January 2005

October 2005

This month should be a bit more exciting as I get to make some progress instead of re doing stuff. Well, there will be some re doing as I've had a re think of the gear shift linkage. That's just a small deviation compared to what I have done in the past. More on that later. I'm hoping to have most of the chassis ready for painting by the end of this month.

The engine and gearbox came out of hiding again for some setting up the diff and tail shaft. The first thing is to centre the diff. I left the U bolts loose and used the rear springs as a marker and compared the distance on each side. With a bit of tapping with a rubber mallet I got it near perfect.

Now the diff is centred, it's time to get the universal phasing set. I bought this neat angle finder a while back and set it on top of the engine in the valley. Its indicating just over 3 degrees. I then placed the angle finder on the diff housing and rotated it up to the same angle. There are many opinions how to set the diff angles. Some say you can't get the angle right unless the body is back on. This may be so, but I have placed the chassis stands right under the extreme front of the chassis so the engine weight is biased rearward. This should compensate enough for the lack of body weight. In any case, the diff angle should not vary too much. After all, driving on the road will have the diff angle changing slightly as the car goes over bumps. Also, passengers come and go. This way is optimum IMHO.

Just a double check to make sure nothing has moved. This time I use my make shift plumb bob and measured from the chassis rail to the backing plate. Once I was sure all was fine, I tightened the U bolts up. I then welded the saddles on. The welds look patchy cause I welded in short bursts to prevent distortion. I also left the axels in to assist in preventing the housing from distorting. I went from front to rear of saddle, left saddle then right, until they were completely welded. I only done the front and rear as I think that should be ample to hold the diff.

Now for the tail shaft length. First I placed the tail shaft into the gear box all the way in. Then I slid it out about an inch. This should be enough room for the shaft to slide in as the suspension moves.

Next I measured from the centre of the uni to the centre of the rear uni. This is about 128cm (or 50 1/4" in the old language). This is the length I will give to the company that will shorten the tail shaft.

Now I can remove the axels, brakes and diff centre. I will not be using the centre as its a 2.75:1 ratio. I have a 3:1 slippery centre instead stored away. I can now remove the housing and have it sand blasted along with the backing plates. I have bought new drums and wheel cylinders. Next pic is the brake hardware removed. I have kept it together so I can work out how it goes back together easier. Otherwise I'd be scratching my head when the times comes.

This shows the gear lever bracket that I spent a lot of time fabricating a while ago. I had concerns that there may be a possibility of the lever rocking into or out of gear as the engine moves. I figured that if my idea was so good, why didn't Ford do it?. I also remember news articles of cars dropping into gear without drivers. I have now decided to duplicate the original mechanism. I found the discarded bracket and used a sleeve to extend the mechanism so it sits under the chassis "X" member. I then tack welded the sleeve in place. I removed the mechanism and welded completely. I also cut my bracket off.

I re fitted and positioned the bracket under the "X" member. I fabricated a new mounting bracket and drilled mounting holes.. The last pic shows the correct position the lever is now in. The engine rocking will not affect the lever now. Instead of an up down motion as it was before, its is now a side ways movement. The shaft will slide in the bush as intended.

Here is the new shortened tail shaft ready for final installation. They also fitted new unis and rear yolk to suit the 9" diff. Next pic is the 3:1 diff degreased, water blasted and primered. The diff housing is away being sand blasted. I'll primer that as well and trial fit everything before its put in storage.

I placed the centre back in and fitted the tail shaft to check the length. I should have made it slightly shorter for peace of mind, but I think there is enough room for diff movement. Time will tell. The next pic is the backing plates. This is a view of one of the pads where the brake shoes rest against. Over the years they have been gouged out. I cleaned them up with a 1 mm cut off wheel and will weld them back up. Then dress with a flap disk.

Here is an over all view of the pads in question. The next pic is after I mig welded them up and dressed them flat again. This should last many more years.

The whole lot is now primered and stored. Even the springs get primered.

I thought I'd drag the running boards out of hiding and drill out the mounting brackets. It's easier to do it now when the body is off. The first thing I noticed was that the mounting brackets were too short. They weren't able to pick up the lower mounting holes in the rails. The only option was to extend them. Here is the 3/4" extensions welded on. Why I'm going to this much effort is because these running boards will be functional, complete with rubber and able to be stood on.. Being made of fibre glass, I think they should have as much support as I could give. Another pleasing aspect is how well the running board fits the contour of the chassis rail, considering the amount of bending and twisting the chassis was subjected to getting it straight.

I took the brake pedal mechanism off and cut the shaft off where the clutch pedal used to fit. I then drilled, pinned and welded the shaft in place. I also welded the grease galley up. Primered and stored ready for piant.

Some good progress this month. The low point was the 34 being sold and heading to Victoria. You may have noticed that it no longer appears in any photos.

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