Sick of leaks!

The rear main seal leak isn't getting any worse but the leak from the pinion area of the rear end is getting annoying.  I have a dark stain on the garage floor from the steady drip from the rear end.   Decided to do something about that leak until I can install a different pig/center section in the rear end housing.  Last Fri I put the car up on stands and removed the drive shaft exposing the area around the pinion nut that is leaking.  Then I sprayed that entire area with brake clean with a drain pan underneath to catch any debris.  Next, compressed air was sprayed to thoroughly dry the area.  Finally, I filled the area around the pinion nut with black silicone and pushed in down into the pinion yoke.  While it was drying, I reinstalled the driveshaft and put the car back on the ground.  It's now 4 days later and there are no new spots on the garage floor!  Success!

Art Wilson is a Road Rodz club member who owns a beautiful 1955 Chevy.  He had replaced the stock rear end with a 12 bolt out of a Chevelle and had the stock rear sitting in his garage.  We struck a deal a few weeks back and I finally went out to his house last week and picked up the rear end.  Once I had it disassembled, I could see that a ring gear had failed in that housing at one time and left score marks on the inside of the housing.  The pig/center section looked really nice and when I checked the codes on the ring gear, I discovered it had a 3.36:1 gear ratio made in Apr 1961.  Someone must have replaced the pig at one time after suffering a gear failure.  I've been concerned about the grooves and extreme wear of the carrier currently in the 41 ever since I installed it.  This "new" unit will give me another gear option and provide a more reliable carrier assembly.  I went to D&R Driveline here in Jenison last week and picked up all new bearings, seals, gaskets and small parts.  Here's the parts disassembled on the bench awaiting cleaning.

Once all the parts are cleaned, I'll take the carrier and pinion over to D&R and have them remove the old bearings and press on the new ones.  I think I'll reinstall the 3.36 gears in that pig and try it in the 41 later this year.  The T5 transmission has a 3.76 first gear so I'll still have plenty of accelleration with the 6 cylinder while gaining some miles/gallon on the highway. 

Sat, Aug 20 was the Danish Festival Show in Greenville and despite rain in the forecast, the Road Rodz make a strong showing.  Eight cars were in attendance with Kenny arriving too late to receive any votes with his Nova.  However, the other 7 of us all scored Best of Show/Top 50 plaques.  There were about 130 cars.

Road Rodz lined up

Rick, Dan, Rose & Cathie hangin' out.  Jimmy Dean in the background.

56 Ford truck with exceptional engine compartment.

The 41 showing her club colors.  Pic by Kenny Firlik.

We were all winners that day!

Rollin' fast to beat the rain!  It came down HARD on the way home!  Had to pull off for a bit due to so much water on the road.

Next up is the Road Rodz Party in the Parking Lot car show on Fri, Aug 26th at Park Center Lanes in Wyoming.  Thanks to all those who donated so generously.  We received some awesome items for the goodie bags, door prizes and money donations.  Every cent we collect goes to VanAndel Insitute for cancer research.  We even plan to have a raffle for a couple of very special prizes.  Join us starting at 3pm.