Rear Pinion Installation Help!

[Ralph E.]

Am in the process of replacing the rear pinion seal on my 67.
The drive shaft is removed. The rear leaf spring bolts at the TA have been removed and the spring is free. The rear cushion(aka snubber) has been removed. BUT, I cannot get the snubber bracket bolts removed. I do not want to drill a hole in the storage compartment.
How do I get the differential to rotate down so that the bracket front bolt can be removed?
Yes, I did put a 3/4" wood block above the differential and it is still in place.
I replaced the snubber cushion about 15 years ago and I do not recall getting the bracket off was this difficult.

[Mark M.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

It's been a few years since I've had to move a front bracket with rear end in but I remember it was a bear to get the rear end to lean down enough to pull the front bolt first. The bracket should swing down on the rear bolt for more room. Spring ends loose, and a jack just under rear end. If I remember correctly for a c2, I pulled the bolt for the rear end cross member to frame on the drivers side and the end of the cross member needs to be popped loose. That takes some careful prying on the cross member to frame. A good way to pop it is to cut wood wedges and stripes of plywood and drive in where needed to apply pressure more evenly. Also a long pry bar and persistence and they pop. It should hang down enough to pull front bolt of the bracket. Whats important when you change the pinion seal is to mark the nut and threaded tip of the pinion to each other so the same nut is tightened back where it was. That should put your bearing preload back safely. You may have to jack rear end back up and use extensions to get sockets on the nut and turn. The new seal flange should stop 1/8" shy of axle housing and sealer like permatex #2 should be packed under the large washer to seal the yoke/pinion splines. Good luck

[Gary R.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

Ralph
You almost there to remove the diff from the car. You have the driveshaft and spring disconnected, just the strut rods and 1/2 shafts and you can lower the diff with the cross member down and out to make the job a lot easier and you can get to the side seals and replace all of them at one time and put it back as an assembly, that is what I would do.

You can count the threads and chisel mark it but the best way is to use a 0-30 in/ln Dial TW to set the preload where it should be with used bearings.

[Scott P.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

You can leave the rear end all bolted up and still remove the pinion seal, A good compressor and a good air impact gun will get the nut off, then
the yoke can be tapped off and the seal replaced, It aint easy but its better than removing the rear end or doing any of that other stuff.
As the other guys have said mark the nut and pinion and yoke so you can get the yoke back where it was.
I have done this several times just as I have described so you can too.
Scott

[Ralph E.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

Everything is marked, threads at bolt counted, ONLY the bracket is in the way. It is a pretty tight space with the bracket in the way.
Can the seal be removed and replaced with the bracket in the way? or is it worth the trouble to get the bracket removed.

[Bob R.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

In a 63 the front bolts can be removed and the bracket can be dropped but on your 67 both the front and rear bracket bolts are too long to be removed without damaging the fiberglass. You will have to work with it in place or follow the instructions from Gary Ramadei.

[Ralph E.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

Disappointing news for me. Looks like I am going to have to postpone working on my Vette for awhile. Need to leave town for a few weeks.
Thanks everyone for you help. When I get back I'll try again.

[Danny P.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

In a 63 the front bolts can be removed and the bracket can be dropped but on your 67 both the front and rear bracket bolts are too long to be removed without damaging the fiberglass. You will have to work with it in place or follow the instructions from Gary Ramadei.

What ever you do make sure you replace the crush Pinion sleeve , you can only use it once.

[Ralph E.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

What ever you do make sure you replace the crush Pinion sleeve , you can only use it once.

With all the information I have read and the procedures outlined by Gary Ramadei, replacement of the crush pinion sleeve is not mentioned.

[Gary R.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

The crush sleeve does not have to be replaced if you are just replacing a pinion seal- AS LONG AS you don't over crush it when installing the yoke.
The reason I like removing the diff is it is just a lot easier to work on and check. If you were in a dealership, working against the flat rate time to pop the car out at the end of the day, that's a whole different deal. Working on your own car, taking your time is the way to go.

If you wanted to replace the crush sleeve, first you need to get the outer bearing out. They are not a press fit but sometimes are in there snug or other times the bearing was locked in place with Loctite and heat is needed. Then depending on how distorted the crush sleeve is, it most likely will not come out form the front, the diff has to come aparts completly to remove the pinion to get to the sleeve. I have had some come out from the front but they were poorly serviced diff's that were not assembled correctly. And, all of that is assuming nothing changes the game plan.

A good example. Today I planned on fitting a solid sleeve for a HP 64 vette. I got the pattern where I wanted it, switched over from my setup bearings to the new USA Timkens and found the outer bearing is no good. There is a bad chop in the preload. No problem, go to my parts cabinet, pull out the last USA Timken outer bearing, open the box,remove the plastic to find the cage is distorted and the rollers almost falling out. No more new bearings in stock. For the heck of it, I set the cage and rollers and install it to see how it looks and feels.. It's as bad as the other new bearing. Go back to my old set up bearing, the preload is dead smooth. So two new bearings in the recycle bucket and place an order for some new outers.

If you are doing this on your back, in a cold garage, rushing the work, you will have issues more than likely On the stand in front of you, cover pulled to check the posi for cracks, axles pulled to check face wear and hardness, you are much better off Replace the axle seals, pinion seal, complete the diff checks and put back in the car

[Mark M.]

Re: Rear Pinion Installation Help!

I agree with Gary that pulling the rear end will benefit it more, all 3 seals ,cleaning out, seeing any issues inside , setting preload accurately with " lb torque wrench and of course its on the bench. How many miles are on it and are there any noises! If you just want to change the front seal, it's very doable. The crush sleeve is basically a spring. When new it takes a fair amount of torque on the nut and small additions of torque to carefully get the pinion to spin at the inch pound spec. Don't go way over, it will come back some. 55 years later that spring (sleeve) has fatigued some but should have plenty left. Ralph, if you match marked the nut to the pinion tip well, than as you retighten the nut, it should take 100 foot LB or more to line up the marks. If it takes very little torque to line them up, your spring is shot. New crush sleeves may need 300-500 foot LB. Gary I also prefer to use a spacer instead of crush sleeves. Once set up the preload is easy to put back.