1970 'Cuda Dana 60 Restoration

[70_440-6Cuda]

Hey All - Just got my Dana on the dolly and looking to start getting it cleaned up - debating pulling it completely apart and bead blasting the housing or just cleaning it up and painting - what have you all done?  anyone powder coat the housing and if so how did it look compared to original?  New brake lines etc?
As always, any guidance from those that have done it is appreciated

[anlauto]

At the very least I would want to do all new bearings and seals to start. No sense making it look good on the outside if the insides are shot

[Blowout]

When I pulled mine, I cleaned it as best as I could with degreaser and a power washer. It went to a local shop and was rebuilt.  Got it back, cleaned it and painted it. Stuck new brake lines on.  I did stick SSTL brake lines on and that was a mistake. Took me forever to get them to seal right. Heard from guys  after the fact that SSTL doesn't seal as easy as standard lines.

I was going to sandblast mine.  But that has to be done before it's rebuilt.  And figured it was going to get full of grease during a rebuild and would have to clean again, so I did it the labor intensive way. 

[704406]

You absolutely want to take it apart as Alan suggested, no point putting something not perfect in the car, and as you likely have no history on the assembly, get it checked by someone qualified. The Dana 60 is not for the average guy to take apart unless you have experience with them as they require a diff spreader for proper reassembly, and getting the diff bearing preload correct, as well as proper backlash and tooth contact pattern.
They are tough to hurt but some guy's are talented enough to break them!

[Brads70]

Wire wheel on a disc grinder works pretty good before you take it apart. Wear safety glasses gloves though, it's a dirty job.

[Floyd]

No experience myself, but I do recall Roger Gibson went into a lot of detail years back.  Found this article:

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/64159-restoring-detailing-chrysler-differential/

[Fastmark]

Ive done lots of  rear end restorations. It's just like anything else you get into on these cars. They are 50 years old and need most everything touched or it will need attention soon. It's mostly the seals that are old and leaking. I personally have a great powder coated who cooks, blasted and coats it in a satin black. It looks great. The front seal will probably leak at least. You can change the front seal on a Dana and not mess anything up. The last Dana I rebuilt looked fine and was working. I just replaced the bearings. When I pulled the carrier bearings off, one had started to spin and ruined the carrier. We had to order a new one. A Dana is hard to build. Too many shops just build these in a hurry and send them out the door. If it howls they just say" some gears just do that."  I've yet to have a howler yet. I'd pull the axle bears to see how they are looking. You don't want want one of those going bad and ruin the housing. Yes it's a little complicated to do these now and it's like anything else in my shop. I spend most of my time fixing what some jake leg mechanic has screwed up. If you don't have a service manual and very good understanding of how things work, get a good pro to do it. Don't do what the idiot did to the last Dana I worked on did. He replaced the rear yoke with a Ford yoke and could only get the nut to 85 ft lbs of torque so he flattened the threads on the pinion so it would not come off! I had to buy a special thread chaser to fix the threads. I have the tools to put the yoke on properly but 240 ft lbs of torque in while the car is on the lift is all this old man can do!

[70_440-6Cuda]

Thanks everyone!!  Great info - I am going to disassemble the whole thing and have it powder coated satin I think - should look original enough for me.  Currie Enterprises is in my backyard, so I will have them assemble it properly - I do not have the tools for the job, and at this point there are some things I am just fine not doing, especially if they require special knowledge.

Man do I appreciate all the feedback - I am just happy to have a date code correct Dana to get going on. 

Wife's 50th b-day this weekend, and after all the  flying out the door on this thing I have to make up some ground with my better half... My son and I are going to dig into disassembly the following weekend and plan on documenting our progress here and I have no doubt I will be asking for more advice shortly!

@Fastmark thanks for the info - I was thinking "how hard can it be" to put a rear end together?  I have done a few 9" Fords back in  the day, but hearing these a are a bit more specialized I am sure having a pro put it together will save money in the long run.