Advice and tips on doing rear end swap. 60-62

[HumphreyMurdoch]

Hey guys, I'm in the middle of doing a bunch of work to my '62 and I'm about to swap the rear with a '71 5 lug I picked up a while back. I'm looking for some advice and pointers to make sure I get it in nice and square the first try.

Here's my plan, tell me what ya think.

Use a plumb bob off the outside of the frame and measure over to the trailing arms for reference in case they move around a little with the rear out. No idea if they will.

Cut the old mounts off the '71 rear and set the new mounts and axle on the trailing arms and bolt it on, loosely, and use the outside frame rails again to check rear end centering and trailing arms.

Then check the pinion angle while at ride height and tack the rear and panhard bracket from the '62. remove it and weld it in for good.

[53Sparky]

Not a whole lot to add, but I'm at the same spot in my build so I'd love to hear the answers too.

[Captainfab]

That will work. To expand a little on that, the trailing arms will move around once the differential is removed....it's not a big deal. When you install the new differential, just center the trailing arms and mounts on the diff housing. Then before you tack the panhard bar mount in place, make sure the differential is centered to the frame. You could also go with an adjustable panhard bar, which you can adjust later on in case you don't get the differential perfectly centered.

Originally Posted by HumphreyMurdoch

Hey guys, I'm in the middle of doing a bunch of work to my '62 and I'm about to swap the rear with a '71 5 lug I picked up a while back. I'm looking for some advice and pointers to make sure I get it in nice and square the first try.

Here's my plan, tell me what ya think.

Use a plumb bob off the outside of the frame and measure over to the trailing arms for reference in case they move around a little with the rear out. No idea if they will.

Cut the old mounts off the '71 rear and set the new mounts and axle on the trailing arms and bolt it on, loosely, and use the outside frame rails again to check rear end centering and trailing arms.

Then check the pinion angle while at ride height and tack the rear and panhard bracket from the '62. remove it and weld it in for good.