Changing the Pig

[JimNolan]

Guys,
   I don't do body work and I don't paint the exterior of cars. Everything else I've ever done to my cars has been done solely with my physical labor. This week I called a guy about changine the ring and pinion in my 63 Galaxie. Yes, he could do it and no, it wouldn't cost that much since I had the installation kit and ring and pinion. THEN, for some weird reason I asked him how much he'd charge me to change the rear end himself. He said labor would be @ $300.00. The first thing I thought of was the cold concrete floor out at the hanger, my lack of a decent way to take the pig in and out, my aching back and the idea of being able to sit on the couch and watch movies while it was being done. So what if I've got to eat dog food for a month. It'll just get me ready for the economic downturn coming. So, today I pick up the car. No doctor visits because I caught pneumonia, no Ben-Gay because I twisted my back carrying the pig. Just dog food for a month. Jim

[57AGIN]

Jim:

I know what you mean.  When I was in the Navy, I'd go over to the garage on base with my spare 3rd member in the trunk.  Put the car on the lift, drain the fluid, pull the axels out a bit, unbolt the pig and have the spare with the 4.57:1 gears back installed in about 20 minutes.  Then, I was ready for a few runs at Lions.  Now days I'd have to think long and hard about whether I wanted to tackle pulling the 3rd member out for other than a major overhaul. Things have certainly changed in the last 40 or so years.  lol

Bob
57 AGIN

[shopratwoody]

I changed the 3rd member till I was 65 or so. Just used a jack. A PIG?

[JimNolan]

There are a lot of names for a rear differential. Just to name a few: Hog Head, Pumpkin, Pig, rear differential, 3rd member and chunk. Depending on what part of the country your from and how old you are will determine if you've heard these terms. Take my son for instance, he's 37 and he wouldn't understand what you were talking about if you used any of those terms. On the other hand he does know the term "Dad will you help me". I guess that negates his need to know very many car part terms. Jim

[JPotter57]

I've heard all of them, only used chunk and 3rd member though.  I called it a chunk from the time I started working on cars about 30 years ago, lol..

[JimNolan]

I only heard it called a chunk at a junk yard. They used that term all the time at junkyard close to my house in Greenfield, Indiana. Jim

[Hoosier Hurricane]

I used to lie on my back and wrestle the third member out and back in.  Then I made a plate for my floor jack with a couple of ears sticking up that match the bolts that hold the pinion support.  A couple holes in the bottom of the plate  match a couple of holes I drilled and tapped in the jack swivel plate.  With the plate supporting the third member and the two bolts securing it to the plate, I can easily handle the "pig".  John 

[JimNolan]

John,
   That's what I need to make for my floor jack. I made a platform for the transmission but I didn't make one for a pig. I wrestled with the 57 and the 63 so next time I'm going to make a bracket for my floor jack because the @$300.00 turned into $420.00. Although he did change the ring and pinion and I didn't want to learn how to do that at this late date. And he did an absolutely beautiful job. There's not a sound coming from the gears.
  On a side note. The 2.75 rear gear has made a new car out of the Galaxie. With the Hush Mat and new carpet you can't hear anything except wind noise now. You can actually hear the radio with it turned down at highway speeds. Jim

[glen b henderson]

James, I'm with you, it's been a chunk for as long as I can remember!

[Zapato]

hog head and chunk are new to me.  I can easily see how hog head came about but no chunk for me.  

This thread reminded me of an experience a friend of mine had at a u-pull-it yard in Boring, Oregon 20+ years ago. Seems Andy needed a new rear rearend for his firewood hauling truck. So he went to the yard down the road and inquired about availability and cost. They pointed him toward some trucks and said $50- you pull. So Andy grabbed his toolbox and headed out and removed the complete rearend drum to drum and then asked if he could back his truck in to load. Andy had it all loaded up and one of the pullers followed him into the parts shack and as Andy offered up his $50- the guy that followed him said you got the whole rearend and that's $200-. Andy calmly stated with the calm down south manner he had that he had asked and was told a rearend was $50- and that was what he had. The argument went on and one of the guys locked the gate so Andy couldn't drive out and called he cops. Andy never one to raise his voice told the deputy his story and the yard guys told their side and confirmed Andy's original request for a rearend. The deputy asked to see what Andy had loaded and asked the original guy what Andy had asked for and he said a rearend. Then asked price quoted and he said $50-. Then asked what was in the back of the truck. Again the answer was rearend and started with a but.........  To which the deputy said he came in for a rearend and according to you it was $50- and also according to you that's what in the the back of his truck so unlock the gate before this becomes a case of unlawful detainment. Andy thanked the deputy, shook his hand and drove off into, as they say, the sunset.

Seems that when it came time to pay there was a major difference between a rearend and a rearend. If only Andy had asked for a ''chunk'' I wouldn't be sharing this story with you today.

This is most likely my last post for 2011 hope you had a great year and wish you all an even better one in 2012.

Zap-

[Frankenstein57]

I too have never heard of chunk or hog head, maybe a southern name? As long as it's story time, I have one. When I was dirt track racing, I started with a 57 custom, 427. Raced it three years. The chevy guys were whining for shorter wheelbase chevelles, so the ford guys talked them into letting us run fairlanes with frames under them. My brother who also raced, was pretty good at stretching the imagination of the rule book interpretation. We built a trick 63 fairlane, 427. Nice car for its day, 3 wheel disc brakes(locked 31 spline axle) Well anyhow, the car made its first run at the end of the season, they were running a 40 lap double point championship feature. I made the race, worked my way to the lead and was gone, I had a straightaway lead on second place. Well, about lap 28 I'm smelling gear lube, then the car starts losing speed. The "chunk" had a poor gear setup, seized up, locked up. The whole field went by, yellow flag was out, then some guy riding around in  the back drilled me and shortened up the left rear, So what's the moral of the story? You need no junk in the chunk.   Mark

[57AGIN]

Here's my last post for 2011:

My girl friend in 1965 (now my wife of 44 years) was with me on a junk yard run to pick up a 9" Ford rear end for my nearly new 65 Mustang.  As you probably know the early Mustangs had an 8" rear end and the best racing gear you could get at the time was a 3.80:1.  Not too good for drag racing.  I found a 57 Ford station wagon about the 3rd car up in a stack of junked Fords and with her handing me to tools I managed to pull out the entire rear end assembly from the station wagon (just like Zapato's friend Andy did, the brakes, banjo, 3rd member, the whole thing.  When I got it home and measured things up it turned out to be an exact fit swap for the entire Mustang set up.  The funny part of the episode is that whenever I talk about going to a "wrecking, recycling, or junk yard" the wife reminds me not to go crawling about under a 3 high stack of junked cars.  Heck I was all of 22 years old at the time and could do anything, at least I thought I could.  lol

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Guys,
   While we're telling stories: This junk yard I used to go to where they called a pig "chunk" was run by guys I raced with at Sun Valley and Mt. Lawn. I had just gotten my pilots license and one of the guys that worked at this junk yard and I raced with had bought an airplane and was taking flying lessons, nice airplane too. Anyway, he takes me to the side one day and wants to make me an offer. He wants me to go to the FAA Examining Center in Indianapolis and take the written test for him. All I would have to do was show them his drivers license and take the test. He told me he'd give me a thousand dollars to do it. I asked him why he didn't study and take the test himself. He said " Jim, I can't read or write". I refused, telling him I'd worked to hard to get my license and I wouldn't jepordize that. About a month after that he was arrested in a large chop shop sting. He had been stealing and cutting up Corvettes at a barn in back of his house. No wonder he could afford to buy an airplane. He was one of the guys that used the word "chunk". I think he was from Mississippi or Alabama.( LOL ) Jim   PS.  Once in a modified race this guy drove about 10 laps side by side in one of the most breathtaking finishes I'd ever witnessed at Mt. Lawn. When he came to the pits and got out of his car I handed him a cup of Coca-Cola. He was shaking so bad he spilled most of it and probably didn't get two drinks out of it. I've never seen anyone that composed in a race car and so nervious afterwards.

[glen b henderson]

Well chunk is a southern thing, "i.e. lets go chunk some more gear in it and it will run a quicker time". It just don't sound right to say "Bubba, put another pig in so we can run quicker".

[JimNolan]

Us hillbilly's in Kentucky were always partial to pigs. Especially the pretty ones. Jim