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Rear end removal. Did I do something wrong?


Beltfed

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OK, I removed the clam shell from rear of transmission. Disconnected brake lines and other necessary parts. My Motor Repair manual says to disconnect spring at axle housing...done. With help started lowering rear end on floor jack slowly. In order to clear bottom center of the spring from the top of pumpkin it had to come down so far it put the front of the torque tube and tranny in a bad bind. It lifted the tranny off the rear mount over an inch. This isn't going to work.

Before I did any of the above I tried what a old Ford restorer said. Just remove the nuts holding the spring to the frame and slide it out with the axle. That didn't work as there is a cross member right behind the spring. When you lower the rear end with spring to clear the crossmember the torque tube hits the bottom of the hole in a crossmember just aft of the tranny.

I ended up removing the spring entirely. This gave me enough room to pull the axle rearward enough to clear the transmission. After that it was a snap.

Did I miss something or did I do it right? Thanks

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Not sure if all model are the same, but on the '40 sedan I put a spring stretcher on the leafs, care for sure must be taken- a lot of pressure! (I used 1" sq tubing flatened one end & 3/4" threaded rod ground to a chissel end) It flattened out the spring to make it low enough to slide back and get the u-joint off the back of the tranny. Then the torque tube going thru the frame cross member hole no longer pryed the tranny up in the air. It is tight, but I did not have to take the spring off the axle links and did not have to remove the gas tank. Lose parts sandblasted/painted- now waiting for warm weather! Paul

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I removed the rear axle assembly last July from my '40 Continental and spread the rear spring with a Porta-Power to disconnect the shackles and she came out fine with the spring still spread. I suspect that if you take the tension off of the spring you will not be able to get it out or put in back in. It was very close on installation. I was told that it cannot be done on a Lincoln with the spring still attached to the axle. Good luck and for goodness sake, be careful.

Ron

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Ron, Thanks. I have already removed the rear end from the car. When it comes time I'm almost sure the rear end will have to go in first then the spring. We'll see.

I stopped by a local shop I'd heard about today to see about repair of my transmission and rear end. I found out that the guys at the shop have been repairing both for many years. Matter in fact , there was one in the shop that was under a car being worked on. Looking around the shop with flatheads everywhere, bench racing with these three guys as they leaned on a cherry '36 Ford, I though it was 1948 again. The guy that bullet proofed the rear ends for a company in Chattanooga that went out business several years ago and sold their stuff to the guy in Calif. also lives in Knoxville. Not sure if he's working now as he had a bad motorcycle accident so time ago. His last name is Stooksberry.

It's a small world when you find out that what I feared was a long trip to Calif. to get the rear end repaired can be done less than four miles from my garage.

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