Today I removed the old pumpkin and installed the new one.
Removed the old axles, leaving the brakes intact:
The driver's side came out using the wheel as a slide hammer. The passenger's side was stuck. I thought about my options for a while and then remembered that I had a 4' section of 1" diameter black iron water pipe. I shoved it in the driver's side and then lined it up to go through the old spool. It took 2-3 decent hammer whacks to break it loose from the firm grip of the spool. A closer examination showed that when the axle was shortened to match the narrowed rear end housing, it was shortened to the point where the splines begin to widen and flair out:
Anyways, that was one of the reasons that I bought new axles so that I had more spline to play with. The old ones were shortened when the rear was narrowed and they would no longer work with the clearances needed with the new ring and pinion. The new axles also allows me the option of having the housing narrowed an additional amount.
Old axle on left, new on right:
I next removed the old center section:
It has a small carrier bearing C7AW-E Bronco case with 4.11 gears and a spool. I built it maybe 3 years ago and it has served me well, but now that I lift the wheels consistently, it was only a matter of time when it would puke and wreck havoc.
Here are the 2 cases side by side:
You can see that the Strange unit has more support. I weighed both on a postal scale and the Strange case setup came in at 74.2 lbs, whereas the old Bronco case assembly was 66.95 lbs.
Ever wonder how this old man lifts heavy cast iron transmissions and rearends into the Mustang? I use a simple adapter that I built for my floor jack using a 10" length of 6" channel iron:
The adapter is easily removed and installed.
Soon this will be history as I have my sights on a 2 post lift in the near future.
Next up I cleaned the old gaskets off the housing:
The drain on the bottom of the housing is great for jobs like this!
Next I stabbed the new center section into the housing and connected the wire for the driveshaft sensor:
Finally I installed the shiny new 33 spline axles:
They should be good for 1000hp also. It took 3 quarts of 85w140 to fill the Strange case.
Ever wonder how deep the hardening goes in a good Moser axle?
This is why it is often difficult, if not impossible, to have them re-splined. My local shop refused to try and I have heard several reports where even Moser had failed.
Project "Rear end porn" is now complete except for needing some new U-joints for the driveshaft.
"I EAT Z28"
