7 1/4 Rear End clean up/gasket questions

I replaced the pinion seal in mine...to make sure I torqued the nut correctly, I just marked two spots with a centerpunch, one on the pinion shaft and one on the nut. Then, when I was finished installing the seal, I torqued the nut just past the marks. That nut is torqued to something like 250 lb./ft., so you probably don't have a torque wrench for it, hence the marks.

Additionally, I found that getting the axles out of the housing is a BEAR on a 7 1/4. I use an old 13" rim and a sledgehammer to pop then out after removing the nuts on the housing ends. Of course, that doesn't apply if yours is a c-clip axle (I think they changed them at some point...I might be wrong).