'57 Ford 9" problem

I have a '57 Ford 9" in the '34 pickup that I'm building. When checking the gears, I found that the rear had been sitting a long time and the top of the gears not sitting in oil had pits. I found another center section from an early '60's Ford and replaced it. I did this a few years ago. Now that I am near to getting it on the road, I find that there is no place to add oil to the rear. I would hate to tear it back apart to drill for a plug. Any suggestions? Add oil through the vent hole?

 

Dizzie, does the center section you installed not have a fill plug?

Should be about 1/2 way up drivers side toward the front, if I recall.

 

If you didn't put any gear oil in take the vent tube out and get 2 1/2 bottles of gear oil, they come with funnel caps, cut one so it fits in the vent tube hole and fill it there.

 

I used a 74 Mercury Cougar nine inch in my 38 Chevy, the gears were 2.75 and a little taller than I really wanted so my cousin had a 58 Ford pickup center section with 3.70 gears and I ran into the same problem. I was a little luckier and caught the issue before I installed it. I ended up cutting the bung out of a junk rear end and welded in. Last weekend I found weld in bungs at Surplus Center in Lincoln Ne for less than $3.

 

pull an axle & pour the lube in there, I do it that way because it's faster !

 

There is a flat spot on the center section where the plug should be. Must have been in the housing of the donor rear.

 

There is the answer!

 

Grease up a drill bit and go very slow cleaning the metal off and adding grease until youre thru. Do the same with a tap that's whatever size plug you want and it will be fine

 

Exactly.
Some of the shop manuals even say to do it that way.

 

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Your not the first one to do this. Ask me how I know!

 

I had to do a pumpkin swap on my former boss' car, so he could leave for a So. Cal. show, a few hours later. Did not think about the fill issue. Ended up using the vent hole.

So yeah, welcome to the club.

 

I've used a "steel threaded pipe coupler", not cast iron mind you like a hardware store may have. you can get them from hydraulic stores, or McMASTER-CARR. GET AT LEAST A 3/8 NPT SIZE, cut it in half, weld it on,as someone mentioned , fill the drill with grease n drill a hole thru. don't forget while a the store to get a socket head pipe plug......I usually drill a tube ( if a chip gets in less likely to create a problem).

 

I have had to pull an axle and add gear lube that way it worked

 

Dizzie, I had the same problem which seems to be more common than I realized. Used the vent hole since it was all buttoned up and installed the required amount.

 

Fill through the vent tube. Easy and you don't have to pull an axle.