I have a small drip coming from the rear end of my '67 Convertible. Over the weekend I decided to replace the pinion seal.

I put the car on jack stands, got under the car and dropped the drive shaft. After removing the retaining nut, the yoke slid off with no resistance.

Next was the seal. I went to Autozone to rent some type of puller (like the manual says to use), but they had nothing that would work. So it was hammer & screwdriver time. Laying under the car, I couldn't get a good enough swing to move the seal. I decided to remove the pinion retainer so I could replace the seal on my workbench.

There's a bearing spacer (also called crush ring) that rides on the pinion shaft. Mine was broken in one place.

If that ring was to break on the other side and fall into the housing, what kind of damage do you think it would have caused? I'm thinking major poo-poo.

 

My first 66 I had that thing (crush sleeve) came loose on the outside and the damn thing rattled. I took my dremmel and zipped the POS right off. Never had any problems or rattles again lol.

damage? if it got into anything then yea it could cause some nasty damage. just like metal shavings in a motor.

 

If anything solid and hard makes its way to the ring and pinion and/or the spider gears, something is going to get messed up...

 

Directly - some gear teeth will get messed up rather badly. Maybe all of them. It might even be possible to split the differential case (not the external "pumpkin") itself.

Indirectly - if it happens when you're moving you might have one or both rear wheels suddenly lock up for no apparent reason. If that happens and if you're really lucky, you may be able to limp to a "safe haven" if the interfering bits can be dislodged. BTDT.


Norm

 

What nobody else has mentioned is that you pretty much need to rebuild your rear end. This is not the way the rear is supposed to be taken apart. For one, you should replace the crush ring any time you remove the pinion nut. Secondly, you need to get the pinion gear and ring gear meshed exactly the way they were before you took them out, which requires removing the whole 3rd member from the axle housing. Third, now that you've removed the pinion housing, you need to check/reset the pinion depth.

All in all, after all that's done, you're most of the way through a rebuild. Replace bearings and set the gear lash and put everything back together. Unfortunately, in order to do this you need a dial gauge, dial-type torque gauge, and a way to hold the yoke in place while you torque the nut. While available, they tend to be expensive unless you know someone in a shop with the tools on hand.

I'd take this opportunity to change the gears in your rear end and rebuild everything. If you can't get hold of the tools, take it all to a shop and get them to put it back together for you. Rebuilding a rear isn't terribly complicated, but it's very picky. Everything has to be within tolerance or you'll burn up the gears/bearings in short order.

 

Starfury - Wow, sounds like a lot of gloom & doom.

I had the number of a guy who rebuilds rear ends. I ran into him a few weeks ago at a car show / swap meet. I called him up yesterday, then went to his house with my broken crush ring , pinion retainer, and yoke. He popped out the seal, popped my new one in, and gave me another crush ring. My yoke had two grooves worn into it, so he sold me another one (that was probably what was leaking). He then told me how to tighten down the pinion nut correctly. He didn't mention having to put the pinion gear exactly in the same spot or any of the other things you mentioned.

Its back together and running.

I'll let you know when it falls apart on me.

 

I want to THINK that the pinion should bottom out exactly where it was, and the new crush ring will take up the front space.

If I were in the same position I would try the same...

But then I am a lazy A/H

 

I'd probably have checked the contact pattern to see if it was anywhere near close, and let it go if it was.

Got away with doing just that after swapping some 3.27 3rd gen F-body gears into the '79 Malibu actually (replacing 2.56's!!!), and they held up just fine until shortly after the latest (EFI) iteration of a 350.


Norm

 

It'll probably be ok, but yes, you should get the pinion teeth meshed with the ring gear exactly as they were before, unless it's not a seeking-type gear ratio.