1972 F100 rust pile

idrivejunk · February 12, 2019, 10:53:26 PM

No suprises in the center section is worth a this guy-

kb426 · February 13, 2019, 06:34:42 PM

This afternoon at O&S, I vatted a few parts and removed all the bearings from the center section. The carrier bearings were real tight. I had to cut one off. Short of clean up, the center is ready for assembly. This was delivered today. It's a 2015 Mustang irs. I'm accumulating parts for the next project.

kb426 · February 14, 2019, 07:01:24 PM

The center section is reassembled. All new bearings and seals. Still ugly on the outside.

kb426 · February 25, 2019, 07:49:20 PM

Today was supposed to be fairly warm in the afternoon. At lunch I turned on the heater in the shop. About 2 pm the cold front from the north was in full effect. I did get the front arms cut of the cradle. There's been many different ways to do this. I want it to be bolt in without cutting the frame. I've done quite a bit of measuring and thinking. I won't be able to finalize my plan until the truck is in the shop and I have the frame leveled to check pinion angle. Tiny bit of progress.

Crosley.In.AZ · March 06, 2019, 06:50:11 AM

Warm up any over there?

kb426 · March 06, 2019, 08:33:09 AM

Not much. This last 30 days has been real winter. It snowed enough that the yard is deep mud when it's thawed out. The 10 day forecast shows low 40's so maybe in another week conditions will be good enough to swap rear ends.

kb426 · March 09, 2019, 06:54:08 PM

Tiny bit of progress at O&S. I cut the center out of the lower spring pockets to allow the coil overs to be lowered through the a-frame. The shocks are longer than the original coil springs so I'm trying to be prepared for options in mounting. I squared up the frame mounts that I had removed and welded 1/4" plate to the structure. This will be the point that the forward mounts are attached. I can't see any snow today.

kb426 · March 10, 2019, 05:10:24 PM

O&S daylight savings time update.

The rear is assembled and ready for the swap. The weather is in control of this schedule. The swap should be completed in one day. I will allow 3.

enjenjo · March 10, 2019, 06:33:30 PM

I need some details. What is this rear out of? From your inspection does it look durable? Any outrageously priced parts?

kb426 · March 10, 2019, 07:29:02 PM

1994 tbird v8 car. Most cougars and tbirds have steel 8.8 center sections. All are 28 spline in and out. The v6 cars have lighter axles in the inner spline area. I can't tell why some have discs and some have drums. The steering knuckle has the material to drill the mounting bosses for disc brakes if you have the desire to convert one. This was a high mileage car so I replaced all the bearings and the axles. The R&P looked like new. I could have left all the bearings in the center section alone but I was rebuilding so I kept going. I believe I spent $373 on parts which included 2 new axles. From my research, I found that once again, as long as you don't over tire the vehicle it will take 3-400 hp. before it breaks something. The Lincoln version has an alum center section and lower a arms. Some of the Cougars and Tbirds have alum a arms. Mine are cast steel. There is a Super Coupe version that has larger axles as well as a Mustang version in the late 90's that is supposed to be 31 spline. The 2015 and newer Mustang is 34 spline inner and 32 spline outer. All the 2015 and newer Mustangs have positrac. The newer Mustang and explorers are wider in tread width, also. From my research you could put 400 hp. with an auto and 350 hp. with a manual trans before you broke an axle. Once again, the tire would be the limiting factor. It's possible to buy late model Mustangs for not a lot of money now but you still have the extra width to deal with. The tread width of the earlier rear is considered to be 63 1/4" There are some 7.5 versions out there also. I believe most of the earlier versions were all v6 and so equipped.

enjenjo · March 10, 2019, 09:27:10 PM

Thanks for the information.

kb426 · March 12, 2019, 06:19:59 PM

Little bit of work this pm at O&S. I started cutting metal for frame brackets. The rear cradle mounts had large rubber biscuit mounts. The center section is suspended in rubber and others have solid mounted the cradle so that's my plan. The area where the rubber mount goes is 2 parts that come together. I welded the top and will weld the underside when it's time to flip it. There will be no question of the 2 parts separating, then.

Crosley.In.AZ · March 13, 2019, 07:49:31 AM

Interested in how this install goes. Thanks.

kb426 · March 13, 2019, 06:53:22 PM

I removed 14 rivets this afternoon. I have 10 left when the rear end is removed to allow access. They're on the bottom.

Both crossmembers behind the rear have to be moved. The gas tank is the reason.

If it wasn't for the tank, only one would have to be moved. I'm planning on this being bolt-in with out cutting a big notch in the frame. I believe there will be some trimming of the flange that is right in front of the axle centerline. I wasn't happy with how the shifter was working. I removed the adapter I made for the column and started over. I need to change the cable adjustment a little but ran out of energy. We had a storm move in and it's not so nice this afternoon. I believe it will be the weekend before there's anymore progress.

kb426 · March 15, 2019, 06:14:10 PM

Another "riveting " update from O&S.

Today's task include removing the existing rear end, removing the 2 cross members that were riveted in, removing the fuel tank and unhooking all the companion lines and wiring. The Tbird rear is in place and I'm messing with component locations. I started to suffer from t.b. again so that's it for today.