WITW - Andrew's Irish Green

[MikkiJayne]

Sunday's update on Monday. Mike came over and we did the gearbox service and reseal.

Clean sump pan, although the magnets are in the wrong places.



Not much magnet fluff which is good.



Sump off and filter removed



Prime the oil pump inlet



The left output flange was leaking badly



This is held in place with a bearing and circlip



Press tool to spread the load while pushing the shaft out



It sits in the vice like this



Pushed out. I can swap the seal and bearing, then put it back together



New F125



Engine and box back together



This evening I cleaned up and refitted the wiring harness and coolant hoses

[MikkiJayne]

The aircon pump pulley bearing is worn out and grumbly but I've had enough of replacing compressors just for this, with all the faff around emptying and refilling the system. So, replace the bearing...

The pulley is just held on with a circlip so slides off easily enough





The bearing is pressed in and then staked to make sure it doesn't come out



The usual contrivance of round chunks to push the old bearing out



and to push the new one in



This can be swapped for the one on the car after the engine is back in



I pressure washed the subframe. Its in very good condition with a little surface rust



I'll clean most of this with a wire wheel and then paint with rustoleum

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The aircon pump pulley bearing is worn out and grumbly but I've had enough of replacing compressors just for this, with all the faff around emptying and refilling the system. So, replace the bearing...

I thought I'd replied to this a while back, but it disappeared.
Wonderful problem solving there on the bearing.
And pleased to see the subframe is better than I expected (and the MOT advised?)
Out of interest which exact Rustoleum product do you use?

I also note re the leaking output shaft that I'm not alone.... http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=16666
And I remember the horrid smell of that stuff dripping onto the exhaust!

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

And pleased to see the subframe is better than I expected (and the MOT advised?)
Out of interest which exact Rustoleum product do you use?

Combicolor:



Working on the uprights today. Start by cutting the top arms and tie rod end off to make access easier.



The bolt was obviously seized so I snapped the head off and started jacking the stump out using the nut instead



Keep adding washes and spacers until its almost out



The remains



This is where the insert came out. Someone has attempted to break the taper by hitting it with a hammer, as is often the case, and bruised the aluminium housing which has distorted the hole slightly, loosening the pressed-in insert.



Cleaned up with the rotary tool



Loctite 638 to hold the insert in permanently



Bolted in place overnight while the loctite sets up



The other upright was not so cooperative and the bolt snapped at both ends, so I'm going to have to drill that out tomorrow

[HPsauce]

Little bit of trivia back at home. Had the old and cracking MPSS 20" spare tyre replaced with a newer part-worn MPS4s that I had "lying around".
It had a strange nick in the rubber near the bead caused when one of my wheels was damaged on maybe a kerb or rock (repaired long ago).
The tyre guy reckoned as long as it seated okay and held pressure (it did) it will be fine, certainly as a spare.

The car went down to Devon on its 18" Avus winter wheels but carrying 4*20" FE wheels with MPS4s tyres on. (Two in the boot, two on the back seat)
They will be fitted, along with brand new OEM centre caps, for the final detailing. And for subsequent admiration ....

[MikkiJayne]

After a trying day with one pinch bolt yesterday, today went from bad to worse The bolt would not respond to the usual techniques so I had to drill it out



This was going reasonably well until the 9.5mm drill bit caught the hardened balljoint pin and snapped off deep in the hole



I had to get the balljoint pin out to go any further. Drilled down the centre of it



Then used a cutoff wheel through the slot to cut it in to pieces



It came out in chunks



I was able to free up the drill bit, although it took a small chunk out with it - that'll get welded up before it goes back together







This upright is bruised around the lower arm inserts as well. So much so, in this case, that the sleeve is now captive



The hubs were quite rusty and rough which could cause wheel balance issues



Cleaned up



Gave up after 6 hours of this and finished early.

[strummagnet]

Seems this D2 starting out uncharacteristically easy, which must have been nice, has now decided to fight back.

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

After a trying day with one pinch bolt yesterday, today went from bad to worse

Whats the next step on after bad to worse? Something along these lines:



because the gearbox has to come off again



to fix this damn connector leaking. I've never had one of these leak before - sometimes they get a bit damp, but as soon as I plug the connector in, it starts making a puddle on the floor.





These two o-rings are in a bad way



I was thinking when I had Paul's FE in bits, I should probably add these o-rings to my routine, since they don't tend to leak but it'd be a right pain if they did and its easy with the sump off. Literally the next one through the door bites me on the **** with that exact problem

I'm quite grumpy

TPS have priority-ordered a pair of o-rings and a new sump gasket for me so this can go back together tomorrow and normal service had flippin' well better be resumed!