1963 Ford Falcon Build - RestoMod

[jorgezee1]

Thanks for the help, suggestions and compliments!

I started cleaning the housing, I scraped all the crud and grime off, then took it to my local self wash and degreased it with a pressure washer. I also started filing off weld splatter and cleaning up the mating surfaces and I used a 3M green scrub pad with WD40 to clean up the bearing and seal surface. I still have to sand/wire wheel the complete housing, so I hope to get it done by this weekend.









First hiccup:
I got the 3rd member back from the shop. I'm not to happy with the end result, I was told the 3rd member was going to be cleaned and painted black. We had a discussion on the color of black and we ended up with a matte/flat black. In the end the housing was not painted and the housing was just wiped down/cleaned. I mentioned it to him upon inspection when picking it up and he said I don't paint the housing.... Come on now.... I hate conflict so I just shook my head and took it as is. It's not a huge deal but if you say you're going to do something, do it. I think he just wanted to get me in and out the door. So with that said, The diff is setup nice as far as I can tell (I'm not an expert) the pattern looks great. I feel they have the knowledge and experience and If you are local I'm not going to steer you away just because of this. Just have them write down everything they will do on paper, so you don't end up a bit unsatisfied with the outcome, like I did.

I'll get better pics:

[wfo guy]

" I hate conflict so I just shook my head and took it as is."
I understand completely. For a lot of us old guys, that's the reason we do all our own work. We're only mad at 1 person. Keep plugging. It will be good.

[Munssey]

Ah progress... it feels good, right?!

Coming along nicely. What's next on the to-do?

[jorgezee1]

Ah progress... it feels good, right?!

Coming along nicely. What's next on the to-do?

Yes it does. Next I will tackle the front suspension and brakes. I also want to paint the underside, but I think I may have to wait. I don't want start pulling off the exhaust and other parts just yet. I want to get the rearend back in the car and check the ride height. I want to lower it 1 1/2 - 2" from where it was when we got the car. With new leafs I think it's going to raise it up even more. I will test lowering it with wood blocks, when I get the height I like I'll order some aluminum blocks or take the leafs to a shop and have them re-arched.

I found a local place that will do it for 140.00, I will considering this if I have to go with a 2"+ block. I read it's not good to run more than a 2" lowering block.

http://www.deaverspring.com/

[jorgezee1]

Update:

I just received the new axles. I ordered the Axles from a local shop that was getting me Tom's axles, but in the end they did not have something that would work and recommended custom ordering a set. Since I was now going to custom order them I decided to do this myself. I contacted Quick Performance (the company I bought my tru trac and gear set from) and provided them all the measurements for the axles. I feel I got a good deal, 300 shipped for a set of Axles, bearings, retainers and seals. The axles are Yukon custom axles machined in house by Quick Performance. For the power this car will be making these will work great.

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

Great project. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

[jorgezee1]

I ran into an issue last night.

Looks like my stock axles maybe bent, I slid them into the empty housing and found out when I spin them there is a slight visual wobble. So unless this is normal I will have to get these fixed or buy new axles. The part I'm upset about is the new bearing were installed on them. I thought the guys at sutton checked them, since I asked. Thinking they would was my issue here, another chalk up to getting me in and out the door. I will shoot a short video to display the issue and test procedure. If you have any thoughts on this please feel free to comment. Seems I can get a new pair of axles for 300.00 - 350.00. Can I uninstall the new bearings and reuse them? I have a press and I was looking into buying a bearing splitter, will this work? or do I need to get new bearings?

[wfo guy]

If the center section isn't installed, the axles will wobble all over the place. You have to have something to center the spline end for that method. The real way of checking axles is to put them in a lathe on centers. I think you're ok .

[jorgezee1]

Here is a video of the wobble. I will take them to a shop today to get them checked out.

https://youtu.be/3FB4I3XRnSw

[wfo guy]

That video sure makes it look like a bent axle. That wasn't what I was suspecting.

[jorgezee1]

I took them to a local shop and just had them check them. The shorter axles has about .050 of run out on the spline side, on the bearing side its about .003 and the face has .030 of run out. The longer axles has .030 at the spline .003 and the bearing surface and .030 at the face. The tech told me I could try them out that it would not leak but I would have some tire movement. He did say if you can afford it buy new axles. What do you guys think? Am I worrying to much? should i just dish out the money for axles and could I reuse my new installed bearing from the old ones?

[bryant]

definitely looks bent and those measurements sound bad. the test in the video does look like the axle is bent. when checking axles, i will have them installed in the housing with the thirdmember installed. then ill take a dial indicator and measure the runout at the outer edge of the flange. this way every thing is set up the way it will run going down the street.
i do suspect that you need at least 1 new axle with those crazy measurements, but i would like to see what the run out is with them properly installed in the housing with a thirdmember.

[jorgezee1]

I ended up ordering the Toms KA axles from a local shop, 430.00 Axles with new bearings/labor. I'll need to get new studs as well. The stock one were a bit to short. The Axles should be ready tue/wed.

Shop I went to is DTP Precision Rebuilding in Stanton CA, This is a nice shop, The owner Joe does really nice work. He rebuilt my Chevy 8.5 10 bolt a couple years back. I should have just gone back to him from the beginning. If only he was a little closer to me I would have. One of the reasons I went with the other place is they were 15 minutes away.

http://www.dtpprecisionrebuilding.com/home.php
Axles 300.00
Bearing plus Labor 130.00
Wheel Studs - no price yet.

Picked up a pressure washer from Harbor freight, not bad for a cheaper unit. Worked really well for this project and I'm looking forward to using it again when cleaning up the underside of the car.

Pressure washer - 80.00 on sale



Started cleaning and paint process on the rearend.

I used a wire wheel and sanding disc to get it stripped.




After the grinding and wire wheel cleanup I started on the prepping for Por15.





Prepping for paint







Once the housing dries I will apply a Eastwood's chassis black as a top coat. I think overall it's coming out great, not show quality but perfect for a driver/weekend cruiser.

Painted the new leaf springs as well.

[jorgezee1]

After searching over the web it looks like I will not be reusing my bearings and buying new ones with new axles. I am irritated I drop 140.00 (new bearing plus labor) at the shop that was suppose to check them and tell me if they were good. I cannot recommend the shop I went to to rebuild and check my axles, very sad as I prefer to deal with local small shops.

I will be ordering new axles, my choices so far are KA axles "Tom's Axles" 430 with new bearings or Currie Axles 480.00 with new bearings. Any other options you guys recommend I check out? These shops are local and get the axles in a day. Can someone get me new good axles cheaper and drop ship?

Shop that checked my axles for me. They are close to work.
Joel (maybe the owner) - checked them free of charge
Nice clean shop.
http://tyermans.com/index.html

bryant,

I can install the 3rd member and axles and get some readings. The shop let me watch how they checked the axles with the dial indicator, so I am interested in trying this myself.

[wfo guy]

I would look at Strange Engineering. The small bearing 28 spline axles are the same for 8" or 9" rears as long as they are the same housing width. There surely is some aftermarket stuff for way less than that price you were quoting.

[bryant]

i can usually press off small ford axle bearings that have recently been pressed on with out damaging them. its the set 20 big ford axle bearings that have huge wedding rings that need the ring cut off before the bearing can be removed.
i just use a bearing spliter under the bearing. the bed on my press has been widened to be able to fit the axle flange between the sides. that may be necessary depending on the size of your press.

i would get the toms axles over the currie axles.

[jorgezee1]

Quick Performance Custom Rear Ends & Differential Parts
Yukon Axles - 300 shipped.



I made a slight modification to customize them for my wife.



My wife's favorite band is No Doubt, so I made a few different versions of stickers for her and she ended up choosing her favorite album's front cover artwork.



I will start assembly this weekend and post pics.

[wfo guy]

Aren't new parts pretty?

[Badbowtie383x]

Any updates