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Just got my D44 back from the rebuilder.  Broken shim in the carrier.  Needed new bearings since they were pitted.  New pinion seal and bearings.  All set up and ready to go. 

I took it to Nogalitos Gear but they no longer do axles or transmissions. They recommended a guy that does bench work out of his garage. Dales Auto Repair.  Real nice guy 2 week turn around with the holiday. Real reasonable. 

So now to put on the axle shafts, knuckles and spindles.   In preparation, I've been watching videos and trying to find some good exploded views. If the rain will stay away, even though its forcasted through the weekend, I'll be one step closer. Getting excited again!

So does this mean it will be ready to wheel soon?

I would sure like to make the fall outing but once I get it to Noah's place I'm hoping to get a better determination. Right now, I'm working on making it mobile.  Axles on, top buttoned up and front end back on.

Well, axle is physically attached.  Had to fight with the lower ball joints to keep them from spinning.  Rained on, fought with mosquitos and then nightfall took over.  Hope to get more progress tomorrow.  Everyone will be at work so should make some progress....fingers crossed.

Coming along

Old Warn bumper with a twist. Added new style tow hooks.

Nice!

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Putting 91 rear seat in 76 RC.

1) Cut rear brackets off 76 seat.  Phew the factory welds were horrible.  Must have been a trainee or strike breaker. Lol

2) Welded onto curved metal tilting bracket on the 91 seat. 

3) Cleaned and painted.  Had to trim the ears of the 76 bracket down an inch and drill new holes. Measure once and cut twice Lol.

4) Removed the center pinch hook assembly that latch into the floor on the 91. Original idea was to cut a hole and attach the floor latch from a later model.
Used the seat belts bolted into the seat frame from the 91 instead of the floor attachment points.  I'd like to put a couple of cargo hooks to strap gear down with these 2 bolts.
Seems like something is different between the 91 and 76 that causes the front brackets to sit higher than the 76 causing the rear brackets to stand in the air. Had to use spacers in the rear to close the gap.

5) Seat will tilt forward after unbolting the 2 rear bolts.

Continued:

1)  91 seats use the tilt brackets that bolt into the floor for the front of the seat.  I plugged the original holes with left over bolts.

2) Drilled new holes into the floor for the 91 brackets.

3) These bolts went through a support channel.  You can see the original and the new bolts from the bottom.

4) Came out nice. The only thing I missed was connecting the outside seat belts but that will easily go on the rear bracket floor bolt or one of the 91 folding bracket bolts (4 to choose from).
I believe the 91 connects to the roof.

Courtesy of the TXDOT scrap pile.
Hopefully, I can transform this into a rear bumper.
68" long 7"x2" 1/4" thick. Needs a little love.

Rear bumper is coming along. I capped the ends

Used the original brackets and beefed them up with some 1/4" flat bar. On the u channel support bracket I boxed it in. Then I'm gonna weld them together for strength.

Welding is getter better with the practice.  I've learned to keep the beads shorter. Long stretches tend to get wavy.

So I test fit the brackets before I go too far.

The bracket will actually go outside the frame but...
Looks like an old piece of a tow hitch welded to the frame needs to be cut off on both sides.  I actually had to cut the weld to remove one of the bumper frame brackets.  Also the angle with the original holes doesn't work.  Puts bumpet at an angle so new holes will have to be drilled.  Brackets will have to be turned upside down as well but interfere with the hatch.  Back to the drawing board.

Brackets are on. 

Now for the other side.  Need some more wire. Really like the Hobart wire. Usually get it at Tractor Supply.  But shit, I was just there this morning.

Few more pics

Adding a little back support