1st WOF/MOT fail in two years

[aardvarkash10]

Saturday lunchtime. Rear brakes done. Handbrake shoes ended up requiring modification to fit - the shoe radius is ok but hte bearing point where the shoe pivots was about 5mm too long!

Didn't expect that on Bosch parts.

The grinder nibbled 5mm off the rear bearing point on each shoe to allow the shoes to fit inside the drum, and the rest was easy.

Rear pads were typically easy as well.

The car has obviously been serviced on the cheap at some point - shoes and pads on one side were worn out, other side near new. Weird.

Front end this afternoon...

[aardvarkash10]

insomnia Dave?

[aardvarkash10]

update. Rear stay bar bolts locked solid - they overcame my 1/2 inch bar with an impact socket fitted and loaded up via a hydraulic jack at the handle-end of the bar. About 5 degrees of deflection on the bar and still not moving...

Sprayed with penetrating oil and leave for 24 hours.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by aardvarkash10

insomnia Dave?

Sort of Ash! I flaked on the sofa and woke up in the small hours and was having a quick flick through while i waited for the circulation to return to one of my legs!

Then when i went to bed the insomnia came!

Good luck with shifting those bolts, have you tried acetone/synth ATF (50/50) to free those rusted fasteners?

[aardvarkash10]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Good luck with shifting those bolts, have you tried acetone/synth ATF (50/50) to free those rusted fasteners?

Not yet - dark and rainy here now. Could be a lie-in followed by a Full English tomorrow am. If the penetrating oil doesn't do it, I may resort to heat.

[Laird Scooby]

If heat doesn't shift it, try the WMP (Weapon of Mass Penetration aka 50/50 acetone/synth ATF) as i haven't found the nut/bolt yet that stuff won't shift!

Give it a good shake to mix it before each use then squirt (or dribble) it onto the threads and go have a coffee/tea. When you come back you should get a nice surprise!

[aardvarkash10]

Out. Now to find a press capable of removing the inner bushes....

Coffee first though.

[Laird Scooby]

I've done the front "spaceship" bushes on mine Ash but the rear bushes were ok - however i seem to recall offering my Cortina void bush tool up to them and fairly sure it was the right size so if you know someone that's had a Mk3,4 or 5 Cortina (assuming that's what they were called in NZ) or a Hyundai Stellar, they might have the tool.

Alternatively, get your blowlamp and burn the rubber out of the inside, leaving just the outer metal sleeve of the bushes in the bar.

Then take the blade out of your hacksaw and thread it through the inside of the sleeve, refit the blade into the frame and make a cut into the outer sleeve.
This relieves the tension on the outer sleeve so it "shrinks" and can be easily tapped out.

Clean up the holes in the bar, remove all the burrs with a file, perhaps make a chamfer on the intended entry edge and (optional) polish the inside and the chamfered edge with emery cloth or similar.

Again optional (but worth it), put a chamfer on the leading edge of the new bush, some oil to help it "slip in" then pull the new bush in either using the void bush tool or a long bolt/length of studding and sockets/spacers etc as needed.

Oh yeah - good luck!

[aardvarkash10]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I've done the front "spaceship" bushes on mine Ash but the rear bushes were ok - however i seem to recall offering my Cortina void bush tool up to them and fairly sure it was the right size so if you know someone that's had a Mk3,4 or 5 Cortina (assuming that's what they were called in NZ) or a Hyundai Stellar, they might have the tool.

...
Oh yeah - good luck!

CHeers DAve - that sounds like a very not-so-great-for-the-global-warming-situation technique!

Fortch, the step nephew in law (don't ask, its complicated) who lives around the corner is foreman at a performance vehicle workshop and has the requisite press and kit. I have volunteered him for bush replacement duties.

The originals are ok, but I bought a complete front end kit from IPD so may as well replace them since its all out anyway.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by aardvarkash10

CHeers DAve - that sounds like a very not-so-great-for-the-global-warming-situation technique!

Fortch, the step nephew in law (don't ask, its complicated) who lives around the corner is foreman at a performance vehicle workshop and has the requisite press and kit. I have volunteered him for bush replacement duties.

The originals are ok, but I bought a complete front end kit from IPD so may as well replace them since its all out anyway.

I used to have a step-nephew in law so have an idea of the complications. His biological father owns a scrapyard but because of the family rift on their side (his mum was with someone new) i couldn't use any family connections.

At least your connections are intact!

If it's a performance vehicle workshop, they have wheel alignment kit there? It'll need doing, especially with how bad the spaceship bushes were! Don't forget to get the rack central to the steering wheel straight ahead position before getting it aligned, should be 1.75 turns from centre to full lock either way. The wheel should end up in the straight ahead position in the centre of the rack, even if the road wheels have different ideas. They can be adjusted using the track rods later.

Expect quite a bit of faffing about to get the tracking right, those spaceship bushes make a big difference!

As for global warming, i'm not a believer - the planet is on a constant cycle of warming up and cooling down, we've had it since the dawn of time.

The alternative to burning those bushes out is to cut round the inside of the outer sleeve of the bush with a sharp knife - not easy!