Alpines List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted)

List,
I have disassembled my rear end to powder coat and put new seals in. A
couple of things:
First, I didn't find any of the ring gear bolts loose as I had thought I
would. Should I still change these? With the differential out of the
pumpkin, is there any way to identify these gears as to the ratio and or
year? I believe this diff. may have been changed at one time due to the
"yellow" paint markings on it. The only reason I need to know is to get the
right pinion seal from Rick. I guess I can just pull it out and get some #'s
off of it.
Rick lists two (2) thickness' of gaskets for the end of the axle housing and
says "6 per car." My question is what the difference? I called Rick and
asked this question and got the smart-ass answer of "about .004 thousands."
This didn't do me any good so I acted like the stupid Sunbeam consumer I am
and ordered 6 of each to cover myself. This kind of reminds me of Tina
Turner when she said "hit me again Ike, and this time put some stank on it!"
I then pressed Rick after giving my Visa # and got a more technical answer,
"one is brown and the other blue, you should have noticed what color you
had." After thinking about it, I think mine were grease colored.
I quickly hung up the phone and drove like a bat to the machine shop that was
"tanking" the housing. I ran through the door screaming "Pull my pumpkin,
pull my pumpkin." The owner sent a couple of shaved head, lifetime "Gold's
Gym" members out from the back to take me for a ride. I quickly explained
the situation and they were quick to point out my parts. They were sitting
in a corner and had been tanked the day before, not a flake of gasket to be
seen.
So. What is the story on these? Is there something I need to "mic" when
installing the axles? If I miss this gasket by .004 my car will flip over at
60 mph and grind my face off! What's the deal!

Thanks
Paul
Colorado
( the stupid Sunbeam consumer)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "jumpin'jan" <(email redacted)>

(email redacted) wrote:

> First, I didn't find any of the ring gear bolts loose as I had thought I
> would. Should I still change these?

Paul,
Pull the bolts and red Loctite them.

> With the differential out of the
> pumpkin, is there any way to identify these gears as to the ratio and or
> year?

Huh? Count the teeth and divide pinion number into ring number. All the
years are the same.


> "yellow" paint markings on it. The only reason I need to know is to get the
> right pinion seal from Rick. I guess I can just pull it out and get some #'s
> off of it.

Remember, that the early rear ends used a different axle spline and the
early axle bearings are sealless. Is your car a later model? The early
seal is a larger metal seal, compared to the later series.

> Rick lists two (2) thickness' of gaskets for the end of the axle housing and
> says "6 per car." My question is what the difference? I called Rick and
> asked this question and got the smart-ass answer of "about .004 thousands."

Rick is correct. The brown paper shims are 0.010".

> So. What is the story on these? Is there something I need to "mic" when
> installing the axles? If I miss this gasket by .004 my car will flip over at
> 60 mph and grind my face off! What's the deal!

My advice is to get a dial indicator setup to measure the axle end
float. Install the gaskets enough to get some slop, then start setting
the end float to the value in the Sunbeam manual. I found that I need to
set one side initially, then the opposite side, and back to the other
side. I have done about 6 Alpine rear ends this past year so far.
Jan



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This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: (email redacted)

In a message dated 7/12/01 5:11:18 AM Pacific Daylight Time, (email redacted)
writes:


> My advice is to get a dial indicator setup to measure the axle end
> float. Install the gaskets enough to get some slop, then start setting
> the end float to the value in the Sunbeam manual. I found that I need to
> set one side initially, then the opposite side, and back to the other
> side. I have done about 6 Alpine rear ends this past year so far.
>

Good info Jan. Thats what I was looking for.

Paul