Rear End Installation - Step By Step - With Pictures

I installed a 12 bolt rear end, rear springs, and rear suspension in my '68 Chevelle last weekend.
This is the first time I've installed a rear end in a Chevelle.
I did the entire job by myself, and the installation went smoothly and without problems...no banging, cussing, or fighting with the rear end.
If I did it...you can do it.

To do the installation, I used information I acquired from the Chevelle chassis and assembly manuals, from searching this forum, and from asking questions.
I have condensed that information into a step by step tutorial in this thread, including pictures I took throughout my installation, for anyone who perhaps has never installed a rear end before and would like to do so.
I realize some guys may have different steps that they use, but I emphasize that this job went very smoothly following the steps that I've outlined below.

Be sure to support the car securely with jack stands. I also laid a wheel under each side of the frame as an extra precaution.



1.) The first thing you need to do is attach all of your control arms (uppers and lowers) to their attachment locations on the frame.



You don't want to torque any bolts down at this time, just snug them for now. Torque the bolts down when the job is complete and you've placed your suspension under load.
I have also installed control arm braces on my car.
The direction that the bolts are going in is correct, as outlined in the Chevelle Assembly Manual.


2.) Next, you'll need a jack to support and lift the rear end and get it in the position that you need it.
You can use a regular hydraulic floor jack, but I'm using a hydraulic motorcycle jack, which is ideal for lifting a rear end, transmission, etc.




3.) After I pushed the jack and rear end underneath the back of the car, I repositioned my jack stands to points on the frame behind the rear end to ensure the stability of the car while I'm working, you can also see that I have a wheel placed under the frame in front of each wheel well as an extra precaution.
At this time I started jacking up the rear end until I was able to slide the passenger side lower control arm up into its mounting location on the rear end.





I then placed a bolt through the lower control arm at the rear end and secured it with a nut. Again, the direction of the bolt is correct, as outlined in the Chevelle Assembly Manual.




In order to get that first control arm lined up so you can push a bolt through, it's easy to use a pry bar to coax it.
Mine required minimal coaxing. I placed the pry bar between the control arm and axle housing (between rags to keep from scratching anything), placed the small block of wood as shown to steady the housing. Then with one hand I pushed on the pry bar while turning the bolt with my ratchet, in combination with a few taps with a rubber hammer, and the bolt went right through.




4.) Next, I installed the driver's side upper control arm at the rear end attachment.
This was just a matter of jacking the rear end up enough so I could line the holes up and push the bolt through.
I have upper adjustable control arms, but I never adjusted them during the installation, I just used the jack to lift the rear end to the proper location.
Again, the direction of the bolts where the upper control arms attach to the rear end is correct, as outlined in the Chevelle Assembly Manual. In fact, the assembly manual specifies that these bolts are only to go in this direction.



By putting the first two bolts in completely opposite locations...lower passenger side and upper driver's side...it helped line things up so good that the last two bolts were a piece of cake to get in.
If need be, you can place some blocks of wood under the yoke area of the rear end to square it up and make aligning the bolt holes easier.




5.) After installing the bolts for those first two control arms, then install the bolts for the final two.
As I said, the last two bolts were a piece of cake getting in because the opposite, diagonal locations of the first two bolts really helps to line the rear end up.




6.) Next, attach both shock absorbers to their upper mounting locations.



Continued in the next post...