Robert M Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 The week after Christmas I put my car on jack stands to do the Baer rear brake upgrade............I removed the wheels and calipers and just couldn't go forward with the rear brake upgrade. I was slapped with reality once again, a reality I had chosen to ignore/forget a few months before when I had my car on a lift and saw the surface rusted axle. Instead of ignoring the rust and letting it continue to grow and eventually pitting the metal surfaces, I decided to take on the task of de-rusting all bare metal on my 2008 axle and restoring it to correct Ford assy. line specs., or at least as close as possible to assy. specs. I could have painted or coated this axle, but that is not what an MCA judge would be looking for under a 2007-2009 (2010 too?) Mustang or Shelby. Personally, I wanted mine to look "as it came from Ford" (as close as possible), that was just my preference, however, I have seen many nice/detailed 2007-2009/2010 axles painted to get rid of the brown. Mine is painted too, but with clear instead........ So...........the intense labor began. No sanding (that would scratch the surface), No bead/sand blasting (that would etch the surface). It was the sloooowwww process of chemically removing the rust (de-rusting). I am done with the center housing and axle tubes. My axle i.d. sticker got damaged and I am having it replicated by a graphics shop. Before.......... After........ ^^^^^^^^^Notice the yellow paint spilled on the bottom side. That is the way it came from Ford, that is the way it will stay. All assy. markings on this center center section are original, the machined cut outs (two in the second picture and two in the picture above) have been replicated to their "fresh steel" look and all six welds that attach the axle tubes to the center section have been brought back to their bright silver look. I also had to replicate the gold and yellow paint daubs on the yoke after the de-rust. --------------------------------------------------------------- Axle tubes and bracketry................ Picture below........There were two small paint daubs (pink) that were originally on the welds located next to the cover mounting surface. I had to replicate them because the cleaning/de-rusting process removed them. I purchased correct Markal paint markers for any marking replications. ^^^^^^^^^Added a True-Trac while the axle was out. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbackg Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Nicely done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviusc Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Robert all I can say is I am in awe to your attention to detail, I'm a stickler when it comes to this but wow! Where did you source your information from in restoring the rear end to it's original glory, ie. correct paint and location for the markings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Amazing Robert. So did I understand the second paragraph correctly that you are putting some clear on from keeping this from happening again, and to keep this look? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyGJ Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 All I can say is WOW! How long did this take you to do? For those of you (Grabber & others) who have done this with the painting option, did you also remove the axle from the car? What is the best process to do this for someone who does not have a lift or shop access to get to the underside of a lowered car very easily? Thanks, Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Robert all I can say is I am in awe to your attention to detail, I'm a stickler when it comes to this but wow! Where did you source your information from in restoring the rear end to it's original glory, ie. correct paint and location for the markings? I took complete pictures of my axle assy. before the restoration process began, that way I knew the correct positions, looks and colors of each marking. My axle had not been exposed to much moisture, so I could still see the markings well. I then went to the Markal site because I knew that in the "old days" they provided paint sticks for assy. line markings at Ford, now it is paint markers for the most part, so I ordered the colors that matched what was on my axle. There are also different paint marker tip sizes, 2mm, 3mm etc., so to be correct I had to measure what exact marker "appeared" to be used to make the paint stripe, daub or letter(s).An example below........... The top view of the left axle tube, note the pink paint mark on top of the panhard bar bracket and if you look closely you can see a light green mark peaking out from under the disc brake bracket, at this point I was not sure what that green mark was.............Also in the picture above there is a Blue paint line/mark on the cast iron disc brake mounting bracket, I am upgrading to the Shelby/Baer rears, so this OEM bracket will be replaced, but if my original brakes were to be installed, that cast iron bracket would first have to be bead blasted, then sprayed with something like the Eastwood Cast Blast spray, and then the paint line replicated on that bracket. There is also a Green paint line/mark on the other side of that brake bracket, not seen in the photo.After removing the disc brake bracketry the mark was clearly seen..........."3"The same view after the marks were replicated............R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Amazing Robert. So did I understand the second paragraph correctly that you are putting some clear on from keeping this from happening again, and to keep this look? Yes, I started out with Duplicolor engine clear (gloss), it was too glossy for a correct natural/bare steel look, and I also noticed some "yellow" to the clear finish. The slight yellow was acceptable because the steel "could" have that sort of tint to it, but the gloss made it look sprayed/wet.<<Pretty for car shows, but not original looking to me. I went to the Eastwood site and they offer a "Diamond Clear" in a Satin finish - Perfect!! I tried a number of clears purchased locally to get the correct look, before I ordered from Eastwood. Gloss was too Gloss, Matte was not gloss enough for the bare steel look, and the Krylon Satin had a slight yellow to it which did work perfectly to spray the UCA bushing metal sleeve, but not the axle tubes. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 All I can say is WOW! How long did this take you to do? For those of you (Grabber & others) who have done this with the painting option, did you also remove the axle from the car? What is the best process to do this for someone who does not have a lift or shop access to get to the underside of a lowered car very easily? Thanks, Andy. Andy - Axle out for sure at this level. Getting inside of, and in between each bracket is much easier if the axle can be rotated and a person can sit on the floor while working. De-rusting is the goal, ALL rust gone from all bare metal. It has to be that way because when a clear is your top coat "all" brown/rust that was not removed will still be there. I used a floor jack to lift the rear of my car and supported the rear body. It took 3 hours, maybe a little more, for me to unbolt and remove my axle assy. by myself with air/hand tools and a floor jack. The time consuming part is the de-rusting. I remember spending 6-8 hours the first Saturday that I started this process. I only worked on one axle tube and its bracketry that day, but it was completely de-rusted from the center section to the brake mounting flange that day including the inside of all brackets...........Then I was "burned-out" for a couple of weeks.......I have children and a wife that I enjoy spending time with much more than a GT500 axle assy., so my restoration process has been slow, very slow! Now, 3-4 months later........I am almost done. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Nicely done! ^^Thanks!!^^ R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckySnake Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 By Far, the best job I have seen of restoring a late model differential assy. Looks factory new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08KR525 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 What product did you use to remove the rust? Assembly looks fantastic. btw. Please post pics once you get it reinstalled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 What product did you use to remove the rust? Assembly looks fantastic. btw. Please post pics once you get it reinstalled. I used Naval Jelly applied with a small paint brush. Unlike the liquid rust removers, naval jelly stays in place and contiues to desolve/remove the rust while a liquid would have run off.Here is the left shock mount bracket partially de-rusted................After the de-rust and assy. markings replicated..................After the de-rust process, I completely clean the area with laquer thinner to remove the naval jelly, then I buffed the surface with medium steel wool, then 00 steel wool, then 0000 steel wool. After that I thoroughly wiped again with laquer thinner and then sprayed with the Eastwood Diamond/Satin clear.R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08KR525 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Excellent results. Well worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandros Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Very nice....Thanks for sharing the products you used... Alexandros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Thanks to all!! I am installing the Baer six piston rear set-up and Moser Street Axles, and I am currently undecided about which cover I want to use. I will add more pictures as I get a chance. Great news today!!!!!!! The graphics company that is replicating my original axle stickers/labels was able to make a correct looking label that wraps around the right axle tube. The labels should be done tomorrow..........Yeah!! These were a very inportant part of this axle restoration!! It needs to have all of the correct identifiers, and they need to look "nice" also. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbackg Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Are you going to install the Watts link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Are you going to install the Watts link? Not yet. I know now would be a great time, but I have changed/added some items during the time that this axle assy. has been out that I want to make sure that everything works. For example, I added a True-Trac to replace the OEM posi unit. "If" by chance the gears make noise now, and I need to replace them, I don't want the additional parts in the way. The Watts will be a lesser intense project in the future, once I have driven the car a few miles. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08KR525 Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Would you mind identifying the Markal paint markers you used, i. e., part numbers, as that would be a great help. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Would you mind identifying the Markal paint markers you used, i. e., part numbers, as that would be a great help. Thanks. The markers I used are shown below. If you go to the Markal site and find the Pro-Line HP 3mm paint markers, the part numbers are listed next to each. There are two greens, mine were the Light Green markings. The Markal shown to the right is also a Pro-Line, but not the HP, it is the finer 2mm paint marker for finer markings. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 O.k., so I decided to get out the covers this morning, just to see what I had purchased over the last year or two. -> First is the OEM cover that came on my car when new. This cover is cool because the i.d. sticker on it was modified/labeled by the Shelby American technician who installed my 3.73's. The 3.31 information has been wiped clean and "3.73" has been written, as well as his/her initials? "mm" and "NY", like the New York Yankees logo, pretty unique and definitely Cool!! This cover will probably be stored away for safe keeping. ->Second is a correct dated original GT500KR cover. This cover was in the trunk of a trade-in GT500KR at a Ford dealership. This cover was in a Ford Racing girdle cover box, so apparently the original owner changed/upgraded the cover to a FRPP girdle cover and the original OEM cover went with the car at sale time. I was happy to find it, and correct dated, late 2007. ->Third was a recent purchase. SPP offered this cover in their garage sale items for $75 including bolts. I couldn't pass that up, not for $75! The nice thing about this CS cover is that it is shorter than the Shelby girdle to the right and will most likely work perfectly with a Watts link. ->Fourth...........the cover I bought first, the Shelby girdle, the one that I planned to install before these other covers............. Picking diff. covers for under a Shelby.....................Only in America! R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckySnake Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 O.k., so I decided to get out the covers this morning, just to see what I had purchased over the last year or two. -> First is the OEM cover that came on my car when new. This cover is cool because the i.d. sticker on it was modified/labeled by the Shelby American technician who installed my 3.73's. The 3.31 information has been wiped clean and "3.73" has been written, as well as his/her initials? "mm" and "NY", like the New York Yankees logo, pretty unique and definitely Cool!! This cover will probably be stored away for safe keeping. ->Second is a correct dated original GT500KR cover. This cover was in the trunk of a trade-in GT500KR at a Ford dealership. This cover was in a Ford Racing girdle cover box, so apparently the original owner changed/upgraded the cover to a FRPP girdle cover and the original OEM cover went with the car at sale time. I was happy to find it, and correct dated, late 2007. ->Third was a recent purchase. SPP offered this cover in their garage sale items for $75 including bolts. I couldn't pass that up, not for $75! The nice thing about this CS cover is that it is shorter than the Shelby girdle to the right and will most likely work perfectly with a Watts link. ->Fourth...........the cover I bought first, the Shelby girdle, the one that I planned to install before these other covers............. Picking diff. covers for under a Shelby.....................Only in America! R I would first use either the KR or the CS cover for fit / function and probably end up going with the CS cover as to not get dinged by a sharp judge. If your not going to drive much the original is the best choice IMO. They are all nice but the only one I would not want to use is the last (FRPP?) as it looks to be a gen 1 and you would need to relocate your panhard bar for clearance (another mod). Blayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 I would first use either the KR or the CS cover for fit / function and probably end up going with the CS cover as to not get dinged by a sharp judge. If your not going to drive much the original is the best choice IMO. They are all nice but the only one I would not want to use is the last (FRPP?) as it looks to be a gen 1 and you would need to relocate your panhard bar for clearance (another mod).Blayne Actually the last cover to the right is also a Shelby cover................^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Yes, this cover requires a panhard relocation bar bracket. My Super Snake was an earlier build and came with the blue Granatelli panhard bar. The later Super Snakes have the charcoal/hammertone colored BMR adj. panhard. Shown in the picture below is the correct Granatelli relocation bracket for my panhard bar. The cover shown above can be installed while a car is at Shelby, as far as I know? It may be a Shelby Motorsports install item..........Yes, the cover shown in this post is more like the FRPP G1 girdle cover and the CS cover is thinner like the G2. The cover shown above in this post is the beefier of the two and also appears to allow for more gear lube.R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 A picture of the CS cover installed.............. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckySnake Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 Very nice! ^^^^^Thanks Blayne!! I think I can get by with the tall cover and the relocate, as long as the cover is "Shelby". Of course, at some point in the future, when I decide to install the Shelby Watts Link, the cover and relocate shown in post #22 will no longer fit and then I will have to use the thinner CS cover, if it fits with the Watts Link install? R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbackg Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 I would opt for cover # 3, the CS low profile cover. Looks like the Watts link will fit with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08KR525 Posted April 14, 2012 Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 I prefer the cover in post #22, as it appears to be the stoutest. I also like the SHELBY engraving on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2012 The rear brakes will be removed for ease of axle installation, but here is the left side installed. While this axle was apart, I decided to add a pair of Moser Street Axles. <<One of those hidden upgrades, as was the Eaton True-Trac........... I sprayed the axle flanges front and rear with the Eastwood satin clear to help deter any future surface rust issues, or at least slow it down if it starts. Shelby has now gone to Wilwood for the Super Snake brakes (or it may be a transition period to Wilwood), at some point (maybe already), the Shelby/Baer 6 piston rear brake upgrade to match the front on the Shelby/Baer installed Super Snakes will no longer be available........... It sure is nice to "fit" all of this stuff while the axle is out on jackstands!! R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckySnake Posted April 15, 2012 Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 ^^^^^Thanks Blayne!! I think I can get by with the tall cover and the relocate, as long as the cover is "Shelby". Of course, at some point in the future, when I decide to install the Shelby Watts Link, the cover and relocate shown in post #22 will no longer fit and then I will have to use the thinner CS cover, if it fits with the Watts Link install? R I think the CS cover looks great. Severals folks have set up the Shelby Watts Link and there isn't a need to guess which propeller height setting works best overall for street use, this means you can install the propeller bolt/nut for maximum clearance (head of bolt fwd). I think there is a very good chance the CS cover will work great with the Shelby (Fays 2) Watts Link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2012 I think the CS cover looks great. Severals folks have set up the Shelby Watts Link and there isn't a need to guess which propeller height setting works best overall for street use, this means you can install the propeller bolt/nut for maximum clearance (head of bolt fwd). I think there is a very good chance the CS cover will work great with the Shelby (Fays 2) Watts Link. Thanks Blayne. I have seen the FRPP G2 low profile cover used with Fays, but not the CS cover. It appears that it would work, but I did not know of any actual install verifications. I have the billet Shelby/Fays, but I am going to save it for a future install. I am changing/adding so many things during this "axle out", I don't want to add another change at this time. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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