Well a bit of time has passed but we have the chassis back as well as
other bits and pieces including the rear axle, differential plus lots of
engine bay sheet metal. The whole chassis has been blasted back to bare
metal and has been repainted in two pack black epoxy, it looks better
than new and the coating is as tough as nails! Here we have the sheet
metal components from the engine bay and front end. They have had
similar treatment but I have had them blasted and powder coated instead
of painted conventionally.
This is where the fun bits start and we finally get to start going back
the other way. It is our intent to get it back to a complete rolling
chassis prior to starting the bodywork.
Here we are refitting the rear axle. It has also had the blast and
repaint treatment and now I need to replace all the bushings in both
control arms as well as the control yoke that hinges the differential
housing to the chassis. Once again I have acquired all the parts from
KANTER in the USA. We are replacing every bush regardless of condition.
This image shows the complete rear axle back in position. Note the upper
yoke and the way it hinges off the chassis and also pivots off the top
of the differential housing by way of a ball joint (also from KANTER)
The two control arms are also clearly visible with the four new bushings
pressed back into them. The springs are the original ones blasted and
repainted once they were measured for conformity and reset. The rear
axles were installed as were the brake backing plates (backing plates
were powder coated) Obviously we replaced all the seals as we went. I
may have already mentioned that we have replaced all the brake
components with new including the slave cylinders.
The rear end is nearly completion with all the brake lines feeding back
into the slave cylinders as well as the new handbrake cables. See my new
set of white wall tires in the background? J.
I threw in this photo as it shows how long we have taken so far!
Testament to this is Blair with his bad Hanson like haircut (he hates
this photo). We have had bit of time away from the car after I took on
another project that required our immediate attention. All that aside
you can see that we are back into it and ready to reinstall all the
front end!
