8 3/4 installation
Well, yeah I did do it as a beginner years ago, when I was younger, dumber and Strong.
I did not get the correct shock plates and bent the old u-bolts,
by hand and drilled the old shock plates holes slightly larger.
I didn't use a floor jack, nor did I drop the springs,
I yanked the wimpy 7.25" rear out and over the springs,
and did the 8.75" the same way, saying; gee I must be tired, this rear end seems heavier.{DUH}
I then went to install the driveshaft and I was WTF< the driveshaft is too long now. ](*,)
I bled the brakes by myself, I used a long handle ICE Scraper to hold the brake pedal down, while I went back and opened the bleeders.
I had to borrow a buddies car, and took the driveshaft to the local welders
shop and had him shorten it. I forget what it cost, this was 1979,
it was cold, an snowy, and I was outside doing this on the ground.
I had 2 wimpy jack stands, a bottle jack, and the bumper jack, and hand tools.I used some Liquid Wrench on the ubolt's nuts to help loosen them
{NOT MUCH HELP}.
If I knew then what I know now I would have left the 7.25" rear in the '72 Valiant. I went from 2.93 gears to 3.90, LOL Wow! gas mileage!!uGH.
i would have to respectfully disagree. if you can use a ratchet, wrenches, and a floor jack, you can swap the rearend. case in point - I did it and I am truly a beginner....this whole swap took me less than 4 hours by myself in a cramped carport. had i had a helper and/or a better workspace it would have gone much quicker.
-set the car up on jackstands in the rear so that the weight is off the suspension but the rear wheels are in light contact with the ground.
-unbolt the leaf springs from the rear hangers, unbolt the shocks from the spring plates, disconnect the brake hose and ebrake cables.
-unbolt the rear end from the springs. don't throw away the old shock plates you will want them if you ever have to put the old rear end back in.
-let the springs flop down and roll the rear out from under the car, take the wheels off, and put them on the new rearend
-roll the new rear end under the car, reattach to the leaf springs with the new shock plates and new (bigger) u-bolts, bolt the springs back up, attach brake line and e-brake cables.
-measure for driveshaft shortening and once that is done, re-install the now shorter driveshaft, bleed the brakes and go.
rebuilding the 8 3/4 internals is another story, that is something best left to a pro. mine looked good when i got it so i just cleaned it up and left it together but completely rebuilt the brakes. it seems to be fine, no noises or anything. again, if you stay out of the guts of it, it is a good project for a beginner to tackle. remember, its really all just nuts and bolts. take pics of everything before and during dissasembly and you'll have a guide to help put it back together.
-tim
