Rear axle mounting and positioning properly

hey everyone.. may need some help.. i just picked up an 85 Cutlass triangulated 4 link (factory) rear axle for my '53 Chev from the wreckers. Now the lower bars and uppers need some mounting brackets welded on to the original chassis which isn't a big issue. I may use something like suicidedoors.com's universal mounts seen below..



Now this is my first axle swap.. what is the proper procedure to maintain good pinion angle and to make sure that I don't fuck this up. I don't want to get it done and it's dog-tracking!. Going from leaf to 4-link is a big task for me.. lol right now im just cleaning the axle and painting it then I will be settign it under the car to mock up positions.

Any tips is GREATLY appreciated!

 

Been discussed to death.........do a search for "pinion angle" & "driveline angle" to read the old posts - they contain a TON of info.

 

This might sound brutal...but could you simply cut some tube or pipe in half that fits tightly around the factory axle before you pull it out? Clamp it in place, after measuring for space in the same area of the new axle assembly, and then use some 1" tube to tie each 1/2 section of round tube securely to the frame at 3 points on either side. Now you have 2 saddles that the new rear axle will fit into to keep the wheelbase exactly as per factory settings.

Remove all the original junk except the new saddles and install the donor axle so it mounts securely into the saddles.
Set the pinion angle and side to side position of the donor axle, clamp into place or tack to the 1/2 pipe and then plot and jig your new bracket locations using the donor control arms mounted to the rear axle. Once the axle and arms are in place you can do the spring saddles on the frame and remove the 1/2 pipe jigs.

You'd have to make sure the car was level AND that the original axle was positioned under the car properly before starting, but it should work fine and limit angle and measuring confusion.

I did a Ford 9" into a stock bodied V8 Vega something like that years ago and it worked excellent. Of course I was mounting the stock Vega arms to the bare axle housing but it still went the same way and was as easy as pie...
Both tires measured perfectly to the rockers and wheel openings once the car was back on the ground.