Dana 60 Rebuild Questions

[70_440-6Cuda]

Hi all - I am at the point of having my Dana 60 and Hemi springs rebuilt.  I have some time to arrange getting it done over the next week and want to get moving.  My understanding is the dana 60 has some special tools required to rebuild it, and am wondering if it is worth attempting myself or better to just have it done by a pro - was considering Currie Enterprises - they have done a few rear ends for me in the past and their reputation and standards are very high.  Also not sure I want to invest in some expensive tools for a 1 time use - normally I love to use that as an excuse to by tools - but for this application the chance of reuse is slim.

I was going to have the housing powder coated while it is apart, although that is not "original".. Any thoughts on powder coat vs. painting?  I am not going as far as grease marks etc. on my restoration.  My build plan is to use as many factory original components as possible to bring the car back to factory specs.  I figure as long as the "original bones" are present, things like powder coating can always be undone.

My main questions are DIY or professional rebuild, and paint vs. powder coat?

Anyone have any other recommendations for a shop in southern CA?  Thanks

[pschlosser]

Clean the axle housing, first.  I like using Simply Green and/or diesel fuel.   Be gentle, because the hope is the grease marks are still present.   If they are, consider NOT painting it to leave them intact.  Your call, though.

It would be ideal if you could paint BOTH the third member AND the axle tubes.  But baking the powder coat on the axle tube assembly may be too large and be a show stopper, so you're left with rattle can paint.

Some shops have poor experience with muscle cars.  But axle work is still pretty common on present-day cars, so you can feel confident they won't screw anything up.  Unless you're itching to do the work yourself (I often am)  and seek an excuse to buy tools, go for it.  Otherwise,  if you have the budget, having a shop do the work can afford you greater peace of mind.

[70_440-6Cuda]

thanks @pschlosser!  I am leaning towards the piece of mind aspect to be honest.

Also, I should clarify a couple things - the Dana is not original to my car so likely grease marks are long gone and  the entire housing end to end is out of the car, so I have time / ability to go any direction.

My thought was to have it disassembled, powder coated or painted, then rebuilt.  If it should be painted with the 3rd member installed, I can do that as well. 

Looking for some direction as how it should be done - thannks!

[pschlosser]

Powder coating involves baking the item(s) at 400*F (or in the ballpark) so having it professionally powder coated may be pricey or impossible, since most shops won't have an oven to fit the full length axle housing.  Further, to powder coat, it must be FULLY disassembled.  Only the outer components would "get baked." With rattle-can paint, you won't have those limitations, and you may paint it, yourself, if you're so inclined.

Pulling the third member for rebuild should not require any special tools, just the appropriate sockets that most garage mechanics own.

Even if not original, it may still be (not yet clarified by you) an Mopar-issued E-body Dana 60, so those grease marks are still cool, if present.  Of course, it's your call, but I geek out over stuff like that.  Were it MY Dana 60, and those marks were in place, I might be tempted to simply clean it, and not repaint it.  Were they  not, then yea, I'd paint her up beautiful.

[RUNCHARGER]

I've rebuilt quite a few Dana 60's. They're a bit of a bear as You need a case spreader to remove the diff from the housing. I've done without a spreader with no ill effects over several rebuilds but it isn't the correct way to do it. Diff preload and backlash is set by side shims and if you're pulling it in and out and trying to maintain perfect preload it's beyond what most backyarders can or want to do.
Honestly if you don't have the tools and Currie is close I'd just use them.
I vote for powdercoating the housing. Most powdercoaters I know will be happy to sandblast the housing for you before powdercoating, saving you an ugly job. Because of the sandblasting I would see to it myself that the inside was properly cleaned of any residue before taking it to the assembler. A combination of rags pushed in with sticks or rods and plenty of airblasting.

[70_440-6Cuda]

I made some calls today and got some quotes - all over the place!  Currie closed their shop in Anaheim and no longer rebuilds anything but their own manufactured rear ends.

Further clarification - I bought my Dana form a member here, it is an original e-body w/ pinion snubber and correct date code for what it is worth.  I will take some additional photos and am going to wipe it down and see what I find.

Anyone ever heard of VanGordon Performance?  The are not too far from me, and frankly Jim sounds like an old school racer that knows his stuff.  But he did say $1500-$2K for a rebuild.  He also suggested it is a good idea to make sure the housing is true and square as they can twist depending on how it was used.  https://www.vangordonracing.com/

Lots of options in Orange County for powder coating, so that isn't an issue.  Just wondering appearance wise how far off it will look from original?

[Katfish]

I had mine powder coated, very happy with the result.
It has held up well over the last 10yrs.

[EV2RTSE]

When I had my 8 3/4 rebuilt I had it powdercoated and would recommend it as well. I went for the over restored look and got full gloss black on the housing but from what I understand about a 60% gloss would be most correct - again for an 8 3/4, perhaps also the Dana but not sure. Backing plates were apparently phosphate coated, best to just try and find a color that's close to that in whatever line your powdercoater carries.

Good pic here-
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1963753/brake-backing-plate-re-plating.html

I'm fortunate to have a shop close by that does engine - transmission - rear axle work on modern & classic cars and has in-house powdercoating. He sources his diff parts from one of the big vendors but after I told him about Dr. Diff he was cool with me ordering all of the rebuild parts from there and he put the whole thing together for me. Mainly because I wanted one of the new helical gear sure grips to replace the cone type in my 489 case and the one from Dr. Diff was probably better and also a little bit less money than the ones his vendor had. When it comes to rebuilding things like engines, transmissions, and rear axles, the term "save your money, pay a professional" comes into play for me.