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Building a Fake W-27 to go under the Fake 442, Part 1:



The Faux-4-2, being a pretty generic commuter car from it's day, had what I'm told was pretty much the
wimpest 10-bolt available that year, and was a standard open diff as well. So I kept my eyes open and
eventually spotted this '69 ElCamino 12-bolt on Craigslist for a reasonable price.



Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the rebuild, as I eventually found out the original ring and pinion were
worn too badly to save. I foisted the whole mess off to the local driveline and 4X4 shop, who dropped in
a brand-new Eaton Positraction carrier, new bearings, new seals, and a new ring and pinion set.
We capped the whole thing off with a reproduction cast aluminum Olds W-27 rear cover.



But, we're not quite done yet. At some point in the axles' long history, the passenger side chock bolt
apparently came loose and eventually broke off the bottom of the mounting tab. This was badly
repaired by some doofus that didn't even know how to set a stick welder properly.



Along with that, the adjacent control-arm mounting tab had cracked at the axle tube.



To fix all that, I first ground off the crappy stick weld, and using a chisel eventually cracked off the added tab.



It held, but that's not exactly a quality weld. :)



The rest I ground and dressed to make a good working surface again.



Including grinding out the cracked tab weld.



To replace the missing portion of the shock mount, I made a cardboard template from the unbroken driver's side.



Flipping the pattern and positioning it over the broken tab, I was able to mark about what was missing.



About what I expected- it broke at the bolt hole, so not much needs to be replaced.







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