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Removed the driver's side fender. - It needed to be replaced anyway. I have a good replacement waiting in the wings.
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Cleaned up the wheel well & frame. Painted the wheel well with undercoat.
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Removed the drivers side leaf spring.
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Removed both drive axels in order to remove the differential assembly.
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Cleaned and degrease the rear-end casing. No easy task with 57 years of grime and many years driving with the leaky differential gasket.
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Removed the differential assembly.
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Thoroughly cleaned the assembly. I soaked it in a tub of kerosene. I definitely need to move the part washed out here to Delaware.
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The ring & pinion gears looked brand new, no detectable ware of any kind.
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I was very surprised by the lack of wear. I am starting to believe that this old car must have low mileage.
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I replaced the front seal.
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Removed the old one by drilling some holes in it and using a slap hammer to remove the seal.
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Backlash in spec at .012
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Installed new bearings on the drive axels. Actually the one's that were there looked just fine. Here again no noticeable wear. I had already bought the bearings so I might just as well replace them.
- I will install inner and outer drive axel seals during reassembly.