I made some more progress with the rear end swap today. Took 40 minutes, which is all the time I had. I still have to tighten the shock nuts and LCA bolts, but I got the U-Joint tightened on the pinion yolk, at least. I just have to put the panhard bar in and fasten the brake lines and ABS harness onto the axle tubes then put the calipers and sway bar back on. Oh, and I have to fasten the torque arm to the diff housing and fasten the e-brake brackets back onto the two TA cover bolts, just like on the stock cover.
I was kinda bummed because one of the u-joint bolts threaded in fine by hand, at first, then it was frickin' HARD ratcheting in there, but I got it in tight (VERY TIGHT). Now I have an LS1 driveshaft, which I hear is a pretty worthwhile mod.
I am going to center the rear using my adjustable Founders panhard bar. I'll hang a bob from a string at the fenderwells and measure the distance of each tire from each fenderwell using a ruler, to center the rear.
There she is...home where she belongs. A helpful tip for the torque arm is to use some rope (left side of picture) to tie it off to the side, rather than undoing the whole thing from the transmission too, then it will be out of the way when removing and re-installing the rear.
Attachment 17870
Driver's side shock. LCA connected to Founders relocation bracket. The Founders LCA ends fit perfectly into the new relocation brackets. Hooray!! Those darn bump stops were $100.00 for a pair (original GM bump stops). I saw them cheaper somewhere, recently, but I can't remember where.
Attachment 17871
Passenger's side. I'm going to weld the top parts of the Founders brackets to the stock LCA mounts, on each side, just for added peace of mind.
Attachment 17872
It was fun balancing the rear on it's center and rolling it in from the side, through all the brake lines and e-brake lines and stuff--car wasn't high enough for it to clear the exhaust piping in the back.
Attachment 17873
Shot from the driver's side. Once the shock mounting bolts are in the lower brackets and the nuts are on them, and the u-joint is connected to the pinion yolk, the rear is in there pretty good, and the jack only does a little work. I still have to stick the springs up in there, which won't be hard, once I let the jack down a few inches. It's tough for me to put the springs in there at the same time as putting the rear in.
Attachment 17874
I'll keep updating on my progress guys! Can't wait to see how the new shocks and springs feel, as well as the 3.73's!!