Hot Rods GRENADED MY DIFFERENTIAL!!! Check this out...

As a dedicated doctor, I rarely take a day off; so last Friday when it was forced upon me, I decided to take my pals out to lunch. Of course, I was the one running late to meet them at the shop. So, I high-tailed it down the freeway in the 31 coupe. 60... 70... 80... 90 mph...... BAM!!!!! I heard and felt the blast. It definitely arose from the rear-end. In the rear-view mirror, I actually saw the pieces fly off behind me.

You know the feeling.

First, you check the gauges.

Then you survey what all you can see.

Everything seemed ok.

As luck would have it, my exit was the very next one, and the shop was only a few hundred yards away. At the first light I saw the snail trail of fluid behind me.

As I limped into the shop (5 minutes late), all the guys were there, and immediately recognized the puddle...

Doctor Destructo was at it again. True to my name, I had blown a huge hole entirely through the 3rd member cast iron casing. We took the rear end apart and found a tooth had broken off the pinion and shattered! Leave it to me... in for a penny, in for a pound!!

Here are the pictures. Check out the hole in my rear-end!






Well, 2 hours later (and $425 for the replacement) we had the new rear-end attached and we were all off to the San Marcos Cafe for plenty of beer, carne asada, and the usual heckling of my tendency to break all things mechanical.

You guys ever see this happen before???

 

Not like that.

A little JB Weld ought to fix er right up....

 

Wow!

Never seen that before, but I'm thinking that you got off pretty easy...I would think that if the chunk of pinion had been circulated around you could have locked up the rear and had a white knuckle ride...

Hard to beat a drop-out center section, eh?

BRT

 

That looks like a 9in ford ? That being said - How the fuck did you do that ???
Fuzzy

 

I did the same thing, maybe a little worse to an 8.8" in a Ford Ranger. A built 302 and 40" mud tires did the trick for me...

 

I've nuked them, but that usually involves shearing on multiple teeth (sounds like an someone hammering on a flagpole) rendering the car immobile.

 

If you're gonna do it, do it right!!! excellent work! I keep a few grenaded pistons and stuff laying around the shop just to brag about. There's a story behind every one!

 

It's my real hidden talent. When we drove up the Paso three years ago I broke 3 rocker studs and 2 push rods on the trip up. On the trip down, I sheared off the back right brake line going 80 mph on the 405. Luckily I coasted to a halt on the shoulder.
Earlier this year I was in the 59 wagon with my 3 sons at a show in La Jolla. When we got ready to go, the starter solenoid got stuck in the "on" position. I couldn't get the battery cable off fast enough and the starter burned up.
What can I say? Old cars are fun, huh?

 

55 to 64 chev pass rear ends are not the strongest to be doing that with!

Clay >>

 

Noooo. This looks like a 8.2" ring gear chevy. 55-64 rearend. Did a number on that sucker!

 

"Check out the hole in my rear-end!" Must be a Proctologist.

 

I couldn't resist.

 

Well there's your problem.

 

mice? They chewed a hole in your rearend?
Or was the mouse motor on the other end?

 

Congrats! Whenever I break something like that it makes me feel like I'm really making HP. ;-)

 

If I wasn't so proud of it I would use it for the base of a trophy for our club pick at the next show.

 

my lil brother did that to a mopar rear. shot a ring gear bolt straight thru the housing, lol. any clue what broke thu the cast there?

 

Nice work Sir!

 

Nice Job. Well done.

 

Well perforated my man................

 

Good report there Doc...

 

Bore and tap it, put a plug in it... Makes for a nice inspection hole. You blew it up good... Real good!

 

I did a Dana 60 very similar to that once. My Dad has a hydraulic bale prong in a 3/4-ton 1973 Dodge 4x4. Apparently it had no grease in it and when I was hauling a bale with it it tried to lock up. With all that weight on it there was no way it would skid so it sheared the pnion right off and blew a hole out the bottom of the housing.

Good stuff there.

 

Congrats! You´re a real artist.

 

Take that baby home and display it. I've seen 9", sterlings and dana 60's explode but never seen one vented like that. Good job!

 

Yes indeed that is one NICE job!You should add it to the ''holes drilled in'' thread too!

Nick.

 

Another Sacrafice to the gods of speed

Well done.

 

Pretty bad when a car starts leaking parts. Glad you got it fixed.
Did you get your driveshaft checked? I have seen car driveshafts get twisted when a rearend momentarily locks up like that. Big truck stuff gets even more interesting.

 

I've heard the term "ripping them a new one" before, as in adding another hole to a rearend, but that's the first I've seen it in practice.

Lucky it didn't lock up completely, as someone else noted, that will really ruin your day. Is the tooth broken clean? I wonder what would cause that. Even if you beat hell out of it, an A is so light it's hard to believe you could do the damage running it under that car.