Hey Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
TexasSprite
Jedi Hopeful
Offline
I'm sure glad I'm approaching the 59 BE rebuild as a journey rather than a destination, because the destination seems to recede further each day.
I'm learning a lot about basic auto mechanics working on this car, so every session has a lesson or two. Some of them are more expensive that others.
I have the rear axle on jackstands on the workbench where it is easy to work on. Got the hubs off with no problem thanks to tips I read about here. I took lots of pictures to make sure everything went back properly. That was my first mistake. Only after everything was reassembled and looking fine did I stumble across a thread on this forum (while looking for something else) about proper setup of the rear brake. Of course, the PO had the springs hooked up wrong and I had carefully put it all back together the "right" way according to my pictures. I must say that is a LOT easier to fit the brake shoes, springs, etc. when the hub is out of the way. With some help from my wife, I got all the pieces back together and felt all was right with the world. Second mistake. I noticed that the half shaft and the hub interface wasn't really squeezed together enough, so I mounted the brake drum and tightened up reversed lug nuts to give it a good squeeze while the gasket cement set up. Given that the axle was rolling around on top of the jack stands, I couldn't get good leverage to tighten them up. Thinking that the impact wrench would be a good way to get torque on the nuts without having to tie down the axle, I proceeded to make the big mistake of the night. See the attached picture. No problemo, I thought. I have an extra set of hubs in the storage shed. Went over today to get them and found the studs to be too short (they were from a wire wheel car). So unless VB can deliver by Wednesday, no maiden voyage over the holidays.
However, it sure looks pretty all repainted and with shiny new parts!
I'm learning a lot about basic auto mechanics working on this car, so every session has a lesson or two. Some of them are more expensive that others.
I have the rear axle on jackstands on the workbench where it is easy to work on. Got the hubs off with no problem thanks to tips I read about here. I took lots of pictures to make sure everything went back properly. That was my first mistake. Only after everything was reassembled and looking fine did I stumble across a thread on this forum (while looking for something else) about proper setup of the rear brake. Of course, the PO had the springs hooked up wrong and I had carefully put it all back together the "right" way according to my pictures. I must say that is a LOT easier to fit the brake shoes, springs, etc. when the hub is out of the way. With some help from my wife, I got all the pieces back together and felt all was right with the world. Second mistake. I noticed that the half shaft and the hub interface wasn't really squeezed together enough, so I mounted the brake drum and tightened up reversed lug nuts to give it a good squeeze while the gasket cement set up. Given that the axle was rolling around on top of the jack stands, I couldn't get good leverage to tighten them up. Thinking that the impact wrench would be a good way to get torque on the nuts without having to tie down the axle, I proceeded to make the big mistake of the night. See the attached picture. No problemo, I thought. I have an extra set of hubs in the storage shed. Went over today to get them and found the studs to be too short (they were from a wire wheel car). So unless VB can deliver by Wednesday, no maiden voyage over the holidays.
However, it sure looks pretty all repainted and with shiny new parts!
