1970 SS 396 Chevelle: My first job!

[BlueSS454]

Here are a few new shots for you guys and an update. I have most of the chassis back together. I blasted and painted the front control arms, replaced the rears with Hotchkis pieces. I had to replace the front brake dust shields as the originals were mutilated. I sent the caliper brackets off to be plated, hopefully they come back next week so I can finish up the front. I am also waiting on the brake lines to come in.

I pulled the cover off the rear so I could remove the axles to replace the seals. What a can of worms that opened up! Both axles are shot, grooves so big you could run a train on them, luckily I had a spare set of originals in nice shape. That's not the worst of it though, someone had been into the rear before and they had NO clue what they were doing. The gear set and differential were replaced and NOT set up correctly. The differential was moving back and forth laterally....NOT GOOD! I pulled the caps, removed the differential and flushed all the oil out as well as cleaned the axle tubes. New axle bears and seals were installed, I left the differential bearings alone for the time being just because I want to see the the gears are going to start howling since I set the backlash and preload on the differential the right way and in spec. If it howls, I'll probably end up pulling the whole rear apart and redoing it...not something I really like to do for others just because of the nature of them.

I also got the power steering pump assembly on. I know it's not the correct reservoir, but it works.