Today started bright and early. Well, last night really as I went to work at midnight and came home at 8am. After getting the Christmas tree down it was time for my little trip to Machine Mart. I’d made myself a little shopping list but of course when I got there remembered a couple of other bits and pieces that I’d been thinking of getting for a while. Of course the place was heaving! It didn’t take me long to do my little trolley dash without a trolley – aluminium low profile jack, a little parts washer and fluid for it and an air powered sheet metal shear. So on the one hand I saved quite a bit by getting the VAT discounted but I still spent a lot!

After clearing a bit of space on the bench for the parts washer I stuck some of the degreasing fluid in it and put it to good use. I cleaned up the drive shaft bolts then the rear hub spacers, caliper brackets and the hubs themselves. Once they’ve dried off I can have a better look at the bearings and check they’re OK. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be really, but then I could say that about the diff that failed, the CV joint etc. etc. …

I then removed the airbox to get at the front prop bolts and undid them then the centre bearing bolts. There’s certainly no play in the centre bearing and it feels nice and smooth so I suspect it’s OK. I then set about the left rear corner first of all noting down where all the spacing washers around the rose joints are then removed the upright and upper and lower wishbones and gave them all a clean. I now have really good access to the rear end of the chassis to give it all a clean, check for any cracks and touch up any paint. Initial inspection suggests the powder coating is all in very good shape which is nice.

Really cold in the garage today even with the heater going – I’ve got one of those propane heaters that blows the hot air out. It’s usually pretty efficient but it was really cold overnight with an inch or two of snow and still freezing in the daytime.

I undid all the bolts holding the drive shafts onto the diff then removed the drive shafts. I decided another possible culprit for vibration might be the wheel bearings so I took the hubs off as well. Of course there’s grease everywhere but I plan to get myself a little parts washer from Machine Mart – they sent me a VAT free card a couple of weeks ago and one of the dates is tomorrow so I’ll pop over there.

I then undid the prop-shaft and removed the reverse motor. I was pleased to note that all the bolts I’d come to so far were still nice and tight with all the paint marks intact. This was the case also for the diff bolts. It didn’t take long to get those out then I could manoeuvre the diff out.

I can now get at all the wishbones etc. to give them a good clean and touch them up where the powder coating has got chipped. I want to get the prop off completely so I can check out the centre bearing properly. I’m still undecided about getting the engine out – the front end of the chassis where Andy resprayed it is looking a bit sad with bits of rust here and there so I suppose I really ought to.