The cage is in, welded, and almost done - I just have to finish the rear supports for the main hoop and weld them in. The fuel cell mount is also in and waiting a coat of paint.
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I'm about ready to put the engine and transmission back into the chassis but before that could happen I wanted to get the brake lines routed. I finally broke down and bought a 37 degree flaring tool (and its not Harbor Freight or Advance Auto quality!) So far it has been a great purchase; no more adapters!
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The transmission also had a slow drip from a bolt on the bottom. While I had the gearbox on the work bench it seemed like a good time to replace the front and rear seals and pop the cover to make sure everything inside looked good. The rear seal swapped out painlessly but the front seal I received from Moss was too small. Its OD was 1.391" versus 1.505" for the installed one. I think at some point someone machined the front cover and installed a seal. There were two more covers in a box of spares and one had the same seal and the other appeared to be stock so this seems to confirm my suspicions.
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No problem - McMaster to the rescue and a day later a new seal was on my door step. Now for the unexpected gearbox discovery (I need more like this):
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Due to the availability of 3/8" lug nuts I'm also upgrading everything to 7/16". This will allow me to use the two sets of wheels that came with the car without having to source a set of NLA 3/8" shoulder lug nuts. The fronts went smoothly; once I get the rear axle back in the chassis I'll be able to remove both rear hubs and do them.
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After reading stories about Spridget front axles cracking I was a bit paranoid. During my last visit at the welding store I picked up a can of dye penetrant and developer to check everything before putting it back together. I think its safe to say the car only scored a 50% on this test....
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For some strange reason I don't think I trust the right front axle. I can't really complain though since it has been 20 steps forward, 1 step back up to this point. I'll probably just chalk this up as karma for the straight cut gear set, buy a pair of rebuilt ones from Spridget Mania, and not have to worry about it again.