ok, here is the deal. about a year and a half ago, i took the rear end out of my '91 RS with the hopes of rebuilding it. i completely disassembled it, and began to clean it up as best i could. back then, i knew a guy that had a shop that said he could clean it up and repaint it for me. to save me some cash, he said to get as far as i could myself, then to turn it over to him to finish it up.

so, i started to sandblast it, etc. to remove the majority of the rust. around this time, i ended up having a few things come up, and i ran out of both time and money to finish the job. before i knew it, it was fall, and it was still sitting in the garage. that was fall of 2004, and it's been there ever since (last summer, i graduated college, got a job, and moved, so it was unfortunately not a priority).

now, here's the strange part...the guy that was going to finish it up for me passed away. and, so far, i cant find anyone that will do what he said he would, so i want to take care of it myself.

here are my two main problems: first, i sandblasted it under the assumption that he would be doing a few things to it afterwards, so i didnt cover anything up. which means there is sand inside of it. not much (actually, very little), but there is definitely some. and, it has been sitting around for a year and a half in a garage. i realize that both of these things were pretty dumb, but like i said earlier...my priorities were messed up back then

so what do you guys think? is this a salvagable situation? i really dont have the money to go plunk down $2,000+ for a new one, especially since i have a shelf full of parts to beef up and completely rebuild the old one. but, i have to find a way to a) get any sand that is indide it out, and b) make sure that there were no adverse effects of letting it sit for a long time. i am thinking that letting it sit wasnt a huge deal, because it had a coating of oil to hopefully keep it lubricated. but, the sand is making me thing i am screwed.

any ideas???

i have a couple, but nothing that really has me convinced i will be ok, so anything at all that anyone has to offer i would really appreciate.

thanks,

brian

 

pull the axles, pull the carrier and flush/clean the sand out. don't spin anything to allow the sand to work into the bearings. after you're done put it back together.

 

Don't be afraid to use hot, soapy water. It will help suspend that sand so you can flush it out.

 

ok, well the axles, carrier, bearings, etc. are all out already. i never thought of the warm soapy water idea...maybe that will help.

any other suggestions, please reply. thanks,

brian

 

Degreaser and carwash

 

oil it directly after you hit it with water though.

re-assembling it, maybe beefing it up if so desired, isn't all that hard, doesn't require loads of specialty tools either. I've made a few threads in regards to my rebuilding a 10 bolt, as I came across a few problems. you can use those as a guide, I have a few nice pictures in them.

 

After you rinse it out blow it out with air, if you have the pinion , and other bearings out too. I hope you marked which shim went to which side and kept the carrier caps on the correct side.

 

well, i am having somebody install the new gears and carrier, so they will be taking care of the shimming, etc. as far as the carrier caps, i remember when i took them out i didnt "mark" them per se, but i could tell by the castings which went on which side.

but, like i said earlier - this is a COMPLETE rebuild. literally, the only pieces remaining will be the pumpkin and axle tubes, and the axles themselves (which i might just replace while i'm at it). i've got new brakes from backing plate to drum and everything in between, carrier, c-clips, girdle, etc., etc. i know, you guys probably think i am insane for spending so much time and money rebuilding a lousy 10-bolt, but the car will probably never have more than 400ish ft. lbs. of torque, and will probably never get below a 13.00 in the 1/4. i know that even those numbers are pushing it with a 10-bolt, but i think if built right with the right parts, it will hold up. then again, i could just be insane .

thanks very much for the info, and again, please keep it coming.

brian

 

are you planning on using a solid pinion spacer? if not, plan on it. welding your axle tubes to the housing also can't hurt.

 

yes on both accounts. i am getting LCA relocation brackets welded on, as well as the tubes welded at the same time. the only thing that i am a little worried about is warping when i have somebody do the axle tubes. i don't even know if it would be an issue, but then again, i'm not sure. i know that the axle tubes are made of some relatively thin material.

(i went to college for mechanical engineering - so i am extra paranoid about a lot of things that can go wrong because of some of the courses that i took)

 

the axle tubes are pretty thick I believe. I think at least 1/8"...
I welded my tubes myself with a cheesy little stick welder, low enough amperage that warping it wasn't a concern.
They're held in place fairly well from the factory, so I really don't think warping is anything to worry about, unless you weld it on 150AMPs or something huge.