Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

With all the components fabricated, all that remains now is to do the final assembly and welding.

First I made rubber bushings from 1/2" heater hose. Usually, if you get heavy-duty heater hose, all you have to do is cut it to length and slip it into the eyelets. It is 3/4" OD and fits right into the 3/4" ID eyelets. The ID is 1/2" and the 1/2" bolts I use go (snugly) through the center. This time I was out of heavy duty hose and the regular stuff is only 11/16" OD, so I wrapped a few rounds of vinyl plastic tape around the hose to make it fit. (I will replace it with the correct stuff when I do final assembly.) I had to do this twice... After I wrapped the hose pieces the first time, the bolts wouldn't go through! DUH! I wrapped them too tight! I had to unwrap all four pieces and rewrap them WITH the bolts in place.

OK, I finally bolted the axle plates and tubes together, set everything up with shims as needed, lined everything up with squares, rulers, and measuring tape, and welded everything together. Voila', a finished pair of heavy duty, rubber bushed radius rods.

Now I can mount the rear end to the frame..., but, bad news, I have discovered that my rear end housing is warped! It has been welded on before and is bent badly enough that it's visible with the naked eye! I guess my next installment will be about straightening a bent rear end housing.

The good news is I got my engine and transmission. It's a 2.5L four-banger out of a 1987 Chevy S-10. The trans is only a 4-speed instead of a 5-speed, but the price was definitely right ($0). The exhaust ports on this little jewel are clean and dry; I'm going to clean it up, paint it, and run it as is.