RyanH

The pumpkin came with 3.08 gears. I hemmed and hawed about wether I wanted to run those with my 302 or switch them out for the longest time. Then I went to tear down the pumpkin for cleaning and the pinion just didnt want to come out. Someone on the forums said that was a sign of the diff overheating sometime in the past. I considered the gears damaged at that point and went on the lookout for some 3.55's which is what my research led me to believe was the best all around gear for my use. Found a guy on the forums selling a brand new FMS set for a reasonable price and picked em up.

[IMG]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/RyanFromVegas/Roadster/IRS/IMAG0140.jpg[/IMG]

Heres my victory picture. Victory over that pinion gear that wouldnt come out. It took weeks of me spraying penetrating oil in there and whacking with a sledge hammer..then let it sit for a week with fresh oil while I traveled for work and repeat. Persistance paid off in the end.
The Pinion shaft was slightly bent when it came out. Not sure if that was from overheating or the sledge.

[IMG]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/RyanFromVegas/Roadster/IRS/IMAG0170.jpg[/IMG]

She cleaned up pretty nice with some elbow grease and POR-15 paint. There was some pretty thick sludge in there. From some suggestion on the internet I put it all in the oven and used oven cleaner on it. Cleaned it out nicely. Although I forgot how oven cleaner congeals into that powder...cleaned and cleaned to make sure there wasnt any of that hidden in the oil passageways.

[IMG]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/RyanFromVegas/Roadster/IRS/IMAG0159.jpg[/IMG]

Gears all ready to be installed.

[IMG]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/RyanFromVegas/Roadster/IRS/IMAG0187.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/RyanFromVegas/Roadster/IRS/IMAG0188.jpg[/IMG]

And here she is all installed. Didnt take any pictures during the rebuild. I was too frustrated to think about that. What was planned to take 3 hours took 2 full days trying to get all the shims figured out...trying to decipher wear patterns and all that. Anyways, shes done and I hope she doesnt blow up on me. :)