I zinged up the top bead, Kirby did the side

 

Kirby again

 

 

 

just saw this done by another forum member, similar idea, swapped in 8.6

I guess drilled the case to mount torque arm bracket through it?

http://www.f-bodysport.com/axle&drive.htm

 

That thing looks badass. Here's the specs from his site:

• Aluminum center section, typically found in Trailblazer EXT or anything else with a V8
• 8.625" ring gear
• 3.42 gear ratio
• Torsen T2R diff
• Moser 30 spline axle shafts
• Moser housing ends, custom machined for more negative camber
• 9" ford wheel bearings
• SAE 4130 axle tubes, 0.120" wall, custom machined and pressed into housing.
• Details of build can be found here
• 5 lbs lighter than stock 10 bolt axle, 50+ lbs savings over Ford 9", 12 bolt, and Dana 60's
• Finished pictures and some more details here

 

Someone had welded the vent port closed...

 

Metal was so hardened from the welding, was tough to tap, so welded an AN fitting in place, going to use a remote breather.

 

Another shot, also smoothed it out more after this

 

Panhard rod mount and spring seat - this primer is temporary, it will get a builder/surfacer and see a lot more body work and smoothing before paint

 

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=9175

 

some molding of brackets

 

another shot

 

overkill and almost silly yes, but pretty cool nonetheless...made the housing from pipe and other scrap metal, this breather was only used to mock up, new one on the way

 

exhaust is going to exit before rear wheels, so have a lot of room

 

Starting to make up final pieces, much of the metal is getting doubled up, although all the stuff that was 1/4 inch remained as such.









Sway bar is at Kirby's house, he is stripping, priming, painting parts as he has time, he has a newborn.....I have been fabbing all the big stuff at my parents house and this weekend we will both have a big push to finish up control arm and shock mounts.

Starting to fit the beginning of the reinforcement pieces, which add up to a 1/4 in thickness.

 

Locater, anchor bolts drilled in case, but also will bolted onto axle tube and top control arm mounts that were in place already for the Chevelle.

 

All smoothed out, ready for paint.





Wrinkle finish just after being sprayed, will take a few hours for it to dry and for the wrinkle effect to happen.

 

Some more paint work and the brace/girdle will be done

 

 

That's badass, you guys should consider making a reproduction of that girdle and selling it online. Make some extra money for your projects :P

 

Looking good, up until the wrinkle paint... Looks like 20 years of grease and dirt accumulation!

 

well it has been painted again in a different texture paint, looks a lot better in person and a lot different than when it was wrinkle finish.

It is a personal taste thing, the rest of the axle will be smoothed out in Tyrol Blue with Gasser Gold accessories i.e control arms, calipers etc, so the black textured Race Brace should set it off....bottom line beyond the form should function great for less than half the cost of an aftermarket rear.

 

Test fit, worked out perfect, now for final welding




All the springs, undercarriage will be stripped, cleaned, repainted before the axle goes in

 

 

Also here are a couple good pics of the cage that I have been wanting to post

 

Final welding - used ARC for the tougher to reach inside areas, MIG on outside

 

 

Just about ready

 

 

 

 

I'm no expert, but are the bearing supposed to be painted?

 

would the paint bother it...not really, would wear right off...

however the rear is getting all new bearings, seals, posi, cover, axles, wheel studs, brakes.....this is just the housing being mocked up

 

 

done...

 

Any reason you didn't cut the ears off the top of the case from the old 4link bars? They may create an issue with the fuel tank if they are tall enough.

 

hi not sure if you saw....but others on the forum used the same Chevelle rear for their swap, they will not hit as we did test fit it and others never had a problem with it.

Also the torque bracket girdle we fabricated will use the four link bars as one of its anchor points.

Regards, Tim

 

SEE YOUR 12 BOLTS ,,I HAD A NEW BRACKET MADE OFF OF THEM,PICS SOON,,

 

I'm flattered! cant wait to see it

 

Off to get gears installed, did some final moulding of welds, came out nice

 

 

mt91ta is going to drop the rear off Saturday for gears, then we will do the paint

 

Any updates??

 

he didnt have the gears done yet, stil waiting on that, but other than that it is ready to go...

 

took a hiatus, I have been busy on other car projects, but Kirby just set up his shop for winter and will be back to finishing up the rear soon....

 

Here is my dad drilling and tapping a broken motor mount bolt on Kirby's supercharged 383

 

Another shot of the motor

 

 

...Kirby is going to be back on this soon...watch for updates