Front Axle Rebuild Begins

The past few days have been spent solid working on the Landy and heaps of progress has been made. 

I'll go through it as days as it splits it quite nicely into stages.

Monday

I began by pulling the front axle from the car. This involved lying in mud as I had to pull it somewhere where it could sit for a few months. Thankfully all the suspension bolts came undone easily and with the help of an engine crane the came out. Pulling axle did reveal a few new issues that need to be addressed. Firstly, the spring bushes are f***ed (see pic). the centre tube just fell out once the bolts were removed. It does make them easier to replace though.

Axle coming out

 

The freewheeling hubs are also leaking a huge amount of oil. I spent a couple of hours disassembling the axle and getting it into my tiny shed that will be used as my workshop. 

Tuesday

I spent the entire day disassembling the axle down to the core components. I had a good run with the suspension bolts but the axle itself managed to throw up a few problems. The hub nuts were so stuck I had to cut them off and the top swivel pin took my biggest hammer and a massive chisel to get them out. That was the cause of the heavy steering then. I also had the chance to inspect some of the parts. the half shafts are in excellent condition although they will require new distance pieces. The swivel balls are gone and every bearing is destroyed. I am overall quite happy with the condition of the axle and will just be a case of replacing wear items. 

Wednesday

I spent a few hours wire brushing the axle casing, the diff and the swivel housings. The wire brushes are very effective however the wire brush on the angle grinder really hurts when the wires fray off. 

Axle casing wire brushed

In other news I have purchased a series 3 gearbox which I intend to swap with the current one. I really want full synchromesh as it makes the drivability much better. I will be swapping the bell housings so I can retain the current clutch setup. 

I have also had some wise words of wisdom from a friend who has advised me to get the car on the road before swapping the engine etc as it makes the certification process much easier. He worked as a LVVTA inspector for a while so I trust his opinion. However, I you know better please leave a comment down below. 

I'll be back within the next couple of weeks with another update on the axle rebuild and a post on my painting process.