S3 109 Safari project......

Hopefully will get assembling some new shiny bits as I’m fed up cleaning off rust and grot!

Wow, that was nasty inside and out, good job decrudding

Ha, ha, yeah, I’m getting a bit fed up of cleaning but needs must! I used some Jizer in a big tub and let them soak for a while first. Looking forward to getting some paint on it tomorrow....

Nice to see you cleaning and using old parts instead of just buying new and fitting. Anyone can do that.

Thanks, I’ve tried to use as much of the original vehicle as possible. I could have replaced the chassis too, but I reckoned that there’s was enough of it sound enough to save! The axles and gearbox are original, so I have tried to repair what I can. All the wear parts are available and relatively inexpensive. Kind of satisfying too!

Managed some painting tonight. Think the diff and the swivel housing bits look a bit fresher.....

While the paint was drying I started on the n/s half shaft. To say the u/j was toast would be an understatement!

Next, I stripped off the spacer, inner race and collar. Then, dismantled the u/j with a press. You can see the collar is grooved where the seal sits and the inner race is extremely worn, so they definitely needed replacement......

After a really good cleanup, I inspected the shaft and apart from some surface rust, it is in really good condition.

I picked out one of my new old stock universal joints, re-greased the needle bearings and pressed them in. It’s a great feeling using nos parts rather than buying ‘new’. What a difference! Nice and smooth movement with no binding or tight spots. After that, I fitted the new spacer, inner race and collar. The half shaft is ready for another tour of duty . Just hope my wife doesn’t notice the bath towel is missing

Back on to the swivel hubs now...... fitted the lower steering arm, o ring and swivel bearing.

I fitted the shims for the top swivel and it took a couple of goes to get the preload correct. It needed 2mm of shims to get it right which seems to be quite a lot.....

Just got the finishing touches to go now. I sealed the seal and retainer in with blue hylomar just to be sure. Don't want any future leaks!

The eagle eyed might see that the brake pipe retainer is not fitted. I just haven’t gotten round to painting it yet! Once it’s painted I will fit it...I also need new nuts for the swivel hub to axle connection, however I just used the old ones until the new ones arrive.

Got my u bolts fitted on the driver’s side today. Took a week and a half to arrive from Paddock. Better late than never!

Replaced the front diff pinion seal too. Surprisingly, the castellated nut was only finger tight!

Next time, I will start on the backplate ready for assembling the brakes etc....

Slowly getting there.

mick the builder said:

Slowly getting there.

Click to expand...

Yes, it’s taking a long time to clean and paint everything before I can even think about bolting shiny bits back on. I want to do it right, but it is frustrating!

Got the diff gasket through in the post today so managed to get the diff back in.....