Man this thing is giving me a daily workout!
I got the box off (pic 1) a few days ago and it was an all day project. Lots of drama but I'll skip over that fiasco. Next day it was time to remove items like the shocks, driveshaft and odds/ends. The one shock came off real nice but the other?
I think it took about an hour! I literally had to cut it off!
Think these shocks can be re-used? (pic 2)
Yesterday it was time to pull the rear wheels and get into the brakes to see what new parts I would need. First off, EVERY lug nut except 1 would not budge! I even snapped off a 3/4 extension on one. I had to heat each lug with a propane torch to get them off. About an hour and a pound of sweat to get 15 lugs off.
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Once that was finally done, you would think the hard part was over but go to pull the rims off and they are stuck! Starting on the passenger side the first one didn't put up much of a fight when I introduced it to my hammer but the inner one did. Had no trouble getting the rest apart on that side. Happily the wheel cylinders look good so I can simply rebuild them. The one brake cable is still good but the other has some frayed cable and a broken spring. Problem is, no one sells these!!!!
As you can see in (pic 3), ol' Vic sure got his moneys worth out of these brake shoes! Right down into the rivets. Luckily they seem to be made of brass so they did not cut the drums which look salvagable.
These run over $100 a piece so I am very glad of that.
These are big shoes, 13 X 2.5! The sucky part of these rears is you have to pull the axles to get the drums off. Horrible thing for general brake inspections so they get neglected alot. My 71 C20 has the same thing which reminds me, time to check those shoes too...
Was hoping for a posi but knew it wouldn't have one judging by the bald tires on the one side. :evil
The one thing I just don't understand is why posi was not standard on all cars and trucks? Remember how cheap that option was when these were new? Why on earth would anyone WANT only 1 wheel grabbing? Especially in my area where we get all 4 seasons and some bad snow storms. And futher, peg leg rear on a wrecker? I never have luck with getting cars with posi's, I usually have to add it myself and it's NO longer a cheap option. Know of any 4.10 posi chunks lying around?
So after stripping all that side down, (pic 4) I moved to the other side to repeat the process. Same thing over there but even worse. The inner wheel is SO stuck on the drum that it's still on there. (pic 5) I had to just pull the drum with wheel on for now.
Time for a block of wood and the BFH! :eek:
So...next up is the front steering/suspension. I just can't wait to get started on my workout. Who needs Richard Simmons, I got sweatin' to the oldies. 1969 that is.