look.....maybe i am a dumbass....or maybe i am just following the KISS method....but once i put the shims and backing plate on the thing...then tug the end of the shaft to get it to sit next to the backing plate....etc etc.......see where i am going with this.

seriously if you took it apart carefully and put it back the same way, especially if you didn't change the bearing or race like me, then it should all just go back the way it was when you took it apart. i don't know why this has to be so difficult. not trying to be a jerk and i really appreciate all the discussion, but really....i just don't see why this has to be so hard.

on my z3 i replaced the rear diff.....put it back together the way i took it apart and i have had 0, count them....0 problems since and it has 320 hp and 300 dynoed ft lbs trq. it has axles and shims too....it really isn't that hard. just put it back the way you found it. i have had nearly 10k miles since then...no problems. (apples and oranges i know, but it is still a rear diff)

now if i was to replace the bearing, etc...then i would be a bit more worried about it.

see you on the road, several thousand miles later......and i bet mine will still be going.

flame suit on.....okay now give it to me!

later,

Hank

Denny, The overlook picture was a confusing one for me. When I lived on the island the road to Meldrum Bay was not paved from about Gore Bay west. For those who might be interested the term "Haweater" is a proud reference for anyone born on Manitoulin Island (largest island in a fresh water body of water in the world ). In the early days of settlement in the 1860's the pioneers depended on the Hawthorn tree berry for sustinence hence the term.

Rusty, I think Eric's point is that nothing is hidden. The data plate clearly states "Chrysler Corporation". Not familiar at all with the V-8's but did Packard use distributors marked as Chrysler parts?

" ... the cup actually needs to be pulled back a bit so it sits flush against the back on the backing plate when bolted down. "

This leads me to believe that the cup is recessing into the axle housing deeper than flush with the end of the axle housing??????

Take the new cup (if it's a new cup) and lay it flat on a flat smooth surface. Palce the ORIGINAL cup u removed next to it. Place a streight edge over the top of them to see if the new cup is thinner than the original cup u removed.

Edgar Allen Poe in The Purloined Letter. Is there something I'm missing? What exactly is hidden?

If u don't feel comfortable checking end play by 'feel' then u can buy a Dial Indicator. Get the magnetic base with it. Very useful and universal application precision measuring tool. Cheap ones start at about $20 at 1-800-use-enco. Tell them to send a free cataloug wheather u buy anything or not. Great cataloug.

Are there any shims between the backing plate and the axle flange?????? Such shims would be shaped like the axle flange but with a centre hole big enuf to allow the race to protrude thru it a little bit.

Ring shaped shims inserted into the axle housing BEFORE the bearing race is installed would be there to keep the race tite against the backing plate and to keep race from moving back and forth in the bore of the axle.

I'll try to look at Cli55er pictures.

What criteria is used to determine legitimate accessories???? Must appear in the dealers 56 accessory cataloug otherwise not legit??? I really don't know.

I vaguely remember having read somewhere that the 55/56 Clipper hood ornament should have been a VERY stylized variant of the "Goddess of Speed" theme (the "doughnut pusher")...

I think it would look better if you paint it like this Ferrari Enzo: