S3 109 Safari project......

This then led to the halfshaft going in......

Then I fitted the new swivel housing bolts and brake pipe support. Not mega progress, but progress just the same.

Cleaned up the brake backplate today, painted it and let it dry in the sunshine . Also, cleaned the sub axle, drifted off the old collar as it was grooved. New gasket and sealer.....

New collar fitted....

Backplate fitted with stub axle along with brake cylinders and brake adjusters. What a faff they were to fit! Managed to find a guide to installing the kit online. Just as well as they were about to launched . They were actually fouling the brake shoes and they needed the head of the bolt ground down. Not really the best design. Again, Britpart stuff and to be honest, not the best. We shall see how long they last....

Brake shoes next and the flexi brake pipe too. I feel as if I’m starting to get somewhere now. Still a long way to go!

Made a bit more progress today..... hub stripped, cleaned and bearing kit fitted. Drive flange cleaned, bolts, cleaned, new spring washers fitted and hub cap.

Bought some new brake drums, but they arrived unpainted, which I reckon would start to corrode quite quickly. I cleaned with some thinners and gave them a coating of high temperature silver paint. Looks a bit bright in my opinion . Should maybe have used black!

been a while since I saw an update on this one , must be getting close now

Managed to build up the other side to the back plate stage, but then realised that there are supposed to be rubber sealing rings between the wheel cylinders and backplate! . Anyway, I ordered them up and fitted all four which meant some stripping down on the near side too. At least I know that it’s done right, even though I don’t like doing things twice . Anyway I now have the front axle complete. I filled both swivel hubs with the Britpart grease as that came with the swivel bearing kits and filled the axle with EP80/90. So far, no leaks .......
Unfortunately my phone went flat when I was doing the work, so no pics to post, but I will have some soon.
Next step, do the same to the rear axle, repairing the shock mount, replacing bits as needed. Then, after that, strip the springs down, grease, paint and reassemble with new bushes. Here goes!

Started stripping the back axle today. Cut the spring ‘u’ bolts off. Done this loads of time, but it still makes me jump when they go off with a bang! Took the back drums to have a look and wished I hadn’t . Needless to say that a complete overhaul is required. Inspected the rest of the axle and it’s looking like it needs some serious work. Both lower shock mountings are rotten and damaged. The drive flange and seal needs replaced. There is also quite a lot of play on both drive flanges (I think) when I rotate the hub. Maybe worn splines? One of the wheel bearings are rough too....

Attempted to strip the track rod down, but the track rod ends are completely seized. Shouldn’t be surprised to be honest.... tried heat to no avail. Oxy-propane torch next .
If I had a better one, I would use it, but I think it’s saveable.

Bought some new swivel seal retainer bolts to replace the old ratty ones I reused. Also fitted the brake pipe. Nearly done with the front axle now.

Bought a new track rod, clamps, bolts, nuts and used some nos track rod ends. Better than using the old one as it’s too far gone….

Bits and pieces done today. Fitted new link brake pipes to both sides. Just got the ridgid pipes from the flexi pipe to wheel cylinder to make now. Fitted the jack stop on the drivers side because I forgot it when I built up the hubs . Stripped the tyres off the wheels ready for blasting on Monday. Fitted a new 7.5x16 spare tyre I bought off gumtree. Going to buy 4 new tyres once the wheels are painted.

Stripped down the rear axle today. I found there was a lot of play in the drive flanges, so they will need replacement. The axle is not looking good at all. Not sure whether it’s worth fixing or better to buy a better one….. Any thoughts?
It could be fixed but it’s whether it’s worth it or not.

Ok, so I thought I would give the repairs a bash……nothing ventured, nothing gained
After cleaning up the two lower shock mounts to assess the damage, I got the oxy-propane out and straightened the brackets as best as possible.

After a bit more tweaking, I got both brackets set straight and at the same angle. I then cut out the rotten parts of the brackets, fabricated repair sections from 3mm steel plate. Welded them both sides and flatted off. The holes to secure the shocks were elongated and worn, so I built it up with weld and redrilled to 15mm.