1969 Galaxie 500 - BBF high school/college kid build

[BBR]

We popped the pan off the trans today. I've seen better and I've run worse. Fluid was ugly, but there was surprisingly little clutch material in the pan. This trans is the one that was originally in the F250. I never did a thing to it. It worked, so I left it alone. Judd installed the B&M shift improver kit and buttoned it all back up.

[cstmwgn]

...Then he bench pressed the 9" into the housing ...

I remember a long time ago being able to do that!

[BBR]

Judd cleaned a lot off stuff today including the C6. It was pretty grungy and probably needs another round.

Then he bench pressed the 9" into the housing and installed the axles. I guess all that time at the gym is paying off. Haha.

[Sleeper73]

Excellent choice of gears. I think it's going to surprise some people.

[BBR]

Diff is all done and ready to poke in the car!

[BBR]

Judd did some work to the 9" this weekend. He ran into a few little snags, but is still progressing. We put a new crush spacer in the pinion and had a heck of a time getting it to crush. We ended up using a 6-ft cheater bar in order to produce enough force to begin the crushing. I was worried my breaker bar was going to twist off but it worked.

[BBR]

Judd ordered pistons for his 460. These are a Silvolite 3191H. They are very similar to the KB137's that I put in the 98GT. Compression height is the same but they have 2 valve reliefs instead of just 1. Might be a skosh heavier than the 137's. The valve shown is a 2.25" intake valve.

[BBR]

I swapped the bearing from the 2.75 pinion to the 4.10 pinion. The machined lip on the gear makes removing the bearing a snap compared to an 8.8 or a Mopar 8.75. The only problem I had was due to the sheer size of the 2.75 pinion. It would not fit between the rails on my press so I had to rig up some spacers to full press it off. It pressed off and on real easy though.

[BBR]

Studs installed, mini-spool installed, ring gear installed, and pinion support disassembled.

[BBR]

Yeah Judd is up there right now installing longer wheel studs and taking the diff apart. He is going to put a mini-spool in it and start the 4.10 install.

The steering stuff seems to be all good and tight. Really, all the ball joints in the front end seemed like they were in usable condition but the boots were toast. So we elected to replace them.

[andy30thz]

NICE!! And I seen the axles are out, the driveshaft on the floor & center diff is out! 4.10's here we come?!? I'm sure that gear lube was STINKY! People seem to rarely do fluid changes on a 9".
How does the tie rods/idler/pitman arms feel? I'm always amazed at this older stuff, as long as it got greased regularly...they can last a LONG time!

Oh, when you guys are sticking the 460 back together, take a quick measurement of piston to deck height at TDC. Later on it might be fun for you guys to calculate static compression as best you can.

[cstmwgn]

... He is not a fan of drum brakes!! ...

Wait till he starts driving it! Might be an incentive to upgrade.

[BBR]

Judd finished up the front rotors, calipers and pads, then installed the new rear shocks and put the rear brakes together. He is not a fan of drum brakes!!

[BBR]

More front suspension progress yesterday. Upper control arms, spindles are all installed and good to go.

[andy30thz]

Gotcha! Just want to be sure that he doesn't fall into the trap that many junior rodders do(including myself)...lopey cam + no quench 8.5:1 = turd
Although...even a turd of a 460 with 4.10's/converter in a 3800-4000lbs car will be fun!!
I'm definitely going to have fun watching it come together! Thanks for taking the time to share!