[ponyakr]

i thought of something that might help somebody out there. if your just getting into racing or plan to, here's what i consider a "Must Do" for bracket racing. i'd just put a 455 in T.J.'s last ride. somebody told me that the "big ten" 8.5" rear ends from the 2nd gens were almost as strong as the 12 bolt & would work just fine. so i had a pontiac friend set up a set of 4.11 gears in a 10 bolt & stuck it in. as usual, i was pressed for time & left out 1 important detail. i'd been told by others to always tack weld the axle tubes to the center section before you try to race with slicks. i'd begun to do this on all our cars before their 1st race. but this time i figured we could get by 1 race & i'd do it next week when i had more time--WRONG! soon as she hit the throttle & those big slicks got a bite, the center section broke lose from the axle tubes, broke the u-joint & the pinion bored a hole thru the floorpan. all this could have been avoided. so always put at least 4 good tack welds around the axle tube where it enters the center section. its o.k. to weld it solid if you prefer, but not necessesary. if you do, don't weld a non-stop bead all the way around. the heat can draw the tube out of alignment. just weld a very short bead, then move to the opposite side of the tube & weld another very short bead & so on until finished. by doing this you can avoid the mistake i made, save parts, & have more fun.