INGLORIOUS UNDERPININGS

Greetings!

Sooner or later I was going to have to crawl under Gary's coupe to relieve the original rear axle from active duty. As I mentioned in an earlier post; the car was manufactured with an enclosed driveline and as you can see by the photo, it's permanently attached to the axle. 

It was a little awkward sliding it out from its perch for the last 60+ years and past the jack stands that are the only things keeping the car body from resting on the garage floor. 

Please ignore all the paraphernalia on the floor. I leave things laying around so that I can find my way in the dark.

The emergency brake cable is anchored to the brake backing plate and to the brake actuating lever inside the drum. After removing it and disconnecting the brake fluid line it was a relatively simple matter of removing the U-bolts that clamped the axle to the rear springs, disconnecting the front shackle bolts and the axle was then ready to slide out. I placed a 2X4 on the floor beneath the front of the driveshaft and when I pulled the axle back slightly it fell from its perch on the trans crossmember into the 2X4. I didn't want it to be damaged because my father-in-law, Crusty Chris, had spoken for it. He's got a couple of projects that need the original parts. 

Speaking of original; I removed the steering column earlier this week and have the entire assembly leaning against the wall in the shop. If anybody is interested in buying it please comment. I'm sure Gary would like to sell as many of the take-out components as possible, and they're clean and in very good condition.

Gary wisely chose a "4-on-the-floor" transmission to make this nostalgic hot rod fun to drive so I took the good-running unit that was recently removed from the '79 El Camino and cleaned it up for him. 

It took a couple of hours to scrape & wash it, along with the floor shift linkage, to make it look new again. I decided to do this on my own time off the clock. I figured that since I was selling the equipment to Gary I needed to sell it in good, clean serviceable condition. That's what I'd have to do if I was selling it at a swap meet or on Craigslist. Gary's coming over soon to look things over and among the options he'll select is whether or not to paint the engine and transmission, and his color choice. 

I chose to take a picture of the linkage before disassembling it for the parts cleaner bucket. I wanted to be sure it went back together properly.

It's all set now to be bolted to one of my shop engines so I can mock up the whole drivetrain and measure the length needed for the driveshaft. I've selected a rear axle from a '78 Camaro that has been in my yard getting properly "seasoned". The Camaro unit is an inch and a half wider than the stocker. This means that Gary's wheels will each be 3/4" closer to the outside of the fenderwell, which should look great! I just need to clean and paint it and install new brakes before I can fit it up under the little coupe.

Enough disassembly. The fun stuff is coming up next!

Doug