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Now I'm in for it.

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
I picked up the Dana from the fab shop today. I have been asked to post a pic of the ends of the axles. I dont feel like taking the calipers and rotors off, so this will have to do.
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260Alpine

Silver Level Sponsor
Brian, looks good! Another weird request for you. Could you balance it on a bathroom scale to see how much it weighs? I'm guessing about 180 lbs.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
I wont be able to get it on a scale and I have not had my back calibrated lately, but lifting it into the truck, I was thinking more like 200 lbs. It is a lot heavier than the sunbeam unit.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
And a lot stronger! Thanks!
Plus the tracloc will really help get some power to the ground.

So many things to get done before I can get this car on the road. Just for the rear end, I need brake hoses and lines, I need to change the parking brake levers. I need to get some different u bolts as the outboard pair have to go around a larger bearing housing. This will require a different plate under the springs to take the larger ubolts.
 
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Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
I filled the diff with gear oil and a bottle of friction modifier for the tracloc. I am heading out of town for work for a week, so no progress for a while.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
The rear end is done and ready for pick up. Speedy work and a fair price. It has Dan R's disc brake parts installed. The ebrake levers have not been converted to sunbeam style yet.View attachment 28179View attachment 28180
I am now rethinking converting to the sunbeam style ebrake levers. I can get a dual cable system to work with these saturn calipers for about $50. I think it will be far simpler to go that route instead of retaining the sunbeam setup.
 
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Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
"Going where no man has gone before". And on $50, no less! The Alpine system is pretty simple: A pull rod support welded onto the diff cover plate. two pull rods that prolly have to be bent to shape (very easy) and the stock cable, as compare to what?
Bill
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
Not having to remove the saturn ebrake levers from the calipers, and not having to weld anything to the rear end. I can route two flexible cables to the calipers holding them wherever needed with screw mounted rubber lined clips. It seems easier to me. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
Tonight I did a little work on the brakes in anticipation of installing the rear end this weekend. Here you can see i have the brake hose and e brake cables mounted. I think they are going to work well.
 

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Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
Back to the electrical phase of my project. I am using vdo gauges and bought a dash harness made for them. I installed blue led bulbs in the gauges. I think they will go well with the car.
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sunalp

Diamond Level Sponsor
Looks great Brian. It's a great feeling when you get to see this for the first time! Good job!!
Are you using a stock dash, or better question are the VDO gauges the same size as the stockers?
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
The vdos are the same size as the originals. Unfortunately, they have discontinued this line. They are their Vision Chrome series. I dont have a clock selected yet, and have been having a hard time finding the one that matches the rest of the gauges.
 

Aladin Sane

Diamond Level Sponsor
So I got the rear end back under the car, but I need some different ubolts. I bought the correct ones for the outboard side, but the inboard side uses the original width, but will need to be a little longer, so I checked out three autoparts places near my home and came up with nothing. I ordered some, but its going to be a couple weeks before they arrive. Here is what things look like so far. It looks like I may need to bend the ebrake levers a bit. I wont know for sure until the car is back on its wheels.

20230311_112956.jpg20230311_113015.jpg
 

belmateo

Gold Level Sponsor
Brian, that looks too close for my comfort. You might consider flipping the brackets so the caliper is mounted at the front where you will have more clereance. It looks like in your previous post that the brackets are bolted on is why I suggest this resolution.
 
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