Project: Papa’s Dodge, stage one.

[Lonesome7.3]

Rolling on. I am hoping to have a finely aged and reliable daily driver when done. My wife thinks I should enter this truck in the unrestored class at local car shows.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

I have identified the brake line problem. The brake hosesare installed on the calipers correctly. The brackets that hold them in placeand support the connection with the hard lines are at different locations onthe two trucks. I am using all the brake parts from the donor but the original72 brackets. That is a no go. The other issue is the 72 brackets bolt on wherethe later model welds on. I cannot get my welder to where the truck is now so Iwill have to bench fab something then install it.

I cannot believe I missed something so obvious.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

So I tore into the rear end today. Perhaps I should wordthat differently… Anyway, I got worriedwhen I found rust on the axle shafts. Thankfully that was the extent of it. Thecarrier looks great but was full of sludge. I only want one side at a time toredown so I
started with the passenger side. All the components still looks good.I wonder how long that little red sticker has been on there. I cleanedeverything real well and had the drum turned. I got new seals and races, thebearing still looked great. I am worried about that ring around the spindlethough. When I wrap up the brakes I will have to attack that bird’s nest ofwires.

I spent a good portion of the day online and on the phonetrying to locate a good used posi for the old 60. Not many in my price rangeare out there. I need a traction aid in this truck. If anyone knows of onefloating around let me know I am a serious buyer.

By the way, I cannot locate new axle flange gaskets. No onestocks them including Rockauto. Any one got an idea where to look?

 

[Lonesome7.3]

I am going to wait until I can get the truck around to mywelder to deal with the brake line brackets. The best fix I could come up withwas welding the old bracket up on the spring bucket similar to the donor truck.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Time to make some gaskets. I removed the studs and used astiff wire wheel to get the old gasket material off. That was some stubborn stuff. Then I measured out some gasket materialand started cutting. I set up a work surface so I could sit the axle shaft inplace. It is a good thing I have some big wood. I drew lines to make sure Ikept the flange lined up when I was punching the holes. Then it was time tobreak out my expensive gasket hole makers. This is when I ran into my firstproblem. I found .45 shell casing were the perfect fit. But in this case the casingswere sacrificial and could only punch one hole. That was a problem because Ihad 16 holes to punch and only one .45. Because of that I had to drop was I wasdoing and was forced to go to the range. While I was there I topped off a fewothers I may need for later. Now the gaskets are done and the fasteners arecleaned and ready.
You can see some pitting on the axle shafts. I am assumingit is from condensation that built up inside the axle tube. I cleaned the rustoff and did not find anymore.

 

[Kennyray]

Don't forget to put a thin layer of sealant on the gasket when you put it together.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Will do. I take a small amount and rub it in on both side of the gasket then let it tack up before install.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Pulled the other side apart today. The brakes cleaned upgreat so I am leaving them alone. I cleaned the hub and drum real well. They werenasty thanks to a leaking hub seal. I also addressed the left threaded studs. Iwas hoping the studs from the front of the truck would work. So I went back tothe donor truck to pull the hub that I took off the 72. No luck though. As youcan see in the photograph the front studs are shorter. I will not replace the studs on one side withnew studs. If I were to do that, I would get all new studs. The rest of themlook fine. So instead, I pulled four studs from the passenger side and installedthem in the driver side. Now all I have to buy is eight new studs. Then four newones will get installed on both sides. Ialready have plenty of lug nuts in my lug nut drawer which saves me even moremoney.

 

[OldCracker29]

You're moving right along.

 

[Lonesome7.3]

Gettin' thar.