Damn, ran out of beer

Progress today was slower today than I would have liked. Started off by stopping in at the steel supplier, not only did they not have what I needed they also were being jerks abouts it. I was less than thrilled with them and I think it may be the last time I use them. Next up, and the second setback of the day, I had to cut off the rear end and redesign it on the fly. The plans I had were based on a live axle, as mines an Independent rear suspension (IRS) I needed to completely ditch the work I had done a few months ago... super lame but I worked it out.

Now for the really annoying part... After I had cut the steel to fabricate the new differential mount my welder crapped out on me. It refused to feed any wire and so I couldn't do anything with it. I cleaned up a bit, hopped in the car and ran to Harbor Freight. When I got there it was 7:02, any guesses on when they close??? I had to beg to get them to swap out my welder but they did so horay.

When I got back to working in the garage I had blown 2 hours of prime time work time. I persisted and got the rear end mounted and bolted into place. It all came out really well in the end and I believe it will be stronger in the end....

Differential mounted, remaining bit of threaded rod will be cut off once I'm happy with the placement.

Front end of differential with drive shaft mocked up in place

Back end of the differential 

My goal to get this thing rolling in a month is looking good, neighbor offered top push me around if I do!