1961 Volvo PV544 in Holland

[Ron Kwas]

Army;

"Wrapping" or simply covering the stripper with thin plastic wrap (including, if larger sheets are not available, from an ~18" wide kitchen service roll, so with seams) is the preferred method as it keeps the volatiles components of the stripper on the job and not drying and flying away into the heavens...for small parts, I've used "Zip Lock Bags" to good effect.

Cheers

[Army]

Originally Posted by Ron Kwas

Army;

"Wrapping" or simply covering the stripper with thin plastic wrap (including, if larger sheets are not available, from an ~18" wide kitchen service roll, so with seams) is the preferred method as it keeps the volatiles components of the stripper on the job and not drying and flying away into the heavens...for small parts, I've used "Zip Lock Bags" to good effect.

Cheers

I'm sure that's the idea. It is a bit alien to me - putting plastic on paint stripper - as it was instilled from an early age that you should keep that stuff well away from anything (in particular plastic baths!) that you don't want to damage.

This is very old school advice as they've changed the contents

Well we'll see what it looks like tomorrow and see if the plastic has helped.

[Army]

Covering with plastic - very disappointing - had no discernible effect with PORstrip =>







I reckon I'd have got further by doing what I had been doing previously - letting it soak in - then mechanical scraping to help it along - then adding more - eat sleep rave repeat...

...I went back to the tin and did another bit of RTFM - turns out PORstrip isn't meant to be covered after all. POR strip goes on about anal brush strokes in one direction and stuff like that but no mention of covering in plastic (in fact it says keep PORstrip away from plastic)

I did find the "cover with plastic" instructions on a different tin of stripper - but this is the stuff that doesn't work under any circumstances. The crap.

[Army]

...but I'm getting there





Time to order some Rustyco rust eating gell me thinks

It might also be time to moan about not being able to get any 3M clean & strip discs here in Holland again (!)

[Army]

...but not quite.

In between the paint stripping I've been playing with the differential

Normally or alternatively if you're lucky a bearing puller kit will get the bearings off the differential cage.



(^^^^ This is just showing the clamp part that goes round the bearing the other gubbins are not in view - just consists of two legs and a threaded cross piece that allows a threaded bar to be driven into the centre part of the bearing so it all gets yanked off)

'Cos these have been on for a long time I needed to cut the cage and remove the tapered rollers



Breaking out the oxy acetylene kit to heat up one side of the remaining inner bearing =>



^^^The plan here is to heat up a narrow strip so you expand one side - you don't need to go round and round the whole bearing - in practice trying to do that might also heat up the part of the differential cage that the bearing is fitted on as well - the plan is to expand the outer part faster than the heating effect has on the inner part



Once warm enough a few taps with a hammer and a chisel gets the remnants of the bearing off the differential cage

Save the shims that are under the bearing remnants - don't mix them up



After removing the crown wheel (probably needed to get the inner cogs out of the inner part of the differential cage) the locking pin for the inner cog axle can be tapped out

There's no need to remove it completely...



...and leaving it poking out is a good plan as it helps put it back in later on. These pins are easy to bend the wrong way if you're not careful.

Inner axle removed



Keeping note of where the cogs were positioned





The small differential inner cogs were a bit too loose for my liking - normally a series of shims can be added to make them mesh a bit closer - unfortunately Volvo don't seem to have made provisions for this so I reckon I'm flying solo with this one - I'll let you know if I find a cheap solution

#########

Notes about differential refurbishment.

Look in the workshop manual and you'll see loads of super expensive - probably now unobtainable - special tools and complicated measurement procedures.

This gives the impression that differential refurbishment is a seriously specialised job.

In many ways it is - but if you're careful I'm sure it is possible to adjust correctly in the DIY setting.

My plan (as always) is simple - the existing shims are more often than not a good starting point. If you keep them in order and don't loose their original positions you have quite a good fighting chance of getting things back up to scratch even though you are replacing the bearings.

The main trick - the most important part of adjusting a differential (which is also described in the workshop manual) is to apply engineers blue to the teeth and UNDER LOAD make sure the contact patch is in the correct place on the helical gears.

In effect the method I'll be using is the last part / checking procedure in the workshop manual - I'm just skipping the special tools part and hoping for the best. If the meshing of the cogs isn't good enough then I'll have to take bits to pieces again (potentially damaging new bearings!) but hey ho that's the way it goes...

...to be continued.

[Ron Kwas]

Army;

Following with interest...

I ran across this excellent video which is quite informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqAqODmcj4

...as you've pointed out, the critical test is contact area under load on the helical gear...it's a pain if you don't get it right, and it howls or sings like a soprano when installed back in the car, and it needs to come out, apart a second time...

Good Hunting!

[Army]

Originally Posted by Ron Kwas

Army;

Following with interest...

I ran across this excellent video which is quite informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAqAqODmcj4

...as you've pointed out, the critical test is contact area under load on the helical gear...it's a pain if you don't get it right, and it howls or sings like a soprano when installed back in the car, and it needs to come out, apart a second time...

Good Hunting!

That video was one of the sources of encouragement for my first dabbles with differentials. If you look in the description of the video he's added the times in the video for specific bits of information as well as a link to a handy little PDF that has colour pictures showing contact patch relationships.

He's a good egg.

(Using information from workshop manuals and his information I've successfully refurbished several series Land Rover differentials {the pre-load on the axial bearings is a doddle for these differentials as they use a serrated nut to apply this load} - I can link to that if you want - I've had less success with Mercedes differentials as their differentials mated to smaller engines have rather weak cases that when stretched to apply the pre-load tend not to retain the load)

[Derek UK]

https://nl.rs-online.com/web/c/abras...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

The 3M discs are expensive and I don't know if the cost is justified when compared with the many similar and cheaper ones available. Silverline for example. 3M might have slightly longer life but if you can buy 2 of the generic ones for the price of a 3M one it's not a hard decision. The generic ones should be available everywhere in Holland, they are here in the UK.

[Army]

Originally Posted by Derek UK

https://nl.rs-online.com/web/c/abras...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

The 3M discs are expensive and I don't know if the cost is justified when compared with the many similar and cheaper ones available. Silverline for example. 3M might have slightly longer life but if you can buy 2 of the generic ones for the price of a 3M one it's not a hard decision. The generic ones should be available everywhere in Holland, they are here in the UK.

Thanks

They're not that common but I have discovered scotch brite clean & strip is the search term I need to get hits with Dutch shops for some reason or other. I've ordered some of the originals and I'll see how they go. Alternatives are not easy to find here either (unless I'm looking in the wrong places again)

Tool Station (also here in Holland) for example don't do them - the closest things available are those sand paper discs that will eat through metal at an alarming rate (so I avoid those)

[Army]

having a fully stripped body - it is still slow going but like British Rail of old I'm getting there.

The plan at the moment is to go for epoxy (after saying it is probably too boat-like!) after all. I've stumbled across a company called poly service who recommend a "Pantserlak" (sounds impressive doesn't it?!) as an in between coat between the epoxy and automotive paint systems.

It is fairly cheap stuff to buy so I thought I'd give it a go. Lots cheaper than say Novol which is aimed directly at the classic car boys.

Anyway the point is I need to get the bodywork straight and that means I need to have the other body parts stripped and repaired where necessary to start thinking about trial fits.

Today I 'ad a look at the doors =>

Some GIT had decided to put the retaining pins into the door furniture so it was really difficult to remove them - the pins were positioned in the holes in alignment with the handles



Blinking nightmare - the only way I could get the pins out was to destroy the plastic moulding beneath the handles.

(+20 euro cost to the project)

The door seals on the bottom of the doors were holding water and rust in the U channels has formed on both doors





The U channels are available for about 14 to 20 euros a meter depending on where you buy them - But - I got a feeling I might be trying to make my own before ordering (!)

The clamping parts that hole the bottom of the main door glass have seen better days - these will have to be replaced





The passenger side door was originally green =>



So that must have been a "good used" addition to the car at some time or other - it now needs a bit of help.

The driver's side door (LHS on this car) looks like it was a new replacement. The inside is in very good condition (despite the U channels on the outside)