Rear rebuild finished. 4-2-2011

After 4 weeks I’ve finally finished a job that should have taken one or two long days. Most of that was due to the fact that every time I’d be deep into the job, I would find something else that HAD to be done or I would find there is one small part I didn’t have and have to stop and wait for it to be shipped. I’m still waiting on some parts so I just wound up cannibalizing my 74 roadster whose rear end was already completely rebuilt.

So far, here’s what I’ve done…
New heritage leaf springs
Teflon-impregnated suspension bushings
New brake shoes, pads, springs, cylinders, adjusters. Bled and adjusted
Underside, wheel wells axle, suspension, completely scraped, wire-brushed, degreased, rust-treated, undercoated and painted.
New metal welded in to replace the rusted rails at the trailing driver side leaf spring attach point.
New axle oil seals, adjuster cleaned, adjusted and lubed. Axle fluid topped off, breather cleaned out. Driveshaft u-joint nuts & bolts checked
Exposed wiring harness covered with plastic split loom
Trunk/cargo area repainted and new carpet installed.
Factory wire wheels degreased, cleaned and repainted.

I still have to replace the oily, dented and apparently leaking fuel tank but that can wait a bit.
Next comes replacing the rotted metal in the floorboards, firewalls, and inner sills on the driver and passenger sides, urethane bushing replacement and front end rebuild, Acoustic and thermal installation and installing new carpeting, interior panels and a bunch of other misc interior work.
All this has to be done by April 17 for the British car show at Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, NC.

Oh, and I have to get the Spitfire running too…
…and the 74 Roaster…
…and the Corvette…

The fun is in the overdoing!