to roll; however,
in physics it is stated that for every
action there is an
equal and opposite reaction. With this
in mind, I moved on
to my next punch list item: the rear
brakes.
Mmmm... brake dust and road grime. Yummy.
After much elbow grease, paint,
and parts hunting:
My rear end was not only ready to roll,
it was ready to stop
(thereby completing the circle of yin
and yang... for my rear end).
While all this was going on,
the prodigal son had returned from
the machine shop...