I am preping my SS396/12 bolt rear axle for paint. I used a wire wheel to remove most of the paint/grease etc. but there are areas too small/tight to clean. I am concerned that sandblasting could damage......what did you guys use? Further, the leaf springs look as though they have seen many a mile. Do you guys just replace them, or can they be re-sprung? Thanks in advance. graemlins/beers.gif

hey i wouldn't worry too much about sandblasting hurting the axle or leaf springs if it does they shouldn't be used anyway, just use some black beauty or some glass jet sand blast and clean thoroughly, it will make it nice and clean for prepping and painting
jake

If the springs are flat or sagging then replace them with new matching ones from eaton. Just like factory original. I did and Im so glad. It raised the car back up again, and no more bottoming out on bumps with the larger tires. Talk to Gary or Mike at Eaton at 313-963-3839 they were great to work with. Shipped right to my door in less than a week.
Post some pics of your car if you can. We are suckers for car pics in here for some reason. :D
graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks guys. Jake, what I am concerned with is the media getting into the axle. I plan to rebuild the brakes, but not the gearing.

Click, I would like to post some pics, can you tell me how. I too, enjoy seeing other projects. This is a rotisserie restoration of a 69 SS396 convertible. I have most of the sheetmetal work complete and am starting to put some things back together, finally. Thanks again.

Doug graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Doug, when you post a 'reply', on your left part of the screen are the words " UBB Code ... " click on that and instructions are there for posting pics. You need to have them hosted on a web site somewhere. This code then links to that site for showing them. the TC site doesnt have the size to hold the thousands of photos in a server itself. That would be humungous.
Try it out in the " Test Drive " section at the bottom of the Tech main page. We can help folks in there to learn the tricks before posting to these areas. Keeps things cleaner that way.
good luck
graemlins/beers.gif

Shelby, I just finished sandblasting my 69 12-bolt a few weeks ago. I took two old socks and tightly wrapped and tied them around each axle down by the outer oil seals. I then took another sock and cut a thin strip about 1/4 inch wide and inserted it into the groove in between the housing and pinion flange and wrapped it around and around to protct the pinion seal. Also be sure to tape off the breather valve and u-joint seat in the pinion. I then sandblasted the heck out of it with a pressure blaster and it came out beautiful. Looked like brand new metal everywhere even in the nooks and crannies. My rear end was very rusty and there would have been no way to get it this clean with a wire brush. After sandblasting I then cleaned all traces of sand and removed the rear cover and put a new gasket and oil. I then painted the entire thing with POR15 semi gloss black and topcoated it with semi gloss black enamel. I am very happy with it.

Thanks guys. I guess I can't post pics as I do not have a web site, unless there is another option.

If you don't want to sand blast, here is what I did onone of mine. I rented a high pressure washer(like the kind one would use to clean the side of a house), filled the tank with an industrial de-greaser, and blasted the crap out of the axle. When I was done, I used a couple cans of brake cleaner on it's exterior, and finally coated the axle with por-15 and top coat.
granted, it is not as good as sand blasting, but there is no risk of any stray sand particals getting inside.

Originally posted by shelbydog:
Thanks guys. I guess I can't post pics as I do not have a web site, unless there is another option. You can use something like WEBSHOTS, which is where I've put my photos. It's free, but does limit the number of albums and photos you can put on there unless you upgrade. Using this method, everyone can see your photos.

Good luck, John

Originally posted by shelbydog:
I am concerned that sandblasting could damage.....I've had some luck with Aircraft Stripper... so if you don't want to sandblast, you could try to strip the remainder chemically.

Just be sure to wear a respirator if you're not in a well ventilated area. http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/nut.gif