Project 6 Point Oh

[East Tex]

Yes, that is a piece of 2x6 wood and an old life jacket between the tank and the floor jack.
The tank is so nice, I didn't want to scratch or dent it. Plus I have some "Redneck ways" to do things sometimes.

[East Tex]

Also included with this tank were bolts, washers, lock nuts, and 2 pieces of flat steel "for extra support on the aluminum flange". It probably doesn't need it, but I like the idea of the extra support. I'll have the flat steel supports powder coated before final assembly.

[East Tex]

Installed

[East Tex]

Finally finished my fuel system. I just need to fab a bracket by the bell housing, to hold the braided lines up. Where the weight of the hoses wont be hanging off of the fuel rail. I also figured out that wrenches scar up the anodized fittings, unless you put tape on them. I know they make special wrenches for those fittings, but I didn't have any.

[East Tex]

More

[East Tex]

more

[East Tex]

..

[East Tex]

Well, it has been a while since I've posted anything. I have been working on it, but have neglected to update this thread. So, here we go...

[East Tex]

Fuel lines are finished. My LS has a truck manifold with a return line, so I had to run a supply and a return. I had plenty of 3/8" stainless, so I ran 3/8" on the return line too.

[East Tex]

Long story but the bottom line is, if you have an aftermarket aluminum radiator, an aftermarket core support, and reproduction rubber mounts, just be ready to modify everything so that it will all fit correctly.

[East Tex]

Trailblazer SS exhaust manifold studs are a mess, so time to remove the old ones, chase the threads, and replace with new studs. I still need to get them ceramic coated.

[East Tex]

I posted the wrong picture of the front axle, the photo shows where the inner seal rides.

[East Tex]

Tearing down the front diff. Sandblasting the knuckles and misc pieces.

[East Tex]

Pressure washing and grinding smooth a few rough spots before taking the frame to the powder coaters.

[East Tex]

This aftermarket radiator core support has some serious spot weld splatter. I am going to grind off the splatter before taking it to the powder coater. Also I drilled holes and welded in some nuts, so I could relocate the battery tray to the driver's side.

[East Tex]

I'm going to tear these diffs down and set up the new ring and pinions. Then tear them down to bare housings and take the housings in to be powder coated. Then when the housings are back from the powder coaters, all I'll have to do is wash them out real good and install shims, bearings, and gears that I've already dialed in.

[aggie91]

Nice Progress!

[East Tex]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice Progress!

Thanks, I've got a lot more pics to upload, to get this caught up to date lol

[East Tex]

I ordered my differential parts from Randy's Ring & Pinion, great folks to deal with. I'm using Yukon gears and clutches, also Timken bearings. It may look like the housing is already powder coated but its not. Its sanded and brushed with POR15. It didn't look as nice as I wanted, so it will be sandblasted and powder coated soon. The 3.07 ratio gears are being replaced with 3.73 ratio. I used the Yukon "Tall" gears so I didn't have to buy 4 series carriers.

[East Tex]

Sandblasted and POR15 painted. These smaller pieces looked good after brushing POR15, unlike the differential housings. Sandblasting all the small stuff takes TONS of my time! New ball joints are in the knuckles before POR15 painting.

[East Tex]

I took all my old bearings and used sandpaper flapper wheels to make them "set up bearings", to where I can slide them on and off without using a bearing puller. This way its easier to change shims while setting up the ring and pinion. Then after you have the gears set up and a good pattern, you can press on the new bearings.

[East Tex]

Also I saturated the clutches with GM posi trac additive. The rest of the bottle will be added in with the 90 Wt gear oil upon final assembly.

[East Tex]

I took these old bearings and the one inner pinion race and made "Set Up" bearings and races just like I described earlier on my 12 bolt diff.

[East Tex]

This Dana 44 doesn't have a crush sleeve, so you have two pinion shims to adjust and try to achieve around 15 inch pounds on drag on the pinion. (Pinion Load)

[East Tex]

Installing new ring gear. But the sad news is after assembling the carrier into the housing, the backlash is all over the place. It was .0010 on one side and I rolled the ring gear half way around and it was .003. So I then check the run out on the face of the carrier (where the ring gear bolts up) and the carrier is .009 out!!! Time to order a new Dana 44 carrier.