'54 Panama has paint and trim code stamped on the side of the glove box for me. Most of the ink is gone, but I can make out hints of it. VIN number is embossed on a plate and spot welded to the door pillar. Another is placed in engine compartment on the firewall.

'54 Clippers were weird though....a mix of '53 and '54. Not sure if any of this was a carryover from '53.

-Kevin

Ross, is that the same part for the rear u-joint on an Ultramatic car?

Thanks guys. Really happy to be driving it and not be concerned about imminent failure. Now if I could only get my fuel gauge to work.

Paul, that's great information. I had no idea that outer seal had to be centered so precisely. Never saw anything about that in the manuals. I'll probably leave mine for now. If I get back in there then I will double check to make sure seal is centered on the hub.

Kevin

I just used the pre made coated lines from Napa. Cheap and easy to use. You can bend then up just fine with your thumb. I rented a tubing bender but never used it.

Two premade lines from front to back, with a junction in the middle up along the frame rail. Much easier to work with two separate lines then one long one.

I had to cut and double flares a cult smaller lines. Double flare takes a good tool. I rented one and it was trash. I ended up borrowing my neighbor's good tool and was much more successful. If I can do double flares, anyone can. No leaks from the ones I've done.

Kevin

Found the problem! Turns out it was just the outer grease seal. I had no idea it had to be oiled. So I carefully applied some gear oil to the leather part of the seal with a Q-tip until it had soaked in. Cleaned off any excess, and used some brake cleaner on the tapered shaft to clean off anything that may have gotten on there. Put everything back together and tested....no noise.

My wife and I went on our date night in the Panama for the first time. Functioned fantastically and got a few looks. The engine sounds better and better each time I drive it. Temp stayed right in the middle, no bogging on acceleration, almost silent when stopped, and brakes are working great. I'm just glad the squealing wasn't something major.

Thanks for the pictures JWL...I'll probably need to sleeve the hub at some point in the future. And the tool you made for the axle play is exactly what I did. Worked great.

-Kevin

Love it! That panel turned out great.

-Kevin

Got a few things done tonight:

1.) lifted the rear and pushed/pulled on both tires. Didn't feel any axial movement.
2.) Removed driver's brake drum and inspected inside. No obvious signs of scraping where it shouldn't on the drum.
3.) Didn't see any signs of scraping on the edges of the brake shoes or on the backing plate.
4.) Rigged up a straight edge so I could watch the axle as it turned and compare to to the edge. I didn't see any obvious signs of axle warp, but it's definitely not a precise method.
5.) Started the car up and put it in gear to see if the bearing made any noise. Nothing at all....see video:

6.) Noticed that the inner hub seems to have a lot of wear on it from where it contacts the outer grease seal. The grease seal is dry. Was I supposed to apply grease or oil to it when I installed it?

Could the grease seal be making all that noise if it's dry?

-Kevin

Attach file:

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  Inside of drum.jpg (64.66 KB)


  Edge of brake shoes.jpg (97.82 KB)


  Checking axle straightness.jpg (81.74 KB)


  Wear on the hub.jpg (76.37 KB)


  Dry outer seal.jpg (106.25 KB)

Thank you both Ross and David. I will check both wheels to see if they move in and out on the stands today. And checking the axle using a pointer seems like it might give me at least an indication of if it is straight or not.

David, yes this is all happening on the side that had the warped drum. The numbers I was getting on the axle end play were right in spec, but I question whether I did everything right. I followed all the instructions, but I've never done anything like this before and could have potentially messed something up. It wouldn't be the first time.

To do this weekend:
1.) Check to see if tires move in/out on the rear
2.) Set up a pointer to check for axle bending
3.) Remove brake drum on driver's side and look for witness marks or anything out of place
4.) Fix anything that I find amiss, reassemble and hope for the best. If I have to pull the axle then so be it. But I'm still holding out hope for a more mild solution.

-Kevin

Quote:

That's my concern. I thought I did everything right, but I very well could have screwed it up. The bearing was quiet for a the first little while of test drives....maybe 15 miles or so. I'm wondering if my axle shim adjustment wasn't right. I probably should have just left all the shims the way they were when I took everything apart.

The bearing visually looked okay (I'm a novice), the race looked maybe a bit scored. I'll just pull it and take to a shop and have them check it all out.

-Kevin

I know you guys are right....I've just been trying to convince myself otherwise. Ugh....taking everything back apart again and redoing the whole axle shim thing is such a pain.

I'm going to check with NAPA and see if they can get me the correct bearing and race. Then call around to a couple places and see if they can press the new bearing on the axle and check for axle trueness. Part of me just wants to drop the car off and have someone else do all the work, but I don't think they'll be very familiar with how to work on something like this. I'll probably just pull the axle and take it in.

-Kevin