Sunday, Sept. 12,
2004
- I was hoping to get the Dana 60 completed several weeks ago, but
I ran into what I thought was a problem when I went to install the
axles. Unlike the Ford 9" rearend, the semi-floater Dana 60 doesn't have
a sealed axle bearing, and when I installed the axle on one side, there
was a lot of up-and-down slop that I couldn't figure out. I spent an
entire afternoon talking with the machine shop, and then a local
mechanic and finally the shop foreman at the local Ford dealership, but
nobody had any ideas what was going on. My buddy Ray, the one I'd gotten
the Dana 60 from originally, came over to check things out, and had it
figured out within a couple of minutes. If I'd tried to install BOTH
axles at the same time instead of crying wolf after only installing one,
I'd have noticed that the slop would have been corrected after the
installation of the second. Oh well...
So anyway, I hit the
shop late morning and went to work getting the axles installed. When I
attempted to install one of the brake drums, I found that when the
machine shop pressed the new axle bearings, they'd boogered up the round
protrusion which centers the drum on the axle, not allowing the drum to
seat. I spent some time with a hand file getting the axle end cleaned up
and got the drum installed. I bolted on the white-spoke wheels that were
on the truck when I originally got it, and then rolled it outside to get
the whole thing rinsed and wiped down for a photo session. While it was
getting cleaned up, there were several cars which drove by and slowed
down to check the chassis out, and one of the cars came back around the
block. An elderly gentleman and his wife pulled into the driveway and
the old guy got out and came over to check things out. Even though he
was a lifetime Chevy man, he had an appreciation for Ford products and
spent several minutes admiring the powder-coated frame.
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Fig. 1 - Continuing
with what seems to be my tradition, I had my wife snap a pic of me and
the '67 chassis at this momentous occasion. Don't ask me why I'm not
smiling. I'm actually happy as heck!
Fig. 2 - I decided to use the old wheels/tires while the project
progresses, so minimize any damage that might occur.
Fig. 3 - Since the auxiliary fuel tank I'd mocked up wasn't
cleaned up yet, I removed it for this picture session.
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