Had a busy two weeks lately. Started out just going to
paint the under sideof the bonnet - to remove the slapped on
red paint over the BRG, complete with road grime and rust.
Once apart, discovered many cracks around the hinge mounting
point - so off to the welding shop. Made extra steel plates
to weld over the cracked areas, which worked fine. Then
more sanding, filling and painting. Did it with the help of
Bob Coe (you've heard from him on this list) one Saturday
morning. Must say the job looks great AND, the bonnet
doesn't rattle, squeak or pop undone any more. I'm happy
;-)
Then with the estra quiet around the car, started to feel
vibrations and hear 'tingling' noises from the rear. Aha, U
joints I think, so rip the rear axles and vertical links
out. Diff leaks, so might as well rip it out too. Drive
shaft is now almost out, so finish the job, and find that
the front U joint has 1/4" play! That's where the
vibrations were coming from. Then discover rust in the
tunnel; underside, so sand blast and repaint.
Next find that the emergency brakes are almost seized up, so
a remove, sandblast, repair and repaint there.
Now find that the rear trunnions are shot, so more
dismantling - complete with angle grinder and 10 ton press
to get one of the bolts out. All new bushes, sandblast,
paint and re assemble.
Whew, just crawled out from under the car, done. But it
brings up a question-
I have 5, count 'em 5, service manuals, and only one tells
how to do the rear trunnions! Its a little cheapie manual
by Intereurope Press, writtten in 1972. Not even the
original official BL, nor the blue official reprint, nor the
Haynes, nor the Autobooks manuals tells you how to do it,
and what torque to do the vertical link to trunnion hub
bolt.
So what torque do you all use when refitting the rear
trunnions? Intereurope says 42-46 lbs/ft. Is 'Urrgh'
usually tight enough or you need 'Urrghmph"?
Cheers, and a happy spit driver today.
Fred
--
Fred & Wendy Griffiths.
Calgary, AB, Canada
with Spitfires in various
states of readiness.
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