Tips on how to put back a center section by yourself?

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Maintenance Restoration and Repair
1

So I’m getting my 9inch rebuilt. The car is on jack stands in my garage but it is coming the day when I’ll need to put it back on the car…
Should I just try to bench press it by myself ? I’m not sure my small jack can hold it flat and safe unless I ratchet strap it…
How do ya’ll do it without a lift ?

2

I used a floor jack to get it close and than my son & I got the rest of the way.
I would not try it by yourself.

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I installed many of them by myself with jack stands supporting the car and a floor jack as my only tool. It’s possible, you just need to clean the surfaces well and install a gasket first. Have the nuts nearby. Position the jack carefully - it’s easy for the rear end center section to fall.

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4

Assuming you are talking about the entire axle assembly and not just the pumpkin. If so, here’s how I did it with car on jackstands and no helpers

https://forum.classiccougarcommunity.com/t/my-68-xr7-gt-4-speed/9591/66?u=pacificaxr7gt

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I was in fact talking about the pumpkin yeah. But your post gave ideas on how to achieve that with the pumpkin. I’ll see what I can do

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Yeah i’ll try and do that with my neighbor. I’ll pay him with a few beers lol

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I just bench press it in anytime I need. What does it weigh, maybe 60-70 pounds?

I used to be on a circle track pit crew. We raced three different tracks in a weekend, all different lengths. We changed the car set up via the rear end gear ratio. The car had a 9" Ford housing with floating axles, so I didn’t need to pull the rear wheels, just the center caps. We also had a drain plug in the bottom of the housing.

Thursday night, I’d install the Friday night center section. Saturday afternoon, I’d switch it out to the Saturday night gear. Sunday afternoon, I’d switch it out to the Sunday gear. I got REALLY good at it. But I really don’t miss the smell of the 90W140 gear lube. LOL!

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Yeah i’ll just get a good breakfast before doing it, but that’s what I’m gonna do. I need the car running in a week and i should get my diff done tomorrow yay

9

So bench pressing didn’t work, i couldn’t even lift it off the ground. lol
I’ll use a jack and a friend with beer and it should work out