My 76/77 Buick regals going to the darkside!

Spring pads tacked on.

 

Conversion u joint install is 1/2 way complete

 

4 bolts and 2 brake line nuts is all that is between me and the complete removal of the old 10 bolt. Shocks, springs and emergency brakes are disconnected.

 

And there we go! Out with the old, in with the new. I will set the pinion tomorrow, weld in the brackets and remove it again for paint. Wednesday we should be rolling with positraction, 3.73 gears and rear disc brakes!

 

Awesome

 

Thanks. I am getting beyond excited.

 

Well, today did not go as planned but for good reasons.
First, I attended a 21 gun salute memorial for my uncle. That took all morning.
Second, I visited a friend of the family that is fighting colon and liver cancer. That was another few hours.

That said, I did manage to get some major things accomplished.

1. I made some spacers for my tranny crossmember. I never liked the angle that my motor sat so that is now fixed. I had to take a powerful rivet gun to beat the hell out of the areas of the tunnel that would need more driveshaft clearance. I accidentally tore the metal using the beast but that can be fixed.
2. I set the pinion angle perfectly matched to the tranny and centered the axle within a 1/16 tolerance. This allowed me to cut my pre-made upper brackets to size. I then tacked the upper and lower brackets perfectly symmetrically.
3. I took the axle back out and did 80% of the welding before it got dark and after I got tired.

Tomorrow, I will make the shock mounts and gussets where needed. Hopefully I can get the axle painted too. I am gonna get lots of sleep so I can hit it hard.

Can anyone spot my little mistake that will have to be accepted?

 

Well, today did not go as planned but for good reasons.
First, I attended a 21 gun salute memorial for my uncle. That took all morning.
Second, I visited a friend of the family that is fighting colon and liver cancer. That was another few hours.

That said, I did manage to get some major things accomplished.

1. I made some spacers for my tranny crossmember. I never liked the angle that my motor sat so that is now fixed. I had to take a powerful rivet gun to beat the hell out of the areas of the tunnel that would need more driveshaft clearance. I accidentally tore the metal using the beast but that can be fixed.
2. I set the pinion angle perfectly matched to the tranny and centered the axle within a 1/16 tolerance. This allowed me to cut my pre-made upper brackets to size. I then tacked the upper and lower brackets perfectly symmetrically.
3. I took the axle back out and did 80% of the welding before it got dark and after I got tired.

Tomorrow, I will make the shock mounts and gussets where needed. Hopefully I can get the axle painted too. I am gonna get lots of sleep so I can hit it hard.

Can anyone spot my little mistake that will have to be accepted?

 

Moving to phase 2 of this axle. I am going to blast and paint with either epoxy or chassis saver. I also fixed my screwup mentioned in the previous post. Did anyone ever find out what it was?

 

Used Chassis saver after much debate. I chose it because it works, it is rugged enough and mostly because I can apply it with a brush. If rust ever pops through, I will spot blast and reapply the coating.

I did however break the #1 rule of using coatings like these. That mistake forced me to have to exfoliate my skin with 80 grit sand paper. Always use gloves with these coatings. They absolutely do not wash off. The only way that I know of to remove from skin is sanding it off.

 

Well, I did not accomplish my goal as planned but I am pretty much done.
I adapted the brake lines to the rear end with the factory gm rubber line.

All that is left is-

1. bolt the rear in
2. bleed the brakes
3. Install the axles
4. fill the differential
5. swap the driveshaft u joint
6. install the driveshaft
7. Put the rotors, calipers and pads on
8. Bolt on the wheels with adapters
9. Re-program ecu/tcm for the new gear ratio
10. LET HER RIP!!!

 

So, are you going to fill us in on your "mistake"? Been enjoying your build thread.

 

Yup. The upper brackets were incorrectly cut as two left side brackets instead of mirrored left and right. I had to extend the tab on the right side to make them symmetrical.

 

Good job no I didn’t see the mistake. Yes Por-15 paint also stays on your skin and if yo keep trying to clean it the skin will leak off before the paint will...

 

I just read this whole thread. So cool!

 

I have been scrubbing like crazy and still cannot get it off my skin. I used a nail file to sand it off the top of my fingernails and I dont think it will ever come off the bottom of the nail!

 

I am glad you are enjoying. I am working hard on this thing and documenting the whole process with a crapload of photos so that not only will I have a record of everything for future maintenance but hopefully to help someone else that may try to do the same thing.

 

For the record, Anyone that is wondering why I did not blast and paint the rusty brake brackets and calipers, I am planning to replace all of it with new stuff. For now, there is no sense in refinishing the parts. I just want to use up the stuff that came with the axle since it was in what looked to be good condition. One set of pads looked pretty new



EDIT__ After typing this last post, I felt bad about the unsightly rust so I went out and just sprayed some VHT ceramic black paint that I will never use on the rust. This way it does not stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Note to self, Next time you sandblast axle parts, Be sure that your axle tubes seals are still in place.

Looks like I am replacing my axle bearings due to grit in the bearings. Damnit!!

 

If it makes you feel any better I had a rear end blasted fully assembled including seals and it still ended up with grits inside it. Disassembled and cleaned till it was good.