Homealone's 62 Ford Country Sedan Build Up

[homealone]

And now for the bad news.

3 weeks ago I experienced catastrophic failure running down 121.

Thanks to cool cat for helping me get it home.

As far as I can tell the rear U-Joint shattered. It was no where to be found but there were shards of it in the one cap that didn't fly off the highway.

Here's the list of casualties:

Rear U-joint
Rear DS flange
Drive shaft
Pinion flange
Pinion gear
Pinion bearing
Differential
Exhaust X-pipe
Exhaust pipes up to mufflers
2 Mufflers
2 Exhaust hangers
Transmission mount
Engine mount
Lots of damage to the floor pan including a hole the size 2 Dr Pepper cans.

And lastly....The T-5 transmission case.

For the next 2 weeks I spent an hour or two after work rebuilding it from the flywheel back.


Drive Shaft






Exhaust






Pinion Flange




Floor board under back seat




Bent the X-pipe




T-5 Case

[homealone]

I was thrashing on the rebuild so I didn't take many pictures I was able to get it back together just in time to make the RoadKill Takes America event at Painless Wiring and the Coyote Drive In last Friday.

Here are the few I took.

I am getting old. It too me 40 minutes to break down the T-5. Damn snap rings. I had an extra case in my T-5 parts bin so I swapped out internals along with a couple new bearings.

T-5 disassembled




Reassembled and ready to be put back in.




New pinion and gear set




New Drive shaft. Thanks to Automotive Driveline Supply for the 24 hour turn around.

And yes, in DFWMustangs fashion, that is my prophylactic in the bed of the truck.




New pipes.

[homealone]

I just had to post this one again to put us back on track. So sweet.

[IMG]

[homealone]

Now back to where we left off. For the new 15x10 Torq Thrust D wheels and 295/50 tires to fit, the 9" rear end had to go. I had already planned an axle upgrade so this was the time to do it.

Explorer 8.8, narrowed to 65/66 Mustang width. Benefits, Traction lock diff, 31 spline axles and disc brakes. Not to mention less parastatic loss.

Donor Assy with 3.73 gears




Brackets removed. Love that plasma cutter.




2.875" removed to narrow the assy, center up the pinion and welded up.






Reassembled with new brakes and a coat of paint.






Installed.





Made use of the Explorer's traction bars.

[DON SVO]

Love watching this thread, Kevin!

[homealone]

Today I checked one more thing off the "to-do" list. I've been driving this thing around for a year looking at the insulated inner roof skin. A headliner was planned but not a big priority.

So today I knocked one out. What a difference, I should have done it earlier.

A little background. The original headliner was a rigid perforated board. Not the typical material and not available anymore.

I needed something thin, flexible and budget minded. I used Thermo Ply Poly Structural Sheathing (The stuff you wrap your house with) and the division bars for waterproof wall panels.

I was on such a roll I never stopped to take progress pics so you will only get before and after pics.

So with some math, a table saw, a little figuring, lots of trimming, here is what I ended up with.

Here is where I started.




This is where the material should be.




And here are a few shots of the finished headliner.

[homealone]

Very nice, bro!

Are you taking it out Wednesday to Mixed Up?

Planning on it. It's the only thing not boxed in right now. lol

[BLAKE]

Headliner looks great man!

Also, thanks for the Exploder rear end pics. Thanks to some friends and some time sweating at the junk yard, I've got my 8.8 sitting in the shop. We'll be doing the same stuff and I think we'll retain those traction bars too, which is so damn cool. These pics are helpful!

[homealone]

Headliner looks great man!

Also, thanks for the Exploder rear end pics. Thanks to some friends and some time sweating at the junk yard, I've got my 8.8 sitting in the shop. We'll be doing the same stuff and I think we'll retain those traction bars too, which is so damn cool. These pics are helpful!

Thanks, but like everything else, this is an experiment. We'll see how it holds up long term.

Did you get the extra short side axle while you were there? Or are you going to run it 67-70 width?

Let me know if you need any guidence, I'd be happy to walk you through the modification process.

[BLAKE]

Got a spare short-side axle and the pinion flange yesterday. Should be all I need. Going to shorten it to 65-66 width.

Any insight on the shortening process is appreciated, as well as what you did for spring perches and anything else I'm not thinking of that might be important.

Thanks man!

[cool cat]

I might be doing this 8.8 later on as well. New spring perches are available for cheap, several aftermarket Jeep parts suppliers s sell them locally. Kevin has the part #'s some where.


Edit: Rugged Ridge part # 18267.02 has been used before.

[Big Dad]

wow, that freaking torque tube caused lots of problems..

[Z06killinsbf]

Got a spare short-side axle and the pinion flange yesterday. Should be all I need. Going to shorten it to 65-66 width.

Any insight on the shortening process is appreciated, as well as what you did for spring perches and anything else I'm not thinking of that might be important.

Thanks man!

What flange did you get? I have the Explorer 1330 flange but am having difficulty finding the correct adapter U joint.

[BLAKE]

What flange did you get? I have the Explorer 1330 flange but am having difficulty finding the correct adapter U joint.

Flange off of an Aerostar. Apparently, the correct swap joint is a 3030 to 3010.

At least, that's what the interwebs tells me. I haven't put pieces together yet to verify.

[homealone]

What flange did you get? I have the Explorer 1330 flange but am having difficulty finding the correct adapter U joint.

Double check the size on your driveshaft end but you should need a 1310 to 1330 conversion u_joint.

Percision 353 (Oreilly)
Duralast 1-0134 Autozone

Double check the U-joint at the store. I find every other one to be mis-boxed.

I don't recomment the Autozone piece. It is not forged like the others.