Progress Thread Epik's Official Progress Thread

[EPIK]

looking good man! one step at a time... the warm weather is a few weeks off anyway


edit: you're in california... it's always warm

Thanks bro... I hope to have it done soon...

Its not warm right now, its raining cats &, & its supposed to all week. But as much as I hate the rain, we need it BAD out here. We are in the worst drought we have seen in 30 years in California...

 

[LB0193]

I WANT THAT CAR

 

[EPIK]

I finally made some REAL progress today. Since I wanted to paint my rear end before installing the gears & axles, I used a lower mileage core that my buddy had in his backyard to make things easier.... I painted it satin black last week & today finally started getting down & dirty....


We installed the 3.73 gears & 5 lug ranger axles today... I really want to thank my buddy StreakMatt & his dad Jerry for helping out big time... I learned a lot today since this is the 1st time I have ever installed gears.

Here are some pics taken during the process. I know that most wouldn't include this many pics of the process, but I am proud that I actually helped install my own gears rather than paying a shop to do it....


Diff opened up & inspecting the clutches etc... Everything looks good & tight & didnt need a rebuild....

Knocking out the old seals & bearings....

All cleaned out & ready for the new parts...

Knocking in the new bearing race....

Heating up the old bearings to remove them from the carrier...
View attachment 268414

All old bearings removed...

removing the old pinion bearing...
View attachment 268416

Pressing on the new pinion bearing...
View attachment 268417

Carrier installed with the 3.73's & new bearings... Im spreading blue paint on the gears to check the wear pattern to make sure everything is nice & tight....

View attachment 268418

Wear pattern looks good to go...

Tightening down the pinion nut...

Slipping the 5 lug axles into their new home...

Diff cover ready to go back on...

All buttoned up....5 lug axles & 3.73's FTW!!!

 

[cenok is family]

nice man! pretty cool you did it yourself too. cant wait to see it with those wheels on! what tires are you running in the rear again?

 

[EPIK]

nice man! pretty cool you did it yourself too. cant wait to see it with those wheels on! what tires are you running in the rear again?

Thanks... Im gonna run the 275/40/17 BFG KDW's (the old tread design) that are on the current Cobra rear wheels... There not the best tires, but they are pretty new & I dont have to spend more money on tires... The tread pattern wont match front & rear, but at least the sidewalls will....

I wish BFG made the KDW2's in a 275, but they dont for some odd reason??? I bet they would sell a ton if they did...



The rear end will be swapped into the car sometime this week & the rear wheels will be on the car....

 

[Beasty306GT]

I Love the way you take pics....awesome work man......u just got my rearend gears done with 373....cant wait to tear em up...did they tell you how to break in

 

[Mustang5L5]

nice axle jig

 

[EPIK]

I Love the way you take pics....awesome work man......u just got my rearend gears done with 373....cant wait to tear em up...did they tell you how to break in

Thanks man... The gears are used, so they have already been broken in...

nice axle jig

My buddy's dad made that out of an engine stand....

 

[bentley429]

Looks good but aren't you not supposed to tighten down the pinion nut with a impact?

 

[EPIK]

Looks good but aren't you not supposed to tighten down the pinion nut with a impact?

We used the impact gun on low at fisrt & then a HUGE beaker bar to tighten it down the final time...

Trust me the guys who coached me & helped me do all the labor are experts who have been building mustangs for years which include StreakMatt's 10.09@139 fox & a couple other 10 second foxes....

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

Lookin good. The KDW's should hook your car up nicely on the street. I had them on my black notch and they hooked taking off from idle, and when shifting hard into second gear. When dumping the clutch, they would still spin for when you wanna show off.

What LCA and UCA are you going with?

 

[TrickFlowd]

Awesome progress man! Can't wait to see this thing all buttoned up. I'm very interested in seeing those wheels!

 

[EPIK]

FINALLY.......THE MOMENT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!


The wheels are on!!! Got it done today with the help from a few good friends. Still haven't installed the MM cc plates, 95 ball joints, new tie rods, or gotten an alignment, but I got the major work done.... The wheels fit great, but I did have to remove the quad shocks, & massage the inner rear fender with a BFH. The Bilsteins improved the ride quality 100%, but of everything though, the 3.73's impressed me the most... All I can say is OMFG, the car pulls hard now!!!!



Here is my usual set of progress pics... I will get some better pics of the car after I clean up the car tomorrow...



Old rusty 3.08 geared rear end & blown stock shocks on their maiden voyage...

Old compared to new....

New 3.73 rear & Bilstein's mounted up...

Rear wheels are on!!!

Cobra brakes, 95 spindles, & Bilstein struts mounted up....

Front wheels on the car....

After a long day, the finished product!!!

 

[Beasty306GT]

Wow man...those wheels look great....nice job....i cant wait to test out my new 373...its killin me....need all the snow gone before it comes out of storage

 

[S&B]

very nice, I got those same wheels for my notch im building.

Your like me everything has to look good going in!

 

[EPIK]

Wow man...those wheels look great....nice job....i cant wait to test out my new 373...its killin me....need all the snow gone before it comes out of storage

Thanks man.. I will tell you what, you will LOVE those 3.73's. My car feels totally different & it never falls out of the power band anymore...

very nice, I got those same wheels for my notch im building.

Your like me everything has to look good going in!

Thanks... What color is your notch?

Yup, I have to have everything cleaned & painted before going on. If I had the time, I would have cleaned up the undercarriage & wheel wells while I was at it, but I had my buddies helping me so I didn't want to make them wait... I will probably clean them up soon & re-coat the rear wheel wells...

 

[Mustang5L5]

FOTM nomination time

 

[Nova]

about darn time

looks great man. ide love to have some KDW2's.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

they're on!!!!! looks absolutely sick man, you beat me to it! i just got my rear wheels mounted on the nitto drag radials and balanced yesterday, next weekend is the front and then i'll be slapping them on once the weather hits 50 degrees and stays there

all hail t3h white notch on 10th anny cobras

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

Looks really nice. It feels good to get something like that done. What are your next plans, if any?