I have been watching a bunch of youtube videos on how to rebuild a Ford 8.8 rear diff. Stepping out of my comfort zone as I have never done a differential before. I thought I was prepared after buying all new seals, bearings, pinion nut, crush washer, special oil resistant high heat silicone, e-brake parts, and caliper pads. After seeing what it takes to set the back lash and pinion preload on the videos, back to the interwebs for shim kits, diff paint (for gear teeth), special tools... sheesh! The whole process doesn't seem that intimidating mechanically, but the trial and error in getting the gear alignment looks like you could get lucky, or spend all day putting it in and taking it back out again, trying shim stack after shim stack. At least when I am done I can check this process off my never done that list.

Axles are out and the diff is on the bench

 

I put the front roller wheels on, and re-leveled the chassis. These roller wheels will never see the street - they are only to move the chassis around after the rear suspension is done. My diff shims won't ship for several more weeks, so the plan is to start boxing in the rear frame rails in preparation for the four link suspension brackets. I got 2" lowering springs and shocks for the front from Belltech, but those will go on after the rear is done.

 

I have made my last purchase for a while. The financial bleeding needs to slow down until my labor catches up. The latest on the way are a dipstick for the 6L80E, and the pernoodle. I really wasn't prepared for the sticker shock on that puppy! For those not familiar with the term - PRNDL = pernoodle. The gear shift/selector requires an additional drive position below Drive for the tap down shift mode into sports mode. A nice feature with the transmission. I will share some pics when it arrives. The trans only comes with a case fill, but I wanted a firewall mounted dipstick. So no more bling for awhile. Just a bunch of labor in an effort to catch back up. I have a three week trip coming up at the end of April, so the pressure is on to have a roller with a painted chassis.

Speaking of expensive, I had a near heart attack when I started to check out the accessory drive kits for these LS motors! What I like vs. what I want to spend are pretty far apart at this point. Want - Holley mid mount accessory drive, $2300. I was hoping to spend half of that. Since it will be awhile for the cab to go on, this can wait for the future. This is the Holley mid mount kit. Very compact layout!

 

Can't use the stock accessory drive????

 

The "connect and cruise" crate drivetrain does not come with the accessory drive. You have to provide that on your own. It came with the water pump and pulley, and the harmonic balancer - nothing else on the front of the motor. It is probably intended for customers to swap their existing accessories onto it, but I do not have any existing accessories. The Studebaker truck has a SBC in it, but it was sitting under a tree in southern Washington state for 15 years, What is there it pretty ratty looking, and the mounting brackets are not designed for an LS engine.

 

I would be tempted to check around at the various junkyards, or car-part.com.... Get 'em used, clean 'em, paint 'em, install 'em. And I bet you spend a LOT less than 2500 bucks.

 

Not a bad idea, but the car models that have this engine are the F bodies. Their accessory drives have the "high and wide" mount style. I really don't like that look. But I will reserve judgement until I have the cab and inner fenders on the chassis.

 

Here is the current engine bay of the Studebaker. Like I mentioned, 15 years under a tree in southern Washington state didn't do it any good! Not a very dry environment to store a vehicle.

 

It's template time. I'm going to murder a lot of cardboard laying out the templates to box in the back of the chassis.

 

Looks like there is plenty of room there for the stock bracketry and such. I actually like the 'high and wide' as it makes things easier to work on when necessary.