I decided today to spend some time working on the car. I really want to get it to the point where it is somewhat operational. Once I get to the point where I can move it under it's own power from the back yard to the garage, it won't be such a big deal to work on it.
Working on it today was a big deal. Since the rear tires de-laminated last summer, it hasn't been roll-able. So today, I had to work in the dirt, in the sun (sort of), in the heat, in the back yard. Before mentioning anything about the car, I should draw attention to this:
It was 113 degrees at 5:30. The high today was 117 degrees. I'm sure it was 117 about the time I was yanking and struggling to remove the old 4-lug Maverick axle from the car. I should point out that air temperatures are measured in the shade, over natural terrain (open desert-type terrain), not in the direct sunlight, next to a wall that is radiating at 130 degrees, or with an aluminum jon boat nearby reflecting sunlight and heat.
Needless to say, it was HOT today. I put up my awning, and had a mist system running the whole time. I also had to go sit in the garage from time to time, with the 60,000 BTU swamp cooler blowing on me.
Anyways, so here's what I did:
I removed the old 4-lug, drum brake, 2.47 gear ratio axle.
To do that, I also had to remove the old gas tank, which I was meaning to do since it has a fist-sized hole rusted in the bottom.
With the gas tank out, I was able to put the frame up on jack stands, and start wrestling with the U-bolts, and ripping the axle out. It was a lot of work to remove the factory axle, as I didn't want to take the rear shackles apart. The shackles are set up similar to some older 4x4's, where one side of the shackle has the bolts welded in. To remove these, I would have had to pop the shackles all the way out of the frame- that seemed like a lot of work. Instead, I opted to grunt the old axle up and over the leaf springs, and remove it from the side. The new axle went into place the same way:
For now (I had to quit and go jump in the pool) I have the axle hanging from the springs. I'll put the U-bolts back on tomorrow morning. I now have a 3.55 geared, 5-lug axle with modern disc brakes. All that will be left to do is de-rust the discs (ATF eats rust), mount those, the calipers, and find a set of cheap roller tires. I don't think the old ones are good anymore:
The next step will be to mount the transmission in the car. I'm getting close (item wise, not time wise) to being able to move the car under it's own power.
