Suggestions - 8 3/4 Axle Housing Restoration

[Shakey]

I have a used 8 3/4 housing that will need to be cleaned up and painted prior to installing the guts.

Any suggestions on the best way to clean it up?  I am thinking of contacting a sandblasting company (there are a few in my area) and asking for a quote.

Should I ask about sandblasting or beadblasting or....what are my options?  What would you have done?

What about paint?  What colour what type?

I am thinking black semi-gloss powder coat.

Do I need to worry about the inside of the case?

[firefighter3931]

Mike, I see you scored a new housing 

Por15 works great on rusty surfaces. On yours i would just use a wire brush and get rid of the loose scale then paint it. I just did a set of brake drums that i picked up at Moparfest (remember that.... ) and they turned out great. You don't want to sandblast it to bare metal if you're planning to use the POR15....that stuff needs something to grip onto. I bought a small can of the stuff for $10.00 locally which would be enough to do the whole rearend...maybe 2 cans max if  you wanted to do the drums, backing plates etc...

Nice semi gloss finish that's tough as nails. 


Ron

[is_it_EVER_done?]

I would not sand/bead blast it because any media that gets inside the housing is near impossible to get out. It can be done - IF you are doing it yourself - and you install the center section and axles first, completely wrap the machined and gasket surfaces with rags and tape so as not to cause any erosion on the critical parts, but any shop you take it to will not be carefull whatsoever, no matter what they say.

If you assemble everything first, you can use an angle grinder with a heavy gauge twisted wire brush. It will take the rust off as fast as sand blasting, just make sure you wear a mask and goggles.

As for cleaning out the inside (after you do the outside), disassemble it, and an engine cylinder bore brush with mineral spirits does a great job, followed by soap and water and a garden hose with a spray nozzle. (I like Murphys oil soap for cleaning car parts). A hair dryer stuck in each end for awhile will eliminate any trapped moisture.

After that you can prime it with an epoxy primer, then paint it - make sure to cover the openings with cardboard so that the primer/paint doesn't get inside. It's then as good as new. With new seals and bearings, it should last 100 years (literally) without any further decay. It's more work than just covering the rust, but well worth it in my opinion.

As for powder coating it, I wouldn't unless you are willing to fabricate sheet metal seals for all the openings, and disassemble the center section before doing it. Powder coating requires a bunch of heat which will effect the pinion seal, and is so thick that it will effect clearances if any gets on the machined surfaces. Not only that, but powder coating chips worse than paint in my opinion, and can expose parts to rust again.

[Chryco Psycho]

fi you are going to sandblast it keep it all together so the sand stays out
I have powder coated 3 diff housings at least & they all look great & are far more durable than paint , , I just remove the axles & carrier & do the housing & replace the axle seals , then paint the carrier natyral iron grey & do a semi gloss black on the housing
FYI the powder coating is done at 400 * for 15-20 minutes & surprisingly will not hurt the seals at all , I still replace them but even after powdercoating the seals are still soft not hardened or burnt as I expected them to be

[Shakey]

First of all, thanks for all of the suggestions.  I did get a price of $150.00 CDN to sandblast which wasn't too bad as far as money goes but I like the advice and the warnings I got here so I opted not to have someone else do it.  Powder coat, painting I don't think it will make a huge difference in the end.

I ended up taking the backing plates off of my new (well used) housing and started with a wire brush.  Then I used a wire wheel on an electric drill and ground off all of the scale.  I then when to the more aggressive angle grinder with a larger wire wheel / brush. 

I spent about an hour cleaning off the old carrier gasket and made sure that the metal was free of debris and nice and clean.  Then the old axle seals came out with no trouble thanks to the Silver Slapper!

I then cleaned the inside out and dried it thoroughly just in case a bit of sand did get inside it would have nothing to stick too because my next step was to tape it up and sandblasted the areas that I couldn't get to with the wire wheel, the spring perches and the brake line mounting tabs.  I then took it back inside and cleaned it again, inside and out.  I then took it over to the "milk" room (don't tell the Dairy Council  ) where the hot water tap is and washed it again with soap and water, two or three times.  Then back to the shop to dry it again.  I used air and a hair dryer to make sure every bit of moisture was gone from inside the housing.  I didn't plan on assembling it just yet but I didn't want to leave any in there.

I then taped it up again and prepared it for primer.  Then two coats of primer and two coats of black paint and it looks almost as good as new.  I have all of my bearings and seals, I'll pick two gaskets Saturday AM and a pair of shocks, paint the remaining items and we should have it all assembled this weekend.

I am hoping to pick up new parking brake cables next week as well as brake lines from front to back for the car.  I already have the brake lines that mount to the housing.

Thanks again for all the tips and advice guys.  Last Saturday was a long day and my back was killing me after handling that angle grinder (she almost got away a couple times) but it sure was worth it.

Of course I took a lot of pics as I went so I'll share them with you folks.

P.S. - I renamed the title of the thread in case others are looking for this advice in the future.

[Shakey]

 

[Shakey]

 

[Blown70]

Do I see a bulk (milk tank) in that photo?  U on a farm?

Tom

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Looks great Mike!   I hope you took note of the position & color of the factory "circle X" that was on the center of the housing

[firefighter3931]

Looks good Mike !  You never said anything about building a trailer queen 

Ron

[Shakey]

Do I see a bulk (milk tank) in that photo?  U on a farm?

Tom

My Wife's Parents have a 300 acre dairy farm (Jersey's) about 2 hours West of Toronto, right on the shore of Lake Erie.

That is where my car is being restored, about an hour from my house.

[Shakey]

Looks great Mike!   I hope you took note of the position & color of the factory "circle X" that was on the center of the housing

I actually thought it was a letter "D".  I am aware of some of the markings on the housings and made a point of photographing it, just like I did with the orange dab on the carrier and the markings "6 20" which are barely visible. 

What does the "6 20" mean?  Build date of the carrier?  My car was built on June 23, 1969 but I have a tough time believing the carrier was assembled 3 days prior.  Is it possible?

This used housing came out of a ' 68 SW so I was not sure if it was a "D" but it looks like it could be an "X" wrapped in a circle.

Are there different markings on these housings?  The SW was not a Sure-Grip unit.

[Shakey]

Looks good Mike !  You never said anything about building a trailer queen 

Ron

I don't even have a trailer Ron.  Hell I don't even have access to one.  I think of a windshield sticker, or someones avtar that says:

"If this car is on a trailer, it's stolen".

This car that I am building will see the road, and plenty of it, once it gets done!   

It's not being built for someone to judge other than my Father-In-Law or myself.  Perhaps after were finished this one, we'll build a show winner.  This one is just a hound were cutting our teeth with.

Thanks again for your input, always appreciated.  There will be lots more questions in the near future.   

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The 742 case wouldnt have come in a 69..... especially in a late build like yours

Yes I have seen "D"'s as well.....for 68's

Good reading here.....

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=QuestionAnswer&Number=2364183&Searchpage=1&Main=2360664&Words=markings&topic=&Search=true#Post2364183

[runningman]

Yeah that does look nice, I am getting ready to do mine as well.  Thanks for the tips

[firefighter3931]

I don't even have a trailer Ron.  Hell I don't even have access to one.  I think of a windshield sticker, or someones avtar that says:

"If this car is on a trailer, it's stolen".

This car that I am building will see the road, and plenty of it, once it gets done!   

It's not being built for someone to judge other than my Father-In-Law or myself.  Perhaps after were finished this one, we'll build a show winner.  This one is just a hound were cutting our teeth with.

Thanks again for your input, always appreciated.  There will be lots more questions in the near future.   

Hey Mike, it's all good Buddy...i was just razzin ya !  The rear end does look really good and your attention to detail is excellent. I'll be looking for some pointers when i get around to redoing the 70r/t. 

Ron

[Shakey]

I don't even have a trailer Ron.  Hell I don't even have access to one.  I think of a windshield sticker, or someones avtar that says:

"If this car is on a trailer, it's stolen".

This car that I am building will see the road, and plenty of it, once it gets done!   

It's not being built for someone to judge other than my Father-In-Law or myself.  Perhaps after were finished this one, we'll build a show winner.  This one is just a hound were cutting our teeth with.

Thanks again for your input, always appreciated.  There will be lots more questions in the near future.   

Hey Mike, it's all good Buddy...i was just razzin ya !  The rear end does look really good and your attention to detail is excellent. I'll be looking for some pointers when i get around to redoing the 70r/t. 

Ron

I knew you were just bustin' my balls.

[HeavyFuel]

Sorry to reserect this old thread, Shakey, but what tools did you need to do the work?

I want to do a similar job to mine, and need to round up the stuff to do it.  Do I need special pullers and whatnot to get out the axles and the seals? 

I read throught the shop manual, and it seems like its going to be a tough job if your don't have the right tools.

[John_Kunkel]

Soap and water is the trick after grit blasting, nothing else will break the static bond.

[Shakey]

Sorry to reserect this old thread, Shakey, but what tools did you need to do the work?

I want to do a similar job to mine, and need to round up the stuff to do it.  Do I need special pullers and whatnot to get out the axles and the seals? 

I read throught the shop manual, and it seems like its going to be a tough job if your don't have the right tools.

The only out of the ordinary tool I recall was the Silver Slapper.  This tool was used to pull out the axle seals.

There may be other ways of getting them out but we had the tool on hand so we went with it.

There is a pic above of it being used, in the description of the process.

Other than that, a lot of elbow grease and time.  It took me, IIRC, about 8 hours of solid work from the time I started with the wire brush to walking out and heading home for dinner to let the primer dry for the night.

I was quite pleased with the results.

Let me know if you have more questions.

BTW - this link has some info on the bearings and seals.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,10483.0.html

[Steve P.]

Not to thound thilly, but that's one good looking rear end!!    Who bent the lines?

Looks great Shakey..

[71charger_fan]

"There may be other ways of getting them out but we had the tool on hand so we went with it."

I used a long broom handle. I knocked the left seal out from the right side and the right seal from the left side.

[HeavyFuel]

Thanks, Shakey.

You've got the carrier a different color than the housing.  I read about that somewhere, but can't find it.

[HeavyFuel]

Thanks, Shakey.

You've got the carrier a different color than the housing.  I read about that somewhere, but can't find it.

I just found this.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,10877.0.html

[Shakey]

I used Eastwood's Spray Gray for the carrier.