[Bill Harris]

I agree with Rich that you are probably OK with the heat on the tubes from the welding as long as the axles/bearings don't show signs of misalignment. It is possible to distort the tubes since the heat is being applied to one side and not the other but since it is fairly localized around the perch it isn't as bad as, say, welding a full-width brace across the housing like is often done on 9" FoMoCo rears. If you have to force the axle in one direction to get the bearing into its seat in the tube that indicates a distortion problem.

I'll mention one other thing that I noticed in the picture in post #60. I've taken a lot of s**t for mentioning rules, but here goes. The rule book, under the Traction Bars section says that "mounting brackets (to the rear axle housing) may not be lower than the lowest edge of the wheel rim." In the picture, it looks like the added spacers have pushed the Cal-track arm bracket and rod-end so that they are below the wheel rim. It may be a parallax issue in the picture, and probably no one in tech would notice or care, but my anal-retentiveness insists that I point it out. I know on my car that the Cal-track spring plate has the bar brackets just long enough so that it passes that rule on a 15" rim with no additional spacers, and I suspect that Calvert designed them that way to maximize the lever arm length and stay within the rules. Not trying to stir the pot, just sayin'....

Good luck with the car, and have some fun!