Fitted the side plate to one side of the gearbox, then had to take it all apart again to add another paper shim as it locked the axle solid. New seals, gaskets and wheel cylinder fitted. Fitted new bearings in the N/S disc and attached it to the newly painted spindle.
Other axle retainer and axle tube fitted with back plate, wheel cylinder etc. Transaxle all ready to fit to the chassis. New release bearing and heavy duty clips fitted. Input shaft needs a clean up as theres a lot of surface rust on it.
Got the other torsion arms painted. Primed the small repair i did to the nose of the bonnet ready for some topcoat tomorrow. Gave the fuel tank a sand to remove the flaky paint. I might just give it a coat of black or grey stonechip.
Bolted the torsion arms onto the front beam. Forgot how heavy it was. Painted the horn ring with chrome paint and bolted it back on to the steering wheel.
Gave the beam aother coat of gloss black. Still can't find the nuts for the beam adjusters. I've looked everywhere and they're missing. Fitted the filler flap. Needs a little adjustment to fit the hole properly i think. Knocked out the remains of the broken top pivot rivet out of the passengers side 1/4 light. Needs the vertical seal replacing as it crumbled away.
Found the original 2/70 date stamped oil bath air filter and gave it a bit of a clean up. I think the covering of oil saved it as its been sat in a damp shed for 15 years and doesn't look any worse for wear.
It's getting there slowly. Not that much left to do though I'm still missing quite a few parts. I need a dry day so I can get everything bolted back onto the chassis and it reassembled with some wheels on.
Got some EMPI 8's at the weekend. They need a polish and paint and some new tyres but much better than the rusty narrow stock steelies. 3 are pretty decent but one has some bad curbing on the rim.
Replacement seal fitted to the 1/4 light and new rivet added and the bugger now won't close fully. Seems like the frame has twisted slightly. If i apply a little pressure it flexes the frame a bit and it seals properly. Not sure if it would be OK when bolted into the door though.
EMPIs look nice in the arch. Might fit a bit differently with suspension and brakes (and a floorpan too) under there.
Removed one of the old tyres off a rim and found a sticker saying quality control passed 1995. Still can't get the 1/4 light to close tightly even after trying various combinations of frame, window and seals.
Gonna have a go at cleaning one of these rims up. Most of the lacquer just peels off the spokes easily so they'll get a sand, some etch and a few coats of grey paint. The corrosion on the rims under the lacquer might take a bit more work. I've been told steel wool works OK on it. The lips of the rims will need some wet and dry at the least.
Spent a couple of minutes with some 800 grit to see how they come up. Did the rim edge with some 320 first and it cleaned a lot of the scuffing up. Gonna take a while to go but the weather is poo so it'll keep me busy inside.
I've found polishing kits that fit on an electric drill for around the £20 mark which doesn't seem too bad. Some of the corrosion worms didn't come out with 800 so might try some 600. I'm not after highly polished as none of the rest of the car is but a decent shine without it looking like a white crusty mess would be nice.
Moved the camper out of the drive this morning and lay the floorpan flat (once i'd removed the decomposing rat off the drive) so i could start reassembling it. Got the front beam in all on my own. Heavy bugger to be lugging around and i'm so glad i didn't fit the spindles and discs to it while it was still in the garage.
Stuck some spring plates on it. And a gearbox and axles. Spot the deliberate mistake. I must have been tired when i built this side up 90 degrees out.
Rollable. Rolled up the drive. Not easy with 4 flat tyres. Spent a good while lifting the shell onto some higher supports so the pan could roll under it. Was just not possible at this height. I can now get out the passengers side door of the westy without climbing over the floorpan.
Floorpan where it should be. Needs the seal gluing down then i can lower the shell and bolt it on. Cleaned up the starter and gave it a coat of silver to tidy it up.
