I located a 3rd member for my Lincoln Locker project and will be picking it up in a couple of weeks and bringing it to my buddy's shop. He is a civilian welder and machinist for the Air Force and they allow employees to use the shop on weekends for their own projects, so we'll have access to anything we might need. He's a very skilled welder (his job is to keep 40+ year old cargo aircraft flying) but has never welded up a rearend before, so any tips and tricks you guys can give would be appreciated. Since he has plenty of 1/4" steel plate laying around and a good chop saw I definitely want to use a plate in the center of the gears. This post is a good example. In the picture you only see one plate nested in between the gears on one side, but you should be able to turn the carrier and put one in on the other side, correct? Any reason not to do this? It just seems to me that it would be a lot stronger that way. We're going to clean it up really good using non-chlorinated brake cleaner and he's going to look up what we should preheat it to (they have an industrial oven at the shop) beforehand. I'll also make sure I get plenty of anti-spatter too. Anything I'm missing here?

 

You're way over thinking it.

You'll be fine.

:wabbit2:

 

Probably...but the last thing I want is my "free" welded rear becoming a very expensive disaster if it lets go and destroys everything inside the diff housing Or maybe I've been listening to those Pirate guys too much... But should I use two plates? The plate is free and it will probably be all of 5 minutes of extra work.

 

You can use 2 if you want. You dont really need any plate, just a good welder, Im sure your buddys is more than fine.

 

I just feel like an actual spool is really the "right" way to do it so I ought to take as many precautions as possible since I'm going the low buck route. Since he's got the tools and the plate laying around anyway it's not like it will be a big hassle. Can't wait!

 

Spools are a waist of $. I jam bolts, nuts, and screwdriver tips inthe gears and weld them up for extra strength.
You dont have to, but id pull the carrier, then the ring gear off that so it doesnt get covered in slag. shove a wet towel in the side gears where the axle shafts go to protect them, and burn away! clean off as much slag as you can, tq the ring gear back on, drop the carrier into the third, and run it.