[chevy_mike]

Finally got some more time working on the Panel. I swear this project is going to be the death of me. I continue to find more issues but slowly getting things fixed correctly. I started to work on the rear suspension and brakes. Basically I am replacing every piece of the brake system so I will know it is all good. Glad I did.

Pulling the drums off, one must be fairly original and was deeply grooved. Had to really back of the adjuster to get it off. The driver side, when I got the drum off, I found the axle seal leaking. Well, I wanted to flush the fluid and put my finned cover on. I just wasn't counting on pulling the axles too. Luckily the outer bearing look good and the axles don't have any grooves. Pulled the seals and figured out why the driver side was leaking. Someone used screwdrivers or something to remove a previous seal and gouged the tube. A little coat of RTV and new seal installed, it shouldn't leak anymore.

After that I got the shoes off and found the contact pads on the backing plate very gouged. Pulled the backing plate and broke out the MIG to fill the grooves. Ground them smooth and flat again and all it good. Passenger side did not have all these problems. New seals, shoes, wheel cylinders, drums, done. Man I do realize I hate drum brakes. Got everything back together. Still need to make new hard lines.

Now time to get the torched rear coils out and the upper mounting bolt fought me. Had to cut most of the coil off and use a cut off wheel to cut the bolt. Finally got both springs out. Panhard bar is off too. Ran out of time so that's it for now. Next will be pulling the U-bolts so I can install the adjustable bar from CPP. Also need to do the shock relocation kit. I did find out I have 3.73 gears which is better than 4.10 that I figured it might have.

Here are a few pics. Worked more and ended up taking less pics.