I thought you might be interested in seeing how a former project was put to use. Here you will see part of the Barn in action and how the
SPOSE benches (those were the blue ones- the
Silk
Purse
Out of a
Sows
Ear) worked out. I know you won't confuse them with the
SPOUSE bench, because.........well because you haven't seen that one...........yet.
We had to replace the rear axels on Cameron's '64 Impala drag car since one of the axel bearings had slid out and along one of the axels. That damaged a side gear in the posi unit so both of those were replaced also.
Here the axels have been removed. Look close and you can see all the way through the axel tube since the differential has been removed also.
Here's one of the bearings (red circle) installed on a new axel. A bearing retainer was tack welded to the axel to prevent it from moving like the old one did.
BTW, these so called "
X" frame cars from GM, built in the late 1950's up to the mid 1960's, use a 2 piece drive shaft. That necessitates a bearing support for the end of the short main shaft, circled yellow.
The stock rubber or even the replacement polyurethane bearing supports are unsuitable for drag racing. (Ask me how I know
) These all metal bearing supports are terrific and are generally considered bullet proof. This is considered a safety item and is allowed under the rules.
Here's why these cars are called "
X" frame cars. When viewed from underneath the frame forms a big
X in the middle.
After the differential housing is cleaned and before the repaired posi unit is installed...
...the differential studs should chased with a die (yellow circle) to clean up the threads. Chasing threads is just a good practice to follow whenever doing repair work on any mechanical item. It cleans the threads up and if they do have a nick in them, now's the time to repair it.
A complete tap and die set will get plenty of use once you get in the habit of chasing threads.
So here's the repaired posi unit or third member as it's sometimes called. Notice I use cardboard to protect the Masonite top of the bench.
The yellow paint is to check the wear pattern on the ring gear.
The new axles are installed after the posi unit has been torqued in place.
And through out all this the
SPOSE benches worked as I'd hoped. They are handy with a large work surface, are rock solid and look good I think. I love it when a plan comes together.
Next weekend's race is Stanton, MI the biggest race of the year. Weather forecast looks fantastic right now. That new posi unit and axels should get broken in nicely.
Thomas
I bet it's something like making sure the aircraft hydraulic systems are full. Yeah, I bet that's it!) 
I wondered what kind of response that would get! 
