I am working on an original diff. And you made it look so easy. The u bolt nut were a different size from being corroded and had to get them off with vice grips. Then the pinion nut is so tight it won't budge. I made a tool too, just like yours and it bent and cracked the companion flange. Going to try a heavy impact and days of penetrating fluid.
When you're dealing with decades of aging on top of compounded corrosion from same on a nut go straight to heat. There's nothing salvageable seal wise anyway for the same aging reasons. I would wire wheel off the threads, then use either an induction heater or fine tip propane torch to cherry the nut then impact wrench (either pneumatic or electric doesn't matter) it loose. Once loose personally I'd take it the rest of the way with a 1/2" breaker bar and perhaps a wrench extender (for more leverage). You don't want to heat up the pinion, but rather focus on the nut to get it to expand enough to break the corrosion seal so you can then break free the torque on such an aged fastener.
With my 55 truck I RTV'd the outside of the pinion seal in and then the pinion nut threads leaked so I had to rtv the pinion nut threads when I set the nut tork with the crush sleeve.
No, most torque wrenches can be put out of calibration if used to remove a fastener (unless they are specifically rated for torqued fastener removal). You should use a breaker bar or regular ratchet wrench for that step. Particularly on a vintage vehicle like the years this video covers.
Nope, it’s a factory original numbers matching 1957 positraction unit in 3 : 36 on a Bel Air sport coupe. 1957 was the very first year of production for the positraction technology.
Latex would be all they would have had access to, but I suspect not. Though a few old movies show dealership technicians wearing white cotton gloves. I use them to protect the restoration finish and inspection marking reproductions more than myself. I suspect most of these folks would have passed away from cancer caused from common place cigarette smoking, in vogue at the time. And that that would have been long before the proven carcinogens of inhaling asbestos based brake shoe dust, washing parts barehanded with leaded gasoline, bare skin exposure to Tetrachloroethylene in old school brake cleaners, or exposing their bare skin to Methyl Ethyl Ketone based carburetor cleaners would have gotten them. Fun times to have been wrenching within without PPE for sure.
I said this the last time we saw work done on the 57 and I’ll say it again….we’d really enjoy seeing more work done on this beauty. 🙂
I am working on an original diff. And you made it look so easy. The u bolt nut were a different size from being corroded and had to get them off with vice grips. Then the pinion nut is so tight it won't budge. I made a tool too, just like yours and it bent and cracked the companion flange. Going to try a heavy impact and days of penetrating fluid.
When you're dealing with decades of aging on top of compounded corrosion from same on a nut go straight to heat. There's nothing salvageable seal wise anyway for the same aging reasons. I would wire wheel off the threads, then use either an induction heater or fine tip propane torch to cherry the nut then impact wrench (either pneumatic or electric doesn't matter) it loose. Once loose personally I'd take it the rest of the way with a 1/2" breaker bar and perhaps a wrench extender (for more leverage). You don't want to heat up the pinion, but rather focus on the nut to get it to expand enough to break the corrosion seal so you can then break free the torque on such an aged fastener.
Great video. Please keep them coming. The assembly line manual is a nice find. Thx
Mine was similar but it had an entire car around it.
Nice job. I'll be doing the same. Thanks for sharing👍
With my 55 truck I RTV'd the outside of the pinion seal in and then the pinion nut threads leaked so I had to rtv the pinion nut threads when I set the nut tork with the crush sleeve.
Did you use a torque wrench to remove the pinion nut?
No, most torque wrenches can be put out of calibration if used to remove a fastener (unless they are specifically rated for torqued fastener removal). You should use a breaker bar or regular ratchet wrench for that step. Particularly on a vintage vehicle like the years this video covers.
I would have used Anearobic sealant on that seal. Will never leak.
Won't leak if you follow the GM service bulletin procedure as I showed.
Guessing it is the same procedure for a 65 impala rearaxle, or am I wrong? Can not find a video of someone doing it on a 65
Definitely the same on a '64, I can't imagine it would be too different for a '65 - though not the same GM part number more than likely.
Is this a 10 bolt , Impala SS rear diff.?
Nope, it’s a factory original numbers matching 1957 positraction unit in 3 : 36 on a Bel Air sport coupe. 1957 was the very first year of production for the positraction technology.
Wonder if in the 50’s the service technician wore nitrile gloves?
Latex would be all they would have had access to, but I suspect not. Though a few old movies show dealership technicians wearing white cotton gloves. I use them to protect the restoration finish and inspection marking reproductions more than myself.
I suspect most of these folks would have passed away from cancer caused from common place cigarette smoking, in vogue at the time. And that that would have been long before the proven carcinogens of inhaling asbestos based brake shoe dust, washing parts barehanded with leaded gasoline, bare skin exposure to Tetrachloroethylene in old school brake cleaners, or exposing their bare skin to Methyl Ethyl Ketone based carburetor cleaners would have gotten them. Fun times to have been wrenching within without PPE for sure.