BUILD THREAD Midlife Crisis Monte Carlo Build

[tokarz1]

Does anyone have the upper control arm bushing housing bore measurement off of a 64-88 GM A/G body. I need the bore measurement along with the thickness of the ear on the housing.

Hi, I don't have the ear specs for the A body rear end but rockauto usually shows specific info on parts. This has helped me out on so many occasions when I did not have the specs on something. I went to 1969 Chevelle and for the rear bushings they show ....

Outside Diameter 1.850 in.
Length 2.40 In.
Inside Diameter 0.510 in.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=356242&cc=1038877&jsn=682

 

[mc1984ss]

Great project! You're doing an awesome job! BBC guy here also.

 

[tokarz1]

It's been a while but I did get the rear end finished up. I kept going back and forth on leaving the coil spring mounts on the rear end. They are 1/2" within the G Body spacing but since QP sent me their mounts I decided to use those. I was going to just remove the circle part and mount them on top but the perfectionist in me wouldn't allow that so I will plumb bob them later when the rear gets mounted in the chassis.

Blasted and painted the rear housing, caliper brackets, and dust shields with chassis saver.

The axles, gears, and 8.8 overhaul kit came in from Quick Performance.

 

[DJHull]

Disassembled the new frame.

View attachment 138281View attachment 138282View attachment 138283View attachment 138284View attachment 138285View attachment 138286View attachment 138287View attachment 138288

I wanted to get the frame in paint so I could keep it from rusting. I used a grinder with a wire wheel but I didn’t like how it came out. Plus after reading how to prep for chassis saver it can’t really be smooth and sandblasting is the best approach. It started to flash rust pretty quick as I pressure washed it inside and out.

View attachment 138290View attachment 138291View attachment 138292

Sandblasting is a mess and sand gets in places you forgot you had but works great. Ready for chassis saver.

View attachment 138293View attachment 138294View attachment 138295View attachment 138296View attachment 138297

You are a mad man!

 

[DJHull]

Disassembled the new frame.

View attachment 138281View attachment 138282View attachment 138283View attachment 138284View attachment 138285View attachment 138286View attachment 138287View attachment 138288

I wanted to get the frame in paint so I could keep it from rusting. I used a grinder with a wire wheel but I didn’t like how it came out. Plus after reading how to prep for chassis saver it can’t really be smooth and sandblasting is the best approach. It started to flash rust pretty quick as I pressure washed it inside and out.

View attachment 138290View attachment 138291View attachment 138292

Sandblasting is a mess and sand gets in places you forgot you had but works great. Ready for chassis saver.

View attachment 138293View attachment 138294View attachment 138295View attachment 138296View attachment 138297

You are a mad man!

 

[tokarz1]

I didn't want to leave this out in case there are others that plan on doing this swap from a Crown Vic or Marquee with the rear Blazer disc setup. I was taught too mock things up before assembly. First problem was the axles were hitting the carrier cross pin before the bearings would be fully seated in the housing ends. I measured everything to verify this.

In talking to QP it was determined that the axles were cut to C-Clip length and since I am using the big bearing GM/Ford ends I would need to cut off a small amount. Easy enough, cut and beveled the ends to gain the clearance I need.

Next was the caliper brackets were in towards the housing to far that the calipers would hit the rotor. I was planning on using the caliper bracket to act as the bearing retainer. It was determined that a 3/16" bearing retainer between the bracket and housing would fix this and it did. They did send me these at no charge.

The last issue was the axle seal. I noticed there was no stop inside the housing end for the seal to bottom out on. When I tried to install them they would not get seated enough before they popped into the axle tube. My phone convo with QP revealed the ends were trimmed down to fit the G Body length and in doing this the oil seal stop was removed. This was remedied but using the Moser Engineering 9508B Axle Bearings with the built in oil seals which I like much better anyways. They also sent me these at no charge.

 

[tokarz1]

So, with all that out of the way I started getting this built. I had a few used 8.8 LSD's but I ended up selling them and used that to buy a new one. The newer style uses a spring shim on the carrier ends like the Ford 9.75" instead of the S-Spring to preload the clutches. I sold that clutch pack off in favor of the carbon fiber clutch pack and spring. If your wondering why not just buy the Cobra carrier, at the time they were back ordered for months and still are. Plus, all this cost me nothing out of pocket.

Installing the new races and playing "Goldilocks" like Eric the car guy on YouTube says with the shims. Finally happy with the preload, backlash, and pattern.

Getting the new clutch pack installed in the carrier.

I disassembled everything and going final install now.

 

[mc1984ss]

Nice work, your due diligence definitely paid off by checking the stack up of parts! QP definitely seems to have taken great care of you, I'll keep that in mind. I can't remember what are you using to bolt this in the car? I've seen some 8.8 kits that I like and some that I don't.

 

[tokarz1]

Pressed the bearings and retainers on the axles and finally getting the axles installed in the housing.

A little more mock up and it's almost a roller! Painted the rotors but don't fear. I have a set of break in pads to clean them up. I HATE rust!

Much more to come soon....

 

[tokarz1]

You are a mad man!