This past Sunday was a special one. I spent an entire day working on my car for the first time in months. It was time well spent and was extremely satisfying. For those of you following the saga, My car Faye (51 chevy sedan) was apart for a year and half following assorted issues and engine drama. It was a VERY long year and a half that netted out an almost entirely new drivetrain and lots of great "upgrades". Last summer was the first time she was back on the road, and new problems showed up. The two big ones were that the rear we put in (used and from a 55 Chevy) leaked like crazy and I wasn't motivated to replace the pinion seal so I spent a lot of time refilling gear oil. The second, bigger issue was that my stock radiator didn't really feel much like cooling my new V8. I was fine if I was moving, but the needle starting creeping if I sat in traffic. I managed to enjoy my car anyway, just grateful that she was running again. The overheating resulted in some funny stunts, like the time I drove up the shoulder of 95 for a few miles vs. sitting in traffic and overheating (and thankfully not getting caught). I also left an impressive puddle at the hoedown after spending too much time creeping through the crowd to claim my "rockstar parking". Long story short, I decided to spend Sunday fixing my leaky rear in preparation for the new season. (there's NO NICE WAY TO SAY THAT!) The main initiative was to change out the center section to a better ratio for better gas mileage and happier highway driving. Getting rid of the leak was a BONUS. I had a free rear that a friend donated that we disassembled sometime back. We knew what the ratio was, but didn't really know what was currently in my car. This weekend we pulled the leaky center section apart to "do the math". Let me first say, that out of ALL the messy jobs I've done on my car, disassembling the rear was by far the most disgusting. I had gear oil in my HAIR, in my EAR and in my ARMPIT. Aside from a trashcan full of maggots or burnt corpses, I don't think anything smells worse than gear oil. Being under the car covered in it is a special kind of yucky, to say the least. To make matters worse, I kept getting my boobs stuck on the undercarriage of my car meaning that I needed to work at weird angles to get bolts loose. Monday morning was brutal, because I felt like I worked out for HOURS on Sunday. Once we pulled the center section, we turned it to start counting teeth to figure out what we had. The action was far from smooth. My Dad said, "this thing is BAD... we need a new one." He had a friend that had a new center section at the same ratio as trhe one we pulled that he was willing to donate to the cause (THANKS, KEN!). We decided to go get it figuring that at the very least we'd have a new leak free assembly even if I wasn't gaining any advantages in the gas mileage department. After we picked it up, my Dad ran out for gear oil and I stayed under the car cleaning the housing and face for the new gasket. I didn't realize how bad the old rear was until I reached into the goop in the housing and pulled out a handful of metal. Talk about dodging a bullet! Turns out my leak was caused not by a bad pinion seal, but by a bad pinion bearing. I managed to everything cleaned up and then Dad and I put everything back together without incident. Needless to say, the drive home was like night and day with my spanking new rear! It's entirely possible that I've never been dirtier that I was when I got home Sunday night. I walked in the door and my hubby said, good lord you STINK! (he still thought it was HOT, if he knows what's good for him) I stepped into the shower and had the kind of scrub down they give people that have been involved in a nuclear accident. I lathered, rinsed AND repeated! After I got dressed, I went back into the bathroom to grab a hairbrush and noticed the disgusting "grease ring" in the tub. A good day indeed. Next project is to put in the new 4-core radiator I picked up which will hopefully take care of my other problem. In the meantime, I can't tell you how nice it is to park in the driveway and not leave an unsightly puddle of primordial ooze (so embarassing!). The radiator job should be CAKE and considerably less stinky. Stacey
Yeah nothing like the smell of gear oil in your hair. That's a special kind of stink right there. Usually takes a couple of washings to get rid of it. You could always use that citris Go Jo in your hair.....wouldn't that be special.....
Stacey, Do you have a fan shroud? If the radiator is big enough to cool the engine under load when the car moves, it might do just fine with more air when it's at idle. My truck really didn't have enough radiator; it'd become a teapot if I tried to drive 60 mph. I guess it didn't matter on this job; the center section was toast anyway, but you can (assuming the car is non-posi) jack up one wheel, spin it twice, and count how many turns the pinion takes. Easier than turning bolts. Blowing out the blood pits in a slaughterhouse smells worse. Trust me - even the guys who've worked there for a long time clear the hell out of the area. Personally, brake fluid is the one that feels the grossest (to me), and old antifreeze smells a bit like urine. Hate those two. Now, more about the "stuck on the undercarriage" business - that's more interesting. -bill
Gear oil is about as bad as it gets, however a local "old timer" bought 4oz of an additive to put in a 12 bolt GM rear end and left it in his trunk for a month or so before he got around to it. The stench it left in the car was unbelievable and the bottle was still sealed. s.
That would be the additive for the posi rearend,can't remember the name,but can't ever forget the smell!!Yes Action Girl,there is nothing like used gearlube,and although i don't have the same reason for the undercar "clearance"problem,54" chest and not exactly "svelte" (6'2"260lbs)i can relate.Check into a good fan shroud as the car farmer suggested,often that is all that is needed to solve low speed cooling problems.Have Fun.
if ya don't wear a "traditional" 50's bullet bra when working, you won't have so much of an undercarriage clearance problem!
I can tell how excited you sound about working on the car, coming home smelling like axle grease is awesome, that is one of my all time favorite smells. It is reall impressive to hear how passionate you are about working on your own car. Hope you have a safe and trouble free cruising season.
Stacey - the smell of gear oil on a girl is kinda special! Haha, glad to hear you're getting there. Found someone here that can ignore the oil smoke inside my old A Fordor. Guessing she's special too...
Yeah, I have a fan shroud, Dad and I made one up and installed it last summer. I also have an electric fan, but the combination of both still ain't cuttin it. Stacey
what fans are you running. i try to use two 8 inch permacools pulling and a shroud. i feel you pain on the over heating and the rear dripping. I think you said you already bought a rad but have you considered a becool rad or a griffin they work well and are offered with matching shrouds and fans. they are alumium and work really well. also if you r on a budget elcamino replacement rads are very good for cooling older cars. big block rads will do the trick too. hope this helps
There is one "odor" that's worse than gear oil....and that is BURNT gear oil !!! I once toasted the rearend in my race car. I disassembled it in the attached garage (mistake) to figure out what parts I needed to gather. By the time I got the parts and put it back together, the entire house reeked of burned gear oil. It was awful. P.S. Good to hear about a girl that works on her own car. I hope you enjoy your time with your father accomplishing things. I've always cherished my time spent in the garage with my Dad.
The worst smell is burst mopar posi rear ends. The mopar limited slip lube is the best and comes in little 2oz bottles. However...the smell of the stuff in that 2oz bottle can gag a skunk. You should smell it after its been steeping in a rear for 30 years.... Ugh.
I,ll ditto this quote.............hope your man appreciates you, cuse I,m sure you'd have alot of callers............... good luck
I hope you made him clean the tub! Seriously, fun read. I'm gonna show my 15 year old daughter this when she gets home tonight. Then we're gonna go work on her Nash.
I have a shirt that even after 4 years of washing still has a mild gear oil oder. That stink lingers.
You have me laughing out loud here at work! Bummer I don't have those same clearence issues though. Glad to hear you've got Faye's new rear done. It will certainly be a stress free cruzn season for you once the rad is installed too.
Damn...that story got me all hot and bothered......wonder if the misus would dab a little gear lube behind each ear tonight?
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