Rattletrap52,
I just finished doing this to my 51. Here's what I did: Stripped the differential out of the housing, pulled the axles and axle seals, pulled the driveshaft from the torque tube, pulled the bushings and seal from the front of the tube. The torque tube was unbolted from the rear axle. I replaced the three bolts that hold the bearing in the torque tube with some different bolts just for this process. I did this so they would not be lost.
I sealed the front end of the tube with metal tape and used the ends of soda cans and more metal tape to seal the ends of the axle housing. I used a 11 inch aluminum pie plate to cover the front of the axle housing. The rear plate was bolted to the housing. (I had to cut the rear plate off with a razor blade when it came back.) The axle housing and torque tube were all cleaned and taken to the coater.
When it came back, I cleaned the tube and axle housing as best I could to get all the sand out of it. You may find a better way to seal it up, but I think no matter what you do, some stuff is going to get in it during the process. Then on to the rebuild. By the way, it looks great!
I hope this helps.
Mark
