Halfshafts

The new inner halfshafts arrived from Blanchard today, so it looks as if everything is now here. The two inner halfshafts looked in bad shape when unwrapped, the longer being encrusted in ancient dirt and the shorter having a thick coat of what appeared to be soft black paint or a protective layer of some sort. The paint was so thick in the splines that I thought they had been worn down. However, degreaser and a few passes of the brass wire wheel later, they came out looking like new, and the good Hardy Spicer shafts that they are.

I have now sourced an inexpensive press, which will make bearing and spacer installation much easier over the course of the restoration, and so will wait a few days to see how the press appears in reality before perhaps obtaining one and using that to put the halfshafts together.

Brake Backing Plates; UJ's; Swivel Balls

Parts are trickling in for the axle rebuild. The new Girling brake backing plates (on the right, obviously) look great. Nice to have anodized units, but they have been around long enough that there are small rust spots here and there. Easy to clean up, however, and they'll get the rust-prevention treatment.

 Apparently the loose brake-shoe swivels were a known problem, as these new ones are welded in.

A view of the brake-pad side. As the Girling plates come with brake adjusters installed, the adjuster kits I purchased earlier will be relegated to spares. I have no idea who RECA is; these came from Rovers Down South, in New Orleans.

The new universal joints arrived recently, as well. Haven't heard of GKN before, but as they have Hardy Spicer among the companies shown on the box, plus impressive info on their website, and are listed as Hardy Spicer by LRSeries, from whom these were purchased, I imagine they are good replacements. An original Hardy Spicer uj is on the right (minus two caps), next to an outer halfshaft. The new inner halfshafts are due to arrive from Blanchards any day now.

Also received the new Timken bearings for the swivel balls. Won't be long, I hope, before everything starts getting put together.

More Stub Shaft; Brake Backing Plates

Good news about the stub shafts, they have been declared usable, and have cleaned up nicely.

The brake backing plates have also cleaned up pretty well. The bad news there is that the brake shoe pivot on one is loose (they should not move), and may be off-center on the other, most likely due to corrosion between the pivot and the plate. Given the importance of brakes, it may just be prudent to buy new backing plate assemblies.



Broken Halfshafts; Stub Shafts

I think two new inboard halfshafts are in order, for the front axle! Both had inboard end damage, one being twisted and the other twisted right off completely. That answers some questions! Have ordered new ones....

 
The good news is that the stub shafts are in good shape, as are the universal joints. Have ordered two new Hardy Spicer uj's, however, as the swivel housing clearly hasn't had any oil in it for quite a while, and I can't be sure in what shape everything is inside the bearing caps.

Here's a view of the swivel housing opened up. The remains of the oil that was once in there can be seen, in a sort of droplet form. It comes right off, and there doesn't appear to be too much corrosion, but new swivel balls and Timken swivel bearings are going in there in any case.

You can't see it here, but with proper light it's possible to see the twisted off end of the halfshaft still in it's receiver end. We'll see what's up when the differential is removed. Here, you can see the outer race of the halfshaft bearing at the entrance to the axle tunnel. The gunk at the very bottom is just road grime yet to be cleaned off, with a bit of oil mixed in.

Stub axles are a mixed bag. One is clearly just fine, the spacer is in good shape as well. The other has some surface corrosion. I'll consult with those who know more than I do, and perhaps one or both will be replaced - although it would be nice to be able to keep them both.

A closer view of the corroded stub shaft. The non-corroded areas were under the hub bearing inner races.

Steering Wheel Repainted

While waiting for a set of brass punches/drifts to arrive (which they say will be next week), in order to be able to install the new hub bearings without damaging them, it was time to finish up the steering wheel centre. Ended up using a high-temp (250 F) interior paint, just in case the sun on the steering wheel should get a little hot. The aluminum steering wheel centre received a self-etch primer, while the steel cover of the centre received a rust-converter primer. Haven't pushed the cover all the way in yet, in case it has to come off again.

Very tempting to put the leather cover on the unrestored outer part of the wheel, but given the amount of work left to do on the Land Rover, and the number of times the steering wheel may have to come off again, I am resisting!

The original bolts holding the steering wheel on cleaned up beautifully, and so they'll get used again. I intend to keep all original bolts on the vehicle wherever possible.

Seen here, the steering wheel itself is sitting on the cleaned, sanded and primered floorboards, which, along with all other parts to eventually be painted Pastel Green, are going to be stored in primer coat only until the green can be applied to all parts which need to be that colour.

More Bearings; Old Shock Absorbers

Christmas cookies? Nope, just the old bearings, nuts and lock washers in a cookie tin, with the two cleaned-up outer hubs. Managed to get three out of the four outer races out of the hubs without problem, but the fourth was really wedged in there. Took a lot of strong coaxing, so much so that the shift actually flaked at the end. The hubs are now ready for a deep clean, painting where appropriate, and all-new bearings. The bearings should be arriving from Atlantic British Ltd. any time now.

Just a view of what I assume are hub oil filler ports (diagonal hex-head screw). The screw caps were so deep in red paint and rock-hard dirt that at first I never thought I'd get them to work properly, but they do now.

After the hubs are done, the next parts to be done will be the brake backing plates, followed by the swivel balls.

Just out of curiosity, I put the bearing inner races temporarily back on the stub axle, to see how things go together.

Last but not least, the old shock absorbers have been removed, as have the old rubber axle buffers. The new shock absorbers are ready to install on the new chassis, just waiting for new washers, while the backing plates on the new buffers have a few scratches I'd like to paint/seal before installation. Note the condition of some of the old rubber bushings on the old absorbers. The axle buffers are soft and spongy and falling apart. All will be disposed of.



Bearings: Inner and Outer Front Hub cont'd

Rear oils seals off, and all inner races removed, revealed that all outer races are most likely in need of replacement, and so will put new bearings for all.

Here's a view of a corrosion pit in one of the outer races. All were different: one had as indicated below; one had discoloration and grooving; one had several gouges from possible a metal shard; and one had scratches.

Both hubs apart, with their bearing inner races aside. Next will be to remove the inner races, thoroughly clean the hubs, install new bearings, and then paint the hubs. After that, on to the swivel mounts.