Back On Her Rear Again!

Well I finally got around to ordering those shocks and while I need to do another parts order, I am on my way. The Mistress is sitting on her rear axle and old tires again! It all went pretty smooth and I have my friend Doug to thank for the spring pivot bolts! The engine needs to be cleaned up and painted and a tune up done to it and then to tear into the front axle which is now sitting on the jack stands where the 44 was not too long ago. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the donor engine is well enough to run as the PO had stated and will be good enough with just a carb rebuild and tuneup stuff done to it. I plan on removing the pan when I have the engine cradled back in the frame and checking out the pickup screen. And I can always do a ring job in chassis if need be, so here's to hoping!

I found a cheap source for shocks, $10 each for Monroes! Its honestly held me up not being able to afford $100 for a complete set. I've bought parts for my TJ and the Lib from RockAuto.com before but never thought to check them as an alternative source for the Mistress. They actually have alot of stuff and I was pleasantly surprised by the price for the shocks. Now to scrape up the $40 for these, paint and scrape the backing plates and I'm getting closer to a rolling chassis!

Axle Shafts Pulled

Little more done today. Pulled the axle shafts using the old using the drum as a slide hammer technique. The shafts, bearings and cups look pretty good, so clean them up a bit and repack them and stuff them back in.



Managed to loosen the pinion shaft nut with a bit of ingenuity and an old leaf spring, but still confused as to whether the pinion shaft oil seal is there? Is this it pressed in? The only things that came off were the nut, (missing a washer...), the pinion yoke and the dust shield which sits on there very loosely and rattles around.

More accomplishments

More progress and more questions! I splurged on a hub puller as I decided that I'd need it in the future as well so oh well, about one third of my parts budget but its a nice made in the USA hunk of metal. I pulled the hubs and it was amazingly easy. I had heard horror stories of them being a bear to remove and practically exploding off the axle shafts when they released all that stuck on energy. Mine just walked right off. I haven't tried removing them yet, but I'm assuming that the keys in them just pop right out?


In the process and...


Off!

I also notice that both hubs have grooves and a ridge that form tapers in them. Is that normal or is this wear? the axle shafts are supposed to be tapered and hoping that the hubs do too.


The driver's side had alot of old gear oil/grease that had dried to a molasses like consistency just on the axle castle nut and tip of the axle shaft. There was also evidence of a slow leak that attracted a ton of brake dust that collected on the backing plate. On the up side, the bolts holding the backing plate on were nicely lubricated and came off easily unlike the passenger side. As I got first the passenger and then driver's side off I noticed two things.
One: there were no lock washers on the bolts holding the backing plate on on the L side unlike the opposite side and
Two: that the order of the attaching hardware was different on each side. L. side= thin conical dust shield, thicker cone shape plate, flat plate, brake backing plate and three shims. The R side where there was no evidence of a leak had thin conical dust shield, then brake backing plate, THEN thicker cone shaped plate, flat plate and three shims. I'm guessing that someone took it apart and replaced things incorrectly? Just tried checking an old service manual and Moses Ludel's book but does anyone have the correct order?
And do I have to pull the axle shafts to get to those first bearings, the ones that are lubricated by the grease fittings on the outside of the axle tube?



Also took a pic of the finished radiator and fan guard. No, its not painted white, just the glare...





Finished assembling the last one of Nate's springs (thanks again Nate!) and ground down and painted the spring perches.

And this is what we have left...

A Bit Of Spring Work

FINALLY got some work done today! Worked on Nate's springs (thanks again, Nate! :D) pulling them apart and wire wheeling them down for paint.







I had already used some epoxy putty on the radiator bracket and it seems to be holding up pretty well. I need to fill in some of the gaps once I get more putty. I used one tube on it and had to work pretty quickly to get it all in place before it set up, so that's why I have places to fill in yet.



And did some more grinding and cleaning on the rear axle. I'm going to fill in that odd sheet metal screw hole and the aforementioned rosette weld pinholes with some epoxy and then get to painting. I still have to yank out the old shoes and clean up the backing plates.
Also need to ask about the rear output. There's a circular "collar" that is loose and gear oil has leaked out of the output shaft area when the axle wasn't supported on the jackstands and hung straight down so I wasn't too worried about it, but does this mean I need to replace the seal?



The current state of the mess... uh, I mean, Mistress and the barn that needs a spring cleaning badly! :D
So I'm that much closer to getting a rolling chassis done. Just need to pick up some small parts from Walck's and diagnose the condition of the front axle. How do you determine the shape of kingpin bearings? Do the old 12 and 6 o clock grab and pull to see if there's any slop like ball joints?

Another Day...

Little bit done today. I gotta start taking some photos soon! Tested out some JB Weld that I picked but it wasn't thick enough to work well with filling the cracks ion the steering wheel. It had more of a pasted consistency and I need to find something that's a putty. But I did use use it to try to plug up what may develop into leaks from where the PO had screwed in three sheet metal screws into the fins trying to hold on the side bracket. Got the bracket and radiator sandpapered and cleaned up while I try to figure out if I can putty it on or try soldering it.
Painted the rear springs and put them back together, did a little more degreasing and wire wheeling on the rear axle, painted the cover for laughs... like I said not alot but it was something. Not alot more can be done until I order parts.

Well I found a couple of hours to start a few things out in the barn. Managed to drive out the last of the bushings from the rear springs...now I just have to wait for warmer weather to paint!
Also started to clean up the rear axle with the grinder and a wire cup brush... found the 43/8= 5.38 gear ratio tag too and a few things that I cannot figure out.



Anyone know what the screw is threaded into the axletube on the far left? Just curious about the band too that is on the far right near the joining of the tube and the diff housing.







So, here I am clearing away clods of 50 year old grease and dirt and these bubbles appear. One is on the top right and the other is on the bottom left of the diff housing. They look like a bubble in a weld that the grinding uncovered. I don't think that they go through the housing. At least I don't think that I could have done it with over zealous grinding.
Lots more cleaning to go before I paint. My 5 year old was fascinated with watching the gears turn when I removed the cover. He thought that they were really "cool!"
In other news, the front springs are toast... after wasting time on them and deciding to just try and replace the hardware both sides of the main leaf eye holes splintered off as the original bushings had worn completely through and the shackles continued eating into the leaf... Luckily a friend of mine is giving me his old springs! Got a crazy expensive quote for re-arching... 135 bucks... apiece! may as well buy new springs at that rate!
I also finished painting the draw bar in that spell of nice 60 weather we had a few weeks back and I'm hoping for a rolling (driveable?) chassis by this fall... keep your fingers crossed!