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Episode 4 – Axles, Ball Joints, Bearings and Gears

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Episode 4 – American Modern’s Jon Adams and Derek Wolfe lead the Project C10 crew in taking apart the tired, old rear suspension and putting it back together again. They pull axles, press out ball joints, pop off dip covers and sand blast everything before installing new bearings and re-assembling the gear in preparation for a disc break conversion.

Episode 4 – Video Transcript

Rick Drewry: Here’s what’s next on Project C10.

Jon Adams, American Modern Adjuster – Collector Car: Hello, I’m Jon and we’re going to take the cross member, we’re going to take the old tired suspension completely apart and get everything ready for sand blasting, so we can make it all new and pretty again … piece of cake.

We just have to get the rubber bumpers off and then clean them up and then we’ll try to press out the ball joints.

We’re cutting out the riveted ball joint that can no longer be used because it’s kind of destroyed. So, we have to cut the rivets off, so we can get it out, so we can put a new one in.

Derek Wolfe, American Modern Adjuster – Watercraft: We’re pressing out the ball joint on the upper control arm. We’ll get these control arms blasted. We may use them again.

Right now, we’re removing and breaking down the rear end. We already popped the dip cover off, so we can pull these axles out. We’ll switch over from a six-lug to a five-lug axle.

We are doing away with the backing plate assembly, so we can make the disc brake conversion here on the back, pull the axles out – which again, have the six-lug axles going to the new five-lug axles.

Jon: Here is the gear, pretty sure it’s a 410-411. We got a pretty steep gear, which – you’re going to need it with the big tires and we’re going to have an overdrive transmission, so that it is all going to work in sync.

Derek: Alright, so we put our carrier assembly back in, after getting the bearings pressed on. We’re getting ready to load the axles, but we want to make sure it is all shimmed properly. So, we painted the gears here, so we can run the ring gear against the pinon. The first trial run before it got completely dry, looked like it left a nice pattern where it’s hitting the whole face of the gear perfectly fine. What you’re looking for is a nice consistent pattern where it is worn out. That way you can tell exactly where it’s hit. It looks like we’re making contact pretty much on the whole face of the gear.

We just got new bearings pressed on the new differential here, got everything lined back up and we’re getting ready to drop it back into the housing. There we go, beautiful. Now what we’ll do is we’ll run some paint on the gear surface, so we can make sure it’s tracking right. We’re going to put the clamps back in it, drop the sequence in it, after we get the axles in and we’ll button this thing up.

Legacy of Classic Auto Insurance

Classic Automobile Insurance Agency is a family business built on a love of classic cars. We take every opportunity to give back to fellow classic and collector car enthusiasts by sponsoring events such as Carmel Artomobilia and Fuelicious, attending classic car events throughout the Midwest to document owners’ stories of their dream cars, partnering with like-minded companies and organizations to better serve our customers and bringing you unique learning opportunities like Project C10, powered by American Modern. Having owned a variety of collectibles ourselves, we understand your unique needs as the owner of a prized vehicle. Its age, rarity, value, unique features, limited use, availability of parts and services and popularity across generations require special protection. Whether you bought it at auction, drove it off the lot or restored it to perfection in your garage, we will build you a personal auto insurance program designed specifically for owners of collectible cars, and provide support when claim time comes. Visit our website at www.classicins.com or call 888-901-1338 to learn more.

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