[Vic1947]

Spent more time than I planned on the rear axle, but it turned out nice which is what counts. After cleaning up the residue from burning out the cross pin, I installed the line up bar and found the axle tubes were tweaked. By applying some heat in the right spots, the tubes moved into place and I was ready to setup the gov bomb. Took several tries to get the pattern to come in ...I must really be getting old, but in the end it felt nice and smooth and the pattern was where it should be.

The urethane bushings for the trailing arms gave me fits also. When assembled, they were .100" too wide to fit between the tabs. Had to throw two of the pieces into the lathe and counterbore them so they would slip over the original metal housing. After that, they went together like they were meant to. Strong Arm kit for the trailing arms is on B/O, so they have yet to get a coat of paint. End result is, that after two days of "put together, take apart, repeat" I finally have it down on all four wheels.

The rest of the parts for the steering linkage came in today and once I got the pieces trial assembled, I began to torque the fasteners. Started with the steering sector and on the fourth bolt as I was drawing it up, the head sheared off. You can see from the photo that there must have been a fracture thru half of it. Hazards of reusing hardware I guess, although this particular bolt was grade 8 which makes the fail a bit more surprising.

Engine assembly is next.