Morgan Wright Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 (edited) Now that I got the clutch rebuilt, the tranny cleaned out and back in, waited for 4 feet of snow to melt, the torque ball cleaned out with new gaskets and torque tube back in, the rear springs attached with new bolts, and brake rods attached, what do I do with the rear end? 1. remove rear end, disassemble with a complete teardown, machine all new gears, bearings, seals, send gear case in for chemical heat bath, blast with crushed walnut shells, and 14 coats of paint. 2. Remove pumpkin lid, scrape out the taffy, clean all gears with kerosene and brush, reassemble, fill to the fill hole with kerosene, spin wheels for 10 minutes, take off the pumpkin lid and let all the goop out, reassemble with new gasket and 90 weight GL-1 3. Just knock the mud off and go, maybe add cheap oil to the fill plug. 4. Don't knock the mud off Edited April 4, 2019 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 (edited) I'm doing #2. I'll take pics to show what I find in there. I cherish the mud on the springs of this car, the way to prove a car is 100% original is when it has the original mud from 100 years ago in Ohio. There is probably enough cow poop on those springs to sprout magic mushrooms. Edited April 3, 2019 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kikta Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I’ll watch with much interest. Then Ill know what to do myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) The torque tube in the old literature is called the "third member". I can see that the left and right outer axle casings are separate from the pumpkin, but attached to it with rivets.....you can see oil leaking out between them and the pumpkin. Those must be the first and second members. Weird, trying to figure out the physics here. The way the leaf springs attach to the left and right "members" is with lubricated joints, with brass plated bearing surfaces (with tons of mud in there that had to be removed) with oil filler fittings, and fiber packing inside to absorb oil to be released as needed to the axle housings. So the axle housings spin freely relative to the leaf springs. What that means is, the rear axle housings transfer no torque to the leaf springs the way they do with a Hotchkiss drive system with an open drive shaft. The torque from the wheels under power causes the axle casings to flip in the "equal and opposite" direction and make the front of the pumpkin want to flip up, but the torque is transferred via the 3rd member (torque tube) to the transmission and engine bellhousing, which is bolted to the frame of the car. The net result of all this is a rear cantilever spring which offers a smoother ride. Every bump in the road is absorbed by the lubricated attachments to the rear ends of the leaf springs, so jolts are not transferred to the body of the car and passengers via the leaf springs, the way they are with a Hotchkiss system, or the way they would be if the axles were attached to the middles of the leaf springs. Wouldn't you really rather drive a Buick? Edited April 5, 2019 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I vote option #1, because I have no problem spending other people's money! And since you even listed that option, you must be filthy rich, congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Manes Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 1 hour ago, 27donb said: I vote option #1, because I have no problem spending other people's money! And since you even listed that option, you must be filthy rich, congratulations! 1 hour ago, 27donb said: I vote option #1, because I have no problem spending other people's money! And since you even listed that option, you must be filthy rich, congratulations! Morgan, Personally I think that option 2 is in your best interest for peace of mind and time. If there are any problems you will discover them in that process. The rear end itself is pretty much indestructible as long as it never was run dry, or got water contamination that sat in it for a long period of time. The whole process could be completed in a good afternoon. Good luck. Glenn Manes Wheat Ridge CO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 12 minutes ago, Morgan Wright said: Wow... Goopy. Kerosene wash and flush seems like a good choice here. Even more than once? I used 90wt for a while, but have switched to transoil 250 (600wt) for the trans and rear axles to slow down the leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 Actually, until you clean things up and see just how the teeth look, you cant tell much. I would not necessarily call these rear ends indestrructable. I have see a couple with teeth knocked out and also broken driveshafts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 A couple of years ago, our friend, Gregg Lange, from up Saginaw way, had new ring and pinion gears made for the D-40 and D-50 Series cars. Yours truly here has one of these new set of gears on the shelf IF needed. I am a true believer when it comes to that guy Murphy. I was the very last person who drove our D-45 on July 4th, 1976 in the Bicentennial Parade. The car ran really well and there were no funny noises or anything like that with the car. I am going to a lot of work in getting this car back on the road so that we can tour with it. I am here to tell you all, if I did not have that new set of gears waiting in the wings, that rear axle would shoot craps at the absolute worst possible opportunity. You can take that to the bank. I will clean up the rear end and check things out. Without any doubts that rear axle will outlast me. That's how stuff like that works - have the new replacement in hand and the original parts will not act up and they will fly right. Been down that road several times before. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 Terry, I have a spare rear end, keeping Murphy's law in force. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 How is this? Looking a little cleaner now. . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 Made a gasket and using Permatex black silicon gasket goop on each side. This won't leak a drop of oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 25 minutes ago, Morgan Wright said: How is this? Looking a little cleaner now. . What cleaning method did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 5 hours ago, 27donb said: What cleaning method did you use? Bucket of kerosene, paint brush, elbow grease. Then put lid back, fill with kerosene, spin wheel of car for 5 minutes, drain, repeat. Then fill with 90W, spin wheel, drain. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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