One of our members contacted me and offed an NOS sure grip at a good price. Michael Ramquist, (what a great name for a Mopar guy) says it should arrive Monday, which, as it turns out, is the day before my 65th birthday.

Happy birthday to me. "Honey, you don't have to worry about what to get me for my birthday. Isn't that great? Didn't I do you a big favor here? "

Now to figure out how to get this thing installed. You will hear from me again, no doubt. I'm the guy with all the dumb questions. Remember?


And thanks, Michael for extending the offer.


Sam

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I'm just sorry that you're across the country instead of across town.

Happy early birthday! - M

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. . . there was good sport at his making.

What size differential is it?

8 1/4". I went and talked to the mechanic which I have known for years and asked him if I could put this rear in myself. He said, "Oh sure, you can do that. YOu just set it up so it wiggles a little but not too much." That sounded easy, but when I read the manual, they make it sound much more difficult. Anybody done this without special tools? Do you recommend it? This is the only part of the car I have not rebuilt myself.

Tommy said he would charge for about 2 hours of labor plus materials, which would be oil, additive, and shims, which I will likely buy myself ahead of time. So I figure maybe $250 to get it installed. I am in no hurry right now. I can take my time in the winter when I would likely not drive the car anyway. When this car had a sure grip in it before, I drove it all winter and never thought twice about the snow and ice. I was almost as drivable as my front wheel drive cars in the snow.

Sam

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I've been working on my 7.25" differential for several months now, so unless you really want the experience of doing it yourself, you should probably pay the $$ and have them do it. It would cost you that much in tools and parts. Mine's taking a long time because it was an early one that uses shims for everything.

I have done this once, and it was not hard and has worked well every since. You need a dial indicator and stand, which I could loan you...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

If you decide to DIY, here is a good write-up from dippy.org: http://www.dippy.org/svcman/sm03a.html

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/6 '67 Barracuda convertible, electronic ignition, 4-OD, street cam, SBP KH discs, 3.55 SG 7.25" 1" t-bars. Bilstein.
340 '67 fastback, Doug Nash 5-speed.
1988 Toyota pickup work truck

Hi Sam, I have just bought the necessary parts and tools to overhaul my 8.25 rear axle, and if it can spare you some time , here is my shopping list:

I start with a company I haven't ordered anything from yet because Ialready ordered the stuff elsewhere, but they have some very interesting products. Among other things, they have crushless, reusable pinion axle bearing preload sleeves ratechmfg.co, SMALL PARTS FOR AUTOMOTIVE & LIGHT TRUCK AXLES They have two catalogs, the one in this link and an online yahoo catalog, you will be automagically transferred, but take the time to click between them, lots of useful stuff there.

They also have another very cool product: reusable gaskets for gearbox oil pans (727/904) and rear axle housings.

2 x R1559TV Axle Bearing and Seal Kit, Torrington Brand, 2.530" OD. (AK 1559) The same wheel bearing is used for many GM and Ford axles too, so you can maybe get a better price than I did from alljeep.com, $16.13 each, see here.

I also bought this tool, (living on the other side of the world makes it difficult to find another mopar guy whom I can borrow the right tools from!)
Differential Bearing Preload Wrench, Steel, Mopar, 7 1/4, 8 1/4, 8 3/4, 9 1/4 in. rear axle from Summit, $39.95.

I also got a Master differential bearing kit from National Drivetrain, part #RMK8.25, $79.95

If you need axles, I think you can get a very good price at silver-seal.com, just check the length first, see here. A little tip: They also have slantsix oil pans ($41.20!!), exhaust manifolds and manifold studs, and valves.

What else do you need? C-clips and gasket cement, and lots of patience.

Good luck!

Olaf

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Aspenized

Thanks Olaf. I think we live on the other side of the world from you. OH, but you meant on the other side of the world from the Mopar supply houses.

Thanks for all those links. They are very interesting. I called Randy's Ring and Pinion today, and learned something I did not know. The 8 `1/4" rear does not take shims for the ring gear. There are adjustment bolts for this. He says count the turns when you take it out, and count when you put it back in. I still think my mechanic is going to do it.

Sam

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Sam, the ring gear is bolted with no shims to the sure-grip differential unit, which in simplified terms basically is free-floating sideways in the housing, and to get the proper clearance to the pinion shaft, that is exactly what the 'Differential Bearing Preload Wrench' is for.

You just mount the ring gear to the sure-grip, install it in the housing, and then use the long wrench through the axle tubes on each side to tighten the preload 'nuts', which moves the entire sure-grip diff unit sideways until you can fix it in a position where you get the correct backlash relative to the pinion gear.

You can do it.

Olaf

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Aspenized

I appreciate your confidence in me, and the positive attitude. Things go better in life, generally speaking, with that attitude. I think I will pay my mechanic to do it, and then always tell my self, "I could have done that".

But, I do appreciate the simplified, and easily understood instructions. You're right, with those instructions, I could do it, with the correct tool. Well, who knows, maybe I talked myself into this after all. We will see.

By the way, your English is really excellent. Is must be a second, or maybe third language. I suspect you have better English skills, than I do.

Sam

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Born norwegian, swedish 'cause it's our closest neighbour and we could watch swedish TV and I lived there for some years, english ever since I was a boy and got to know Huckleberry Finn, Robin Hood and HotRod, german workrelated plus I was mistakenly engaged to be married to a german girl a long time ago, danish is almost norwegian, plus I can almost make myself understood in dutch, read a menu in french, and stutter some words in portugese.

Apart from that, I am very humble, which I find extremely difficult to mix with perfection!

Olaf.

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Aspenized

Why don't you try to do this yourself, and pay the guy to see if you got it right?

Just an idea...

Try to do it, then if you can't; take it to the mechanic.....

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

We'll see. I appreciate the confidence you guys express. I am certain I could do it now the job has been explained as being one of the easier rears to set up, and now that you have expressed such support for this project. Especially given the other things I have done to this cand other cars. It kind of comes down to whether I want to spend my time on that job, or something else more fun on the car.

I have gotten to where I hate the smell of gear oil. No kidding. When I was a kid, I had a Pontiac that I tried to get to stay together with Chevy 3 speed tranmissions. It ate them regularly for lunch. I was under that car constantly until I put a Muncie 4 speed in it. My hair always smelled like gear oil. It is just not my favorite part of the car to work on.

The T-5, and the Mopar 833 take automatic transmission fluid. Very little smell, and I did not mind fooling with them at all. Call me silly. I will likely take it Tommy, and be done with it in one day, and then on to getting the boost control worked out. Or maybe upgrading to the MS II.

Sam

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