Rear end

Next it was time to redo the diff. I wanted to replace all the rear end bearings, and rebuilding the diff didn't seem to be to complicated.
The rear axles came out easily enough. Only problem I had was that the outer bearing races stayed in the axle housing. These were removed later on with a slide hammer. The bearings came off the axle shafts easily enough. I drilled the retainers, then broke them with a chisel. The bearing races were a bit tougher. Those I cut with a wheel, and then again, broke them with a chisel. The main thing is to not to fuck up or mar the axle shaft in any way. 
With that done installing the new bearings was fairly straight forward. It helps when you have a friend with a hydraulic press in his laundry room.
As for the diff., I replaced the bearings, and all the seals. I replaced the crush sleeve with a solid bushing. I then torqued the pinion nut to 200 ft lb repeatedly, using different combinations of shims until the pre load was within spec. This was probably the most time consuming, and tedious piece of the whole affair. For the differential gear i used a dial indicator to measure, and adjust backlash. I used prussian blue, and adjust the gear back and forth until I got a good pattern.
While everything was out, I cleaned up the axle housing. I then drilled a hole in the bottom of the diff carrier, and welded a nut on it to add a diff fluid drain.
Re assembly was simple, and everything went together as it was supposed.
I wish I would have taken better pictures throughout, but I wasn't thinking about stupid blog posts at the time. Aplologies.

Here's a wheel bearing as it came out. Not that great. As you can see the outer race has stayed behind. Also, I apparently removed the retainer before I took the picture.

Axles. out.

A Ford 9'' blown apart on the bench. Not that it matters but the ratio on this one is 3:0.

Here I am re installing a rear axle.

Correct.




I used the shim kit from Yukon gear and axle. Purchased from Randy's Worldwide.

I found the following videos on Youtube. Extremely helpful.
Check it out before you start. Starts at Part 1, and you should be fine from there.

Bounce and Stop

Next, it was time for suspension and brake work. I replaced the master cylinder, pads, shoes , wheel cylinders, rear brake springs ,and soft brake lines. Front rotors were re-cut. While I was in there, I replaced the front wheel bearings. The drums were still within specification (barely), so they were scuffed and re-used. I also flushed about 3 qts of DOT 3 through the brake system. I used a pressure bleeder and completely removed the bleeders so all the badness could run out.  Everything was pretty straight forward, except that the front calipers were a style that I had never seen before. Set me back on my heels for a half a second, but I got it figured out. Finally, I installed new shocks on all four corners. When I did the rears I discovered two different brands of shock. These people had at some point replaced a single shock. Who fuckin' does that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seals and paint

The first thing that would need to be done, was engine oil seals. The engine was hemorrhaging oil from the front timing cover, and it seemed that part of the gasket was in fact missing. Rather than do them piece meal I bought valve cover, pushrod cover, timing cover, and oil pan gaskets. I also purchased a front crank seal, and speedy sleeve, as well as water pump and both radiator hoses. Doing the work was pretty straight forward, the main time consuming task was cleaning. Basically the entire engine and transmission were covered in greasy filth despite multiple trips to the car wash with degreaser in hand. Bolt heads needed to be dug out with a pick before sockets could turn them. Removing the oil pan was a particularly wretched task. On multiple occasions, the grease that had filled my socket had to be removed so that it could continue being used. The tools that I was using were so greasy that it was hard to maintain my grip on them. In order to get the pan out, the engine had to be raised to allow the pan to clear the oil pump pickup tube. It was awesome.
Once I had all the covers off, I gave them a thorough cleaning. I removed about a 1/2" of sludge from the bottom of the oil pan. As long as I was at it, I figured I may as well sand and paint them.





Ain't no party like Econoline party

In March of 2016, I purchased a 1981 Ford Econoline van for the sum of $700. It was a complete mess, but, I figured $700 was an OK price for a running driving van. Some other factors that influenced my decision were, it was a short van, it was equipped with an inline 6 300, and a 4 speed MANUAL tranny, plus, I like old crap. A deal was brokered.

This is how it sat, when I bought it.

Four on the floor, a big selling point. The shift knob pictured would soon be replaced with a chrome skull. Seemed obligatory.

Last but not least, the 300.
Initially the plan was to simply have the van, maintaining it in a useable condition so that it could be used to transport things not well suited for hauling in a my 1990 VW Cabriolet. This worked for a while. The van mostly sat. I did a tune up. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, and air filter. I changed the oil. I drove the van to work once a week to "exercise the gaskets", and make sure it still worked. It actually performed pretty well, for what it was, and the life it had had. It was pretty clear that maintenance had been scarce previous to my involvement. Eventually though it would require a bit more attention, which of course is where the plan fell apart.