Saturdays Log

  Had a really good day today. But the batteries in the camera were flat, so had to use my phone. For a 5mp camera, it takes appalling shots, so apologies!

I started off by removing the rear drivers side driveshaft, and everything attached to it, see below pictures…

 

The rear brake hub looked like this:

Which wasn’t as bad as it could be but still bad! But all the bearings were in great condition!

I dunked all the bearings, bolts and other fixings in white spirit (using gallons of it atm!) which promptly turned black. I then ran the steam cleaner over them to rinse them off and filled then back with grease, resealed them in bags and put them aside. I then painted the rear brake hub with primer, and set about assembling the brakes. Whilst it went fairly well, it was an epic challenge to get the shoes on with the springs attached. Also, being britpart springs, they were made by a 4 year old. The ends weren’t bent properly, so after an appointment with the vice they were amended. In the end, I got the bottom one in, one half of the top, then put the spring in the leading shoe (they are different) and levered it in with a big screwdriver.

In the end I had this! The primer was very grubby by now, but not too fussed as it’ll get filthy when its on the vehicle.

Whilst I was waiting for the primer to dry, I ventured inside the cab (not literally, as the rear was off the ground with a jack and axle stand) to clean a window. Whilst I was using the steam cleaner, I had a go at the drivers window, and it got the paint off in a flash. So, I took the drivers seat out and set about the rear quarterlight. It came up amazingly well. There was spray paint, emulsion paint grease and some rock hard stuff that isn’t 100% off all over it. So, a good steaming, then a good scrub with white spirit, a rinse with windowlene then a buff with some furniture polish and it almost looks brand new!

All the mould and crap came out of the rubber seals as well, which is good. The paint came up ok as well, in places it took off the top bodged overspray and revealed the original lighter shade of blue, others it did nothing but cleaned the new paint off. I gave it a quick buff with the polish for fun and it shined it up a bit. It’ll never be perfect, as the paint is rough and badly applied, but hey, it’s better than it was!

I put the 6x9 in behind the drivers seat as well, using wood and a bit of thin aluminium. Very Blue Peter, but it works VERY well! So I can now have music on without having the speaker thrown on the passenger seat. To celebrate the occasion I burnt disc 1 of The Best of Symfo Rock, and listened to Paintbox! Below are some pictures of the interior…

 

You can see the switches for the rear lights in one of them as well, I’ll paint up the bracket and find somewhere to fit it later, for now it sits in the dash. The seats will also be replaced, the passenger one has collapsed and their too big for the vehicle. Shame, as the drivers one is VERY comfy!

 

Until Tomorrow!