Narrowing a Ford 9 - Few Questions

[67rstbkt]

Well, started on the narrowing process and I could use some advice here. This is the first time I've done this; I've measured a bunch of times and have the length where it needs to be. The main issues I ran into is that the new ends do not seem to line up exactly with the axle tubes. They are off a little bit, almost like the housing tubes are a bit out of alignment. I have not welded on this yet, escept for the tacks holding the ends on.

As it sits right now, the new ends are lined up with the alignment slugs in the center chunk, so basically the rod going through the 4 slugs is straight while the new ends are tacked on slightly off. Is it ok to weld them on like this? I can't see how the alignment of the axles could be off, unless it was like that to begin with?



I assume the axles being centered to the carrier is the most important thing? If not, can someone help me out with the "spot shrinking" concept? How much heat, location to apply heat?

Thanks