I'll try to take some pictures while I swap the axle out for the 3.42 posi that's been laying around here for a couple of months now. I located the little air valve that ws missing and today seemed to be a good day to do the swap. I'm planing on installing a new fuel level indicator, and maybe some hijacker shocks too. I had to do some laundry this morning so we're a little behind schedule but I hope to bleed the brakes by tonight, or at the latest tomorrow. The car is jacked up and we're siphoning the fuel out so I can drop the tank and get to the fuel level indicator. I think this will also make access to the axle better. Time is: 11:00 am
I went to autozone this morning after having the laundry going at a different place. According tho their computer I should mix in 4 oz of this posi lube with the gl-5 gear oil. On the posi tube it says I should use the whole thing 7 oz, any experts on this? What about the weight on the gear oiil, ok?
12:40 pmT he tank is now out. I had to cut some of the rubber lines, they were real tight. I've got replacements so no biggie.
The driver's side brake had oil all over it, I guess we're dealing with a broken seal on the axle shaft or some brake component is leaking. I'll have to look into this when things are back in place again.
2.30 pm Axel is out without no major drama. I'm now going to have a closer look at the shocks and decide on the hijackers or not.
I made a quick call to Gabriel to see if the shocks I have are the right kind, they came from a Skylark, but they looked identical to the one's sitting on the Riv next to it. I got like four pages of cars where these shocks would go including Impalas, Skylarks, all Buick wagons and Catalinas, but no Electra/Centurion, I still think we're good to go. They probably haven't got a complete list of all of those cars that seems to be ok. Of course they're used so were taking a chance on this, but for old school's sake we'll do it. The shocks were a bitch to get out, but now it's done and one of the new shocks is in. I just had to come inside for a leak.
4.25 pm.. I can't believe it, I just counted the teeth on the axle that went out. 41 / 12 = 3.41666666666666 I would have just had to swap the carrier over ou: .. I thought something was up when I got this axle put in about 1.5 years ago. The spedometer wasn't working properly, and I was reving 3200 rpm's at 70 mph. I thought it might be 3.08's or something. The first axle I had was 2.93 so I knew it was steeper than that but not 3.42.. ohhh madre mia. ...
I can't believe I pulled an open 3.42 from an Electra by mistake, what's the chance of that? According to http://www.72electra.com/1972 PRODUCTION.htm it's 0.04% = one car in every 2500..............................
6.15 pm I ran out if steam when it started to get dark, cold, and the bulb in the work light went out. I packed everything up and put the replacement axle in place under the car. I'll get back down there tomorrow and dig in. The shocks needs to have the air valve lines drawn and hooked up into this "T" connector. The fuel level indicator needs to be gone though, I still haven't done that. Last but not least the new axle needs to be mouned, which is a bit fiddly..
I had some air shocks, not Gabriels, but the generic equivalent, on the back of my 69 LeSabre back in the day. It took a LOT of air pressure in those to get the back end up even a little bit more than stock. I think I remember having 110 psig in them or so. I've been planning on installing them in my Riv at some point, but I'm sure the Riv outweighs the LeSabre by a chunk, so I'm not sure what good they'll do. Something to try anyway. I was considering installing two separate air systems- one for each shock. That way a person could put a different amount of air pressure in each shock, allowing the ability to preload the passenger side for drag racing. I know air bags are used in conjunction with traditional shocks to do this, and it seems air shocks should work, as well. Cool write up. I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of it.
Hmmm , I was hoping to jack that rear up way high.. guess not, and the lower gears would help me in to the 16's, guess not. I'll rely on the posi for a quicker start, and hope that it will be enough. Last time I went to the track the car was slower than usual, I suspected the timing, but didn't bring the light. I took a look at the timing after that "0" degrees.. Put it back at 6 and the car woke up. I want to get that distributor timed too, I'll just have to give it another try. As regarding keeping different pressure in the rear shocks, sounds like it would work. I'm not sure how much diffrerence it would do to my car though, with a 17.21 being its best time.
that posi will help your rear tires wear more evenly :laugh: :laugh: when you replace those rubber lines that connect the tank (which is a good idea on its own), dont use cheap clamps or you may have some demons popping up in the future. :eek2: the whole project looks like fun.
4.45 pm day 2.. Friday. Didn't get my ass in gear til about twelve today. I exit the side door and come around the back at the house, and there's this girl standing there, hiding. I just look at her and she waves me to her, and I ask what's going on? she asks if I've seen anyone. and is all teary eyed. I say no, and she says she got thrown out of a car by her boyfriend or what ever and now he's looking for her and she ran and hid behind the house. I go out to the front and try to see if someone is around there snooping. I go back and tell her there's no-one there and I ask her where she lives. In east L.A. Well I can take you to a bus stop or the subway but I won't drive to east L.A. She's like ok, but then she speaks to someone on the phone who will pick her up. I then get down to business, axle goes in, a bit of trouble getting the bolts in on the upper control arms, but it's all good. I get the brake lines hooked up again, and I'm about to start figuring out how the air lines for the shocks will run, then it starts to rain. It hardly ever rains here, but today it had to. So now I'm back inside and just taken a shower.
Isn't there an old song about rain in California? I don't feel too sorry for you, it's now up to 5 here for the first time in a couple of days. That's pretty hard on the damsels in distress hiding in bushes. Those Gabriels may provide more lift than my generic equivalents did.
Sat, 6.40 pm day 3, all is hooked up, now it's just bleeding the brakes and getting some air in those shocks. I'm off to IKEA to get some meatballs, the finish line is around the corner..
