Axle Redrilling COMPLETE!

Thanks to the help of Glenn in my car club, we were able to easily redrill the 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern onto the axles. Using a bolt pattern template, looks to be dead on.

3rd Rearend....Correct Size!

Well I'm on my 3rd rearend now. This rear is a 50-60's Chevy with a center dropout much like the Ford 9" rearends. It measures 58" wide from mounting surface to mounting surface which SHOULD work perfectly with my 8" wide rear tires. The bolt pattern is 4 x 4.5 so I have to redrill the bolt pattern to match my 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern in the front. The rearend is complete, minus the dropout which I can purchase later when I find one.
To drill the 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern, I needed to remove 1 of the existing lugs and fill in the hole by welding it solid and then smoothing it out with the grinder. This will allow for proper placement of the new pattern.

The bolt hole actually filled in very nicely. Just a slight discolorization from the heat of welding. You know you penetrate the metal good when the color dispurses into the surrounding metal.

Being the computer geek that I am, what better way to lay out the new lug pattern than using the computer to create a template! This template easily slides over the 3 remaining 4 lug bolts and shows you exactly where to drill for the new 5 x 4.75 bolt pattern.
New lug pattern marked and ready to be drilled tomorrow night.