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...