Episode 26 – The 1953 Chevy 150 came with a second-gen 8.5” 10-bolt 373 Posi unit that Rick believes will be more than enough to handle the small block Chevy he’ll be running. Once started on the rear-end suspension, Rick discovers some traction bars were welded up oddly and some weird modifications had been made to the differential. Rick removes some of the traction bars, pulls everything off, cleans the parts all up, and paints the leaf springs and differential. The rear suspension is pretty much ready and another to-do is checked off. Stay tuned!
Episode 26 – Video Transcript
Rick Drewry: Welcome back, everybody, to Project COVID 1953, our 1953 Chevy 150. Let me update you on the rear suspension, what we did with it.
The rear suspension was already changed out when I got it. It did not have the torque tube; an all one-piece rear end. It had a third-gen… Not third-gen. I’m sorry. A second-gen corporate 10-bolt out of a Camaro, or a Firebird or something like that. It’s a 373 Posi unit, so it’s good… Especially being an 8.5”, it’s more than enough to handle the small block Chevy that I’m going to be running in it. I’m staying with that.
I pulled the differential out. It had some oddball things on it. It had traction bars that were welded up and modified weirdly. I took them off. It still has the stock leaf springs on it. Since I’m running the 350 and I didn’t go with a big block or an LS, I’m fine with the stock leaf springs. I pulled them as well, cleaned them up, painted them, and then also cleaned and painted the differential. I’m using the Rust Encapsulator paint from Core 15. Core 15 is a good one, or Eastwood has their own as well. Then also sandblasted and painted the drums. I ended up having that all setup.
Then from there, I ended up getting rid of the traction bars and went with… Because I ended up getting two-inch lowering blocks for it, I raised the differential up closer to the body so it’s going to drop a couple of inches to get me the stance I want. I got all of that done and it’s all set up. The pinion angle is really good, I got new U bolts. I’ll eventually put a new differential cover on it, but it’s all set up. If I have to add traction bars, I’ll probably go with CalTracs or something like that, if needed, but I don’t think I will. We’ll see how that goes, but that’s done, and getting ready to move on to something else. Stay tuned.
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