66 Project (Pro Driver?)

[67-ls1]

Putting the center section in was a bear because it’s heavy and weird shaped. Also the powder coating filled the bolt holes some so I had to take it off and clean out the holes. I should have done this first. My bad.

[67-ls1]

Some other details…
All the parts laid out and ready. It helps to know you have everything.
I got the drain and lift pad option.
The axle vent that came with the kit was straight but I swapped if for a 90 to make cleaner install.
The rear of the housing has a nice big screw plug you can use to fill. Much easier.

[67-ls1]

I used my cherry picker to pick the assembled rearend up off of the stand and set it back on the blocks under the car. I then lowered the car back down and started to reconnect everything.

[67-ls1]

Then the (not) fun part started. Brake lines. The rear end came with a brake line kit but it wasn’t real slick so I improvised a little. Like the caliper fittings they sent were straight. They looked goofy so a swapped them for 90’s.
There was also no bulkhead fitting to attach it to the rear end at the tee so I used the old one and modified it.

[67-ls1]

I filled the rear end with new oil (a little more than 3 quarts), put rubber protectors on the end of the coil springs and set it back down.
It was now that I could measure for the driveshaft length. I was about .5” short.
The Driveshaft Shop had built me the CV style drive shaft before and it was perfect so I went back to them and they were able to provide me a 0.5” spacer for the coupler at the CV joint flange.
Installed the driveshaft, set the pinion angle and I was ready to start the break in procedure.

[67-ls1]

So I did the 5- 15 minute drives with an hour, or overnight, cool down periods and now I’ve probably driven it 5-6 other times and maybe have 200 miles on it. I’ve heard others say to baby it a little until 500 or so miles so that’s what I’m doing. I’m not a hot rodder anyway, hence the V6 under the hood.
I have noticed that the change from 3.07 to 3.50 to 1 makes the gear changes shorter. It seems like I’m in third gear by 10-15 mph. It’s also wound a little higher on the freeway. I’ve only gone a short distance at 60-65 so no chance to measure it yet. I’m guessing my days of trying for the 30 mpg range are behind me. I’m going to take it to a guy I know and have the rearend ratio reflashed in the ECM.
I’m unable to test the posi yet. Still too new, but I know it’s there from turning the wheels during install.
I hope you enjoyed the recap of my install.

[67-ls1]

I redid some of the wiring and decided to add a roll over relay to the fuel pump circuit. This is off of a Ford Crown Vic but available in wrecking yards on lots of different Fords.

[chevymaher]

I put a roll over on the tank vent. Keeps gas from coming out.

[67-ls1]

The relay will cutoff my electric fuel pump in the event of a crash. My tank will probably still leak like a sieve.