285 replies to this topic

[Marco1972]

Picked up some paint on the way home from work







Zinc primer is on order so I’ll finish the rest this weekend

Photobucket is doing my nut in taking longer and longer to upload bugger !! ☹️

[Marco1972]

Back to it

Thought Id make a start on the second hub
Here it is in all its rusty glory



Stripped off both ball joints top arm and the brake shield



Thought it might be useful at this point to do a little how to on bearing removal just for anyone who hasnt removed one before

Prize out the rear seal using a long flat screwdriver



Then remove the spacer that sits under the rear seal ( these are original bearings ) some aftermarket kits wont have them



Then remove the roller bearing



Underneath you will see the centre spacing ring ( this is what usually seizes onto the shaft )



And removed



Now you can clearly see the rear bearing carrier



Flip it over and remove the front grease seal





Again remove the roller bearing from the hub wipe out the grease and you can start removing the 2 carriers



I used an old screwdriver and a drift to drive them out
Just gently in a clockwise rotation start hitting the top face of the bearing carrier until it drops out the hub
Take your time as to not damage the inner face of the hub or the bearing carrier if your going to re use them







I found the rear harder to remove as it sits in further but this is an easy job for the DIY mechanic

Once removed I just thread a piece of wire to keep them in order



Mark

Edited by Marco1972, 08 October 2017 - 09:00 AM.

[Marco1972]

Back to cleaning up the second hub



Attacked it with the knotted wire wheel



Wear eye protection with these as they shed wire strands as they wear



Top steering arm



This has had it



Then into the parts washer



Washed and dried them quick wipe over with panel wipe then a coat of primer and paint
I use a heat gun to warm the parts slightly this helps the paint adhere to the parts better







Gave them a coat of satin black I’ll leave them to harden for a week

With that done it was onto ball joints for the hub I did last week



Fitted to the hub



New bearings time



Just the reverse process of removal
Rear inner carrier first



Bearing fitted (no rear spacer on these) followed by the grease seal
flipped over and centre spacer fitted







The finished hub



I’m also replacing the outer CV joints these come in bear steel so I’m giving them a lick of paint
I’ll leave them to harden for a week











While I was painting I gave the manifold a lick of paint
The inlet came black from new so I’ve just returned it back to the factory look









The finished item



Did one of the drive flanges too



Lastly I finished off the loom
Brass connectors



Replaced the broken connector



Sorted



Tried the vinegar method on the old fuse box but wasn’t happy with the results
Think it was a bit too far gone so went for a new Lucas fuse box









That’s the loom all sorted now

Onwards and upwards

[Steve8274]

Looking good. Great informative post on bearing removal

[Marco1972]

Looking good. Great informative post on bearing removal

Thanks buddy

[Marco1972]

No news from the body shop so carrying on with refurbing parts

Both front hubs are now finished 🙂



Now if you follow this build you'll have seen me refurb my radius arms way way back they have been sat on a shelf in my shed ever since
Well I pulled them out and found that they were rusting up ☹ Not a happy bunny so Ive had to do them again





Ive bit the bullet here and got new drums ,back plates ,cylinders and a few other bits got a pal in the trade so saved a few quid 👍🏻



Out came the twisted knot on the grinder and ...... well you know how it goes 🙂















Decided to give them a few coats of lacquer hopefully this will keep the moisture out and the rust away





The new drums and back plates will get a few coats of lacquer but thats a job for next week
All the running gear apart from the top arms ( ill do them next week ) will then be refurbished and ready to go on the car when it returns
Still a long list of bits to do ( starter motor , alternator , steering colum , gear selector ) the list goes on 😃


Mark

Edited by Marco1972, 22 October 2017 - 04:52 PM.

[Gillybobs]

Great project! At least I'm not the only one who's minis taking a while to do . Fantastic car keep up the good work !

[Marco1972]

Great project! At least I'm not the only one who's minis taking a while to do . Fantastic car keep up the good work !

Great project! At least I'm not the only one who's minis taking a while to do . Fantastic car keep up the good work !

Thanks buddy
I had no idea it would take this long either but that’s minis for ya
5 years and counting

Mark

[Marco1972]

Back to it

Gave the new backplates a coat of paint and lacquer





Probably going a bit OTT here but hey ho
Gave the new drums and cylinders a coat of lacquer







Then began the assembly process















With that done it was onto the gear change









Primer and paint time







Gave the aluminium body a coat of laquer to stop it corroding



Bottom plate on with stainless bolts



The finished item



Top arm time











Assembly time









Same for the other side
I smeared a bit of grease on the bearing to help it along drifted it in with a 18 mm socket on a bar







Forced new grease through the nipples before fitting





All greased up





Ive also refurbed the lower shock bolts and spacers as it is almost £20 for new ones !!
no pics as its not very exiting seeing a rusty bolt 😀
Thats all the running gear sorted next job will be the engine

Mark

[Steve8274]

All looking really smart. What paint is it that you use? I plan on using tractor enamel but not sure if thats a bit OTT

[ga2davt]

Nothing wrong with tractor enamel.. it hasn't got cyanide in it, so doesn't kill you, it goes on really well with a brush and it smooths itself really well. Best of all it's tough like the old Hammerite

 

This is a fab project ... heart and soul has gone into that car...

Edited by ga2davt, 29 October 2017 - 08:29 PM.

[Marco1972]

Nothing wrong with tractor enamel.. it hasn't got cyanide in it, so doesn't kill you, it goes on really well with a brush and it smooths itself really well. Best of all it's tough like the old Hammerite
 
This is a fab project ... heart and soul has gone into that car...

Thank you

[Marco1972]

Cheers
I just use regular satin black spray paint on top of a few coats of zinc primer and on certain parts clear laquer
Probably won’t last as long as the parts I’ve had powder coated but this car is going to have an easy life when it’s finished weekends and the odd mini show

Mark

[Marco1972]

Update time

Next on the refurb list was the brake callipers



Refurb kitts



Used my compressor to pop out the pistons



Split the Calilper and removed the pistons



The pistons were actually in pretty good nick but you cant skimp on brakes
With the pistons removed I checked the bores which were fine and began removing the seals





Flat head to remove the retaining ring and top seal



They come out really easy



And the inner seal



With that done I wire wheeled them

Before and after





Then the usual primer and paint



Got photobombed by the cat





Went for electric blue for a change





Fitted the new seals and pistons
You have to be really careful fitting the retaining ring as they bend really easy
I cut a piece of wood and used that in the vice which worked well



Quite happy with the result





Another box from Minispares



Lots of little bits nuts bolts ect



Now Im going fairly standard with this car but I couldnt resist a bit of DSN bling



Decided to build up a few bits indoors its quite nice actually using some of the parts Ive been collecting for the last 5 years

Fitted the poly bushes to the engine steady





Grommets for the new backplates





New brake pipes and goodridge hoses













Got all the parts ready for the front subframe rebuild



New poly bushes to the lower arms and tie rods









Polly bump stops and new thick spacing washers



This little lot will be going on the front subframe in my next update



Mark

Edited by Marco1972, 18 November 2017 - 12:41 AM.

[Marco1972]

Front subframe time

My top arm stainless steel kit arrived today so it was time to start building up the front subby



Seems like ages since I had this powder coated 😀



Had to remove the powder coat from these areas due to the tight tolerance of the components found this out when we built jays car



Cones went in first ( I painted the upper ring ) as the Minispares coating was crap



With that compressed up I fitted the trumpet bit of copper grease to make sure it doesnt seize in



Now after much hassle trying to fit the trumpet in the gap after the top arm was fitted which didnt work I dropped off the top arm and fitted the trumpet to the top arm first then fitted the whole thing to the subframe this seemed to work so if anyone else is doing this particular job its worth doing it this way
Save yourself mucho hassle 😃



Didnt take that many pics as it was getting bloody cold and crawling around on a concrete garage floor isnt much fun

Anyway a couple of pics of the finished item





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Thats it for now hopefully Ill have a car body back soon to stick this lot onto 🙂

Mark