BBP rear axle conversion on the 73 Dart sport
More progress made on 1-1-2010:
Today it was sunny and a balmy 45 degrees here in La Plata, MD so it was perfect to prep the B-body housing for installation by :
Grinding the rust and paint off of the portion of the axle tube inboard of the existing spring mount (the area where the new spring mount will eventually be welded to).
Then I marked the approximate location with a sharpie, about 1.3" inboard from the current B-body spring mount location (.5" inboard for a the A-body spring width and then an additional .8" inboard for the spring relocation using the MP spring relocation kit from Mancini racing).
Now the fun starts with using the cutting torch to cut off the old spring mounts.
Then I ground the remaining weld and slag off using my trusty makita 4" grinder (the best tool I ever got from Harbor Freight, I bought it from them like 25 years ago!! nowadays they do not even carry makita power tools!!)
then I installed a third member in the housing and them the housing one the springs. It is basically sitting on the spring mounts with the u-bolts clamping it in place. After I rotated the rear to an initial pinnion angle setting the u-bolts are tightened so the axle housing is secured.
The next activity will be to install the driveshaft to the pinion yoke. Then I will lift car up with a floor jack and set it on adjustable screw jacks that support the rear of the car (one under each shock plate). Once these are adjusted so the axle center is 14" above the floor (the proper height for using 28" tires) and the rear springs are supporting the weight of the car, I can measure the pinion angle. More on this later.
Bob
More progress made on 1-1-2010:
Today it was sunny and a balmy 45 degrees here in La Plata, MD so it was perfect to prep the B-body housing for installation by :
Grinding the rust and paint off of the portion of the axle tube inboard of the existing spring mount (the area where the new spring mount will eventually be welded to).
Then I marked the approximate location with a sharpie, about 1.3" inboard from the current B-body spring mount location (.5" inboard for a the A-body spring width and then an additional .8" inboard for the spring relocation using the MP spring relocation kit from Mancini racing).
Now the fun starts with using the cutting torch to cut off the old spring mounts.
Then I ground the remaining weld and slag off using my trusty makita 4" grinder (the best tool I ever got from Harbor Freight, I bought it from them like 25 years ago!! nowadays they do not even carry makita power tools!!)
then I installed a third member in the housing and them the housing one the springs. It is basically sitting on the spring mounts with the u-bolts clamping it in place. After I rotated the rear to an initial pinnion angle setting the u-bolts are tightened so the axle housing is secured.
The next activity will be to install the driveshaft to the pinion yoke. Then I will lift car up with a floor jack and set it on adjustable screw jacks that support the rear of the car (one under each shock plate). Once these are adjusted so the axle center is 14" above the floor (the proper height for using 28" tires) and the rear springs are supporting the weight of the car, I can measure the pinion angle. More on this later.
Bob