got my rear in the air and made some startling discoveries

[green67cuda]

well...not really startling....

I started on my offset hanger installation last night....
the first thing i noticed is that when i was taking the u bolts loose, the plates were twisting sideways...
got to measuring, and instead of moving the perches is 1/2" when the PO put the B-body rear in, he just pulled the leafs out to the b-body holes....so the leafs were causeing the plate crookedness....
which means that i never needed to buy the offset shackle kit to begin with, because moving the perches to the right place would take care of the need for 1/4" spacers

i guess i'll go ahead with the install anyway, since i already have the parts....

ALSO...all a-body leaf springs do NOT have a 1 1/2" front spring eye, so the nylon bushings I made are useless now....mine have a small rear eye, a 20" front segment, and a 2" front eye
also found that i have 5/8 bolts already instead of 1/2", and will not be needing new ones for the offset hangers

more work to do tonight....gotta get the other spring out, then it's time for undercoating removal/recoat

THEN i can finally get it back together again

 

[Lars]

Nothing like a good ol hack job eh??

 

[green67cuda]

yeah, and tonight i found out the hard way that you can't get the front eye bolts in with the brackets already installed.
looks like i'll have to remove the bracket, bolt it to the leaf, then fumble with the leaf AND bracket and try to get the studs in AGAIN......

 

[AdamR]

I spent a good year fixing things the previous owner did to my car. Now I'll spend the next 3 fixing what I did. :mrgreen:

 

[Lars]

My car had a cut extension cord for my alt. charging wire that was tied in with wire nuts! :silent:

 

[64dartwagon]

Sounds like my car. The friend I got the car from had replaced the defroster hose with beer cans. All he did was cut out the ends and tape them together to what was left of the hose just below the dash. So everytime I'd turn on the defrost it would smell like old stank *** stale beer. Finally I pulled the heater box "I was thinking someone had dropped a beer soaked rag in the fresh air side" when I yanked off the hoses the cans fell down. I always wondered if I would of got pulled over at night with the smell coming out of the windows how much grief I would of got, or field sobriety tests. O and don't forget the tin foil wrapped fuses. They are my favorite.