Finished painting the half-shafts and driveshaft and re-installed them. The rear end is back together and I’ll finish it up by re-torqueing all the bolts. Before I forget and burn up the rear end, it’s time to add the gear lube and positraction additive. In a real shop this is a simple pump it in from the tank job. In my garage it’s a pour it in from a bottle job. In the past I managed to pour half the gear oil on the floor. Twenty-five years ago a quart of positraction gear oil was a buck or two so spillage was no big deal. Now it’s $36 for two quarts of gear oil and four ounces of positraction additive so I’m going to try to keep it all in the differential this time.
Had a leftover piece of new half-inch copper tubing from the last plumbing repair, a leftover piece of heater hose from the 87 Corvette and a clean funnel. Didn’t actually measure or plan it but the rigid copper and rubber hose were the perfect length. Even the funnel worked just right, hanging up on the fender lip. After pouring all three bottles in, I was able to leave the setup in place and drain the gear oil down to the last drop.
Because I’m cleaning and painting a lot of parts under the car, my wife has questioned my sanity several times. I explained that lots of the parts are rusted but otherwise in good shape. If I just let them continue to rust, they eventually will have to be replaced. To prove my point, I showed her this little collection of mounting brackets and bolts for the rear bumper and the front and rear anti-roll bars. I spent a few minutes looking up the prices of the brackets and bolts and without shipping and handling it totaled $830. A little time with the bead blaster and a coat of paint and these parts should last a long time.
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