Up and running

It feels good having made a start, even if it' a little bit of a modest one. So yesterday I fitted the diff, a slow start but a start none the less.
 Today's plan is to prep the rear upper and lower wishbones, fit the gearbox centre mount and the lower steering column bush.

Starting with the steering bush. I'd read that this was a bit on the tight side, so was a little surprised when it just popped in. Imagine how excited I was then, when i discovered the plastic locking ring that sits inside the rubber bush to hold it place. This was tighter than a nuns knicker elastic. I rummaged in the toolbox and found a little used tool designed to wind in brake caliper pistons. Worked perfectly!                                                                                              

Here's the end result.

Pleased with the result, I cleared down my workbench and set out twenty eight bushes and fourteen crush tubes ready to fit to the rear wishbones. To have any chance of getting the bushes to fit, I had remove the powder coating. Out came the emery cloth and I set to - for all of two minutes - before declaring it hopeless. Good stuff, powder coating, as long as you don't want to remove it.
The kettle was calling , so off I went to make a brew and ponder.

Fifteen minutes later and I was digging out my Lidl version of a Dremel. The small sanding drum attachments made light work of the powder coat 😊. Once I'd cleaned out the powder coat from all the wishbone ends I smeared copper grease on the bushes and used a vice to squeeze them in. This did work but i found it difficult to keep the bushes going in square. After trashing a couple of bushes, I changed technique and used the plate from a puller with a bolt and a large washer to wind the bushes in instead. Much easier!

When I shut my eyes, I can still see bushes....

 I used a bench grinder to create a chamfer on one end of the crush tubes and then pressed them in, again using copper grease. Definitely a time consuming job, but strangely satisfying.

Fitting the wishbones to the chassis was fairly straightforward. In some of the brackets I needed to pack out with two penny washers on one side of the bushes and only one on the other. Checked with the guys at GBS and apparently this is normal.

The gearbox centre mounting is standard Sierra kit and requires a little fettling to make it fit. I got a bit carried away here and forgot to take some photos. Simple job though. I just placed the mounting into it's aperture in the chassis, held it with a couple of clamps and marked the cuts I needed to make and the four holes I would need drill. I then removed it and held it in a vice where I used an air cut off tool to make the necessary cuts. I used a centre punch before drilling the holes to prevent the drill bit skidding around.
I did remember to take a photo of it in situ....

My next job is to fix the bracket/mounting plate for the low pressure fuel pump and fuel filter. Need to do some research this evening before ordering a rivnut tool 🔧🔧