It's back on four wheels! The rear end is finally in.

It sits just right, still a little high in the front just the way it was when I started.  The width turned out perfectly too, but don't take my word for it check out the pictures!  Take note of the picture with the wheel off, you can see some machine work I had done on the axles to accommodate the smaller wheel hub.

What's next?  I need to mount shocks, and find a drive shaft or have one made.  Then on to the radiator.  I'll still have a lot of little things left like running some new brake lines, fuel lines, installing a fuel cell, and a bunch of other necessaties for the motor.  But the biggest things are now done and it's all down hill from hear (so I think).

I'm posting one handed again with a beer in the other.  I got the springs fully mounted today!  I'm very happy with the results.  I spent quite a few days looking at the springs in different positions, moving them in and out up and down.  I let the weight of the car down on them with a 4x4 and jack holding it up and it seems to sit almost perfect.  It also has a really nice feel to the bounce (no shocks yet).  My friend (the one with the 1965 Dodge Dart if you recall from the first post) has been helping me with the cleaning of the springs and rearend.  He has the rearend cleaned down to metal over most of it.  I'll be pulling the axles tomorrow and getting it ready for new bearings.  I should have it bolted in mid week.

Here are todays pictures!

After an hour of scratching my head trying to figure out how to mount the front side of the leaf springs I came up with a nice clean frame-up for it.  I also had to cut away the spare tire well to make room for the back side.  If all goes well I should have it back on all 4 wheels this weekend!

Here are some more pictures:

I've been waiting for the junk yard to pull a rear end for me out of a Dodge Dakota.  I could of had one from some other yards, but this one was the cleanest, or so I thought. I got it yesterday only to find it had a blown seal and I've had to spend a lot of time cleaning up the greasy mess.  After I get it mounted (keep your figures crossed that that goes well) I'll be pulling the axles and putting in new bearings and seals.  here are the pictures of the axle before cleaning.  Still have some rust removal before I can paint it but that will all have to wait until after I have it mounted.  It's time for some progress.  Won't be able to do much this week though because I'm camping Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Hopefully next week I will have a lot more to show.

I raced a couple WRX's at the strip with my buddies built 1965 Dodge Dart sporting a 440 big block and lost every time this spring.  I can't wait for some pay back with my Avenger when I am done!

I wish I could say things were going faster, but all I have for you today are pictures of the old rearend pulled out.  I'm waiting for the junkyard to pull the rearend for me but they are really busy and the weather hasn't been the greatest.  Should have it in the next couple of days.

Here are pictures of the gas tank and rearend removed:

Just a reminder to everyone that reads this, I'm trying to get the car rolling again on a $2,500 budget.  If that wasn't the case, I obviously wouldn't be putting in a crappy old 305 SBC and would likely be going with something like a Ford 9" rearend with fourlink and coilovers.  But I have to take what I can get.  Phase II will be performance enhancements, but lets first see if I can pull this thing off.

I've found a Dakota rearend at Watkins salvage yard locally about 9 miles from my house that I will be likely buying this Saturday complete with springs and driveshaft for $150.  I almost made the mistake of looking for a rearend that is 62 inches wide, that is the width with the weight off the rearend and the suspension hinged down.  With the weight on the wheels they spread out to approximately 64 inches.  My rough measurement of the Dakota rearend is 63 inches.  That would move the tires in 1/2 inch on each side which I don't think will be noticeable.

The car was originally a 4 cylinder with a manual trans.  It is a Base model, but has power windows, door locks and seat with a sun roof and 16 inch wheels  (I believe 14 inch was standard for base).

I now have the back end of the car up on stands and have measured the rear end width.  Looks like I'm after a rear end with an overall width of 62 inches and a 4.5 inch (114.3mm) bolt pattern.  That pretty much excludes all GM rearends (4.75 bolt circle).  I think the Ford Ranger 8.8 rearend might be too narrow.  I'm going to try and measure an 8.25 rearend out of a Dodge Dakota on thursday (1987 to 1990 are 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern).

I'm pretty sure the V8 is heavier, but because the weight of the transmission is distributed more to the back it seems to put about the same load on the front end.  When it is on it's wheels I can bounce my body weight up and down on the front end and the car handles it without any problem.  Like I mentioned earlier it actaully sits a little higher in the front with the V8 but as I reinstall the components like the steering it is likely to squat back down to a perfect height.  I still have some heavy items left like starter, alternator powersteering pump, radiator, carborator, exhaust, etc.

I just can't let something sit unfinished.  Tonight I'm writting one handed becuase I'm drinking an ice cold beer with the other to celebrate the completion of the steering!  Well, at least the fabrication work is completed.  I still have to grease some joints and reposition the steering wheel in the correct orientation and a quick do-it-yourself alignment.  In all, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Here are the pictures I promised:

Just a quick update - Still working on the steering (it's really kicking my ass).  It's like threading a needle.  I have it all functioning finally, but had to pull it all out and start reinforcing the cross member where I removed material to fit the gearbox.  It's a good thing I took this week off work because it's been taking every day for 6 to 8 hours to get this steering worked out.  I should have it finished this weekend and will post pictures then.  I did have to leave out the sway bar, that will have to be a future project to put one back in it.  It will be nice to have this steering behind me so I can get on with the rearend.  Check back Saturday night for the next update.

I got the car home Friday without too much trouble, the tires were a bit of a challenge while rolling the car as they wanted to turn in opposite directions.  But it's in my garage now and I'm right back to work with the steering.  I decided to gamble on the Astro steering assembly and purchased it out of a 1987 Astro Van at the local salvage yard (Watkins) for $80.  I spent a couple hours trying to fit it one way, then another and finally, after a little concern to be honest, I found what I hope is a location too good to be true.  I have the steering gear box tack welded into what appears to be the most ideal location.  I just hope tomorrow when I start fitting the rest of the linkage (which needs to be cut and shortened) that it all goes into place.

I did have to cut away some of my previous cross member tubing and will need to replace it with new bracing. Here are the pictures of the steering gear box tack welded in and lined up with the steering column.

Damn I'm tired! I put in six and a half hours tonight, but the transmission is mounted and the car is back on it's wheels.  It actually sits a little high, but there is a lot more to be put on so it should level out perfectly.  What luck!

BTW, it will have power steering, just not rack & pinion style, it will have the gear box with the rod that runs under the oil pan.  The gear box is hydrolic.  I've lost the A/C, but I'm not giving up the power steering (yet  )

Here is a picture of the transmission cross member (which fits nice and tight under the car, camer battery died so no pics) and the car back on it's wheels.  Tomorrow I'll be trailering the car back to my house. My friend has been kind enough to let me do all this work in his garage but it's time to give him back his space.  Next I'll be tackling the steering followed by the rear end.

Sunday went well with getting the motor mounts in.  I must say the motor drops in like a glove.  If only the rack & pinion fit as well. In fact the rack & pinion won't be going back in, just not enough room left.  I'll have to go with a gear box style steering system. I spent some time today at a local salvage yard and the steering out of a Chevy Astro van looks very promissing.  More on that after the transmission is mounted (with any luck tomorrow).

Here are some pictures of the motor mounts in:

Today I got the final material cut away from the crossmember and all the support tubing welded in.  I spent most of the week looking at pictures of the crossmember trying to determine the best way to reinforce the structure semetrically when the cross member isn't quite semetrical.  From the pictures I think you can see all my time analyzing it paid off.  The cross member is reinforced and welded to the cars frame.  If I had the rack and pinion installed I'd put it back on it wheels, but since I don't I'll just have to wait to see how well it sits.

Tomorrow I'm going to start the day by welding in plates for the engine mounts.  Then I'm going to spend some time seeing if I can relocate the rack and pinion about 5 inches lower then its original position.  After that I'm going to begin cutting away the firewall and floor to make room for the transmission.  I'm hoping the center hump will be enough for the driveshaft so that I won't need to cut it all the way back.

Here are the pictures for todays work, enjoy!