Part 7: Bringing the 8 1/4 Up to Speed

The spider gears exhibited some wear after years of abuse totingcriminals.

Eddie, our point man, reused the original pinion shim as a startingpoint.

We opted for an Auburn cone-style limited slip unit. These pieces arenot rebuildable once you wear them out. You simply replace 'em.

Eddie has been in the business so long he has made a number of toolsspecifically for these applications, such as this bearing tool. Here,the carrier bearings are installed.

(above & right) The inner pinion race was installed by lightly tapping it in. The outerpinion race was next. We slide the outer pinion bearing in afterlightly oiling it. Then we put some white grease inside the pinion seal,tapped it in with a hammer, and we were done with the housing and couldmove on to assembling the carrier.

Before assembly, Eddie checked the new gears thoroughly as they may needto be deburred a bit with a grinding disc. This is normally the casewith new gears and not a production flaw.

A shop press was employed for pressing on the pinion bearing. Afterinspecting the ring gear, it was bolted on at 50-inch-pounds.