Thread: Isuzu C240 powered Series 3

I thought I'd have some time over the Christmas break to work on Wallit.

Well I've ended up doing a lot of painting in dark green and limestone......


DSCN1989 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


After I have some trees chopped back I have to get to roof re-painted but the dormer windows were in need of a re-paint plus there was a pane of glass to replace.
When I made the brackets for the platform to work on I painted them because I'll keep them for future use. The wife made the comment " I suppose you painted them because they will be still on the roof in two years time like most projects you start...." I was really hurt by that comment.

Yes, for the safety conscious, that's a stepladder on the platform but it was strapped down.
I used a sky hook to work on the ridge capping.....

DSCN2000 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


The right hand front of Wallit's axle has been overhauled, new seals etc.
The pre-load didn't seem high enough when I stripped it down but after stripping and scraping all the rust/dirt off the mounting faces for the pins I re-fitted the shims and it had corrected itself.

There was a minor problem on reassembly, I fitted the swivel hub seal and it wasn't making good contact on the top edge of the ball. I grabbed another seal but that was exactly the same so sat down and thought about it. It would need a shim between the taper roller bearing and the pivot pin to fix it or..... the alternative was to gently tap the seal inwards at the top edge. I did this and it sealed much better.
Wallit is made from a collection of different bits & pieces so the swivel hub, swivel hub housing, pivot pins for the taper roller & Railko could all come from different vehicles.

Swivel hub ready to be re-fitted.

DSCN1982 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

The thread on the drive shaft has been badly damaged in the past and the splines are worn so I'm going to strip the one out of a spare axle and see if it's any better.

Swivel hub fitted just awaiting a drive shaft to complete this side.

DSCN2012 by Colin Radley, on Flickr



Colin

Hey Colin wasn't the green and limestone paint supposed to be for the Land Rover or did you get more than you needed for the house?

Those swivel pin housing seals where they seat into the outer part of the housing, did you run a smear of sealant around them and what type did you use?
.

Arthur,

I'm not a fan of silicone sealants so I used Permatex No 2 (non setting). I used my finger to apply the sealant into the corner where the seal is going to sit.

DSCN1928 by Colin Radley, on Flickr

I did this on the Series I some years ago and it's leak free.

I also put some water resistant grease between the lips of the seal. I'm not sure it helps but it was something the father-in-law suggested.
If the inner lip is too good a seal the outer lip will run dry, plus it gives it some lubrication until the vehicle is regularly used and the oil is splashed around.


Colin

Nice work Colin!

Pardon me mentioning it, but I think it is time to get a base-plate under the axle stand, as it has the staggers at the moment. I wouldn't want your superb posts to end abruptly, forever!

Interesting thing about swivels and seals; in the S1 manual it says to get the same thickness of shims at the top and bottom so as to centralise the swivel, to allow the seal to work. In the S3 manual it says to set the pre-load using shims on the top swivel and then to tap the seal into position before clamping it in place.

Anyway; neither of mine leak yet, so both methods seem to work,

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by chazza

Nice work Colin!

Pardon me mentioning it, but I think it is time to get a base-plate under the axle stand, as it has the staggers at the moment. I wouldn't want your superb posts to end abruptly, forever!

Interesting thing about swivels and seals; in the S1 manual it says to get the same thickness of shims at the top and bottom so as to centralise the swivel, to allow the seal to work. In the S3 manual it says to set the pre-load using shims on the top swivel and then to tap the seal into position before clamping it in place.

Anyway; neither of mine leak yet, so both methods seem to work,

Cheers Charlie

Charlie,

The axle stand doesn't really lean like that, it's just how it looks from the angle of the photo/lens distortion.
You'd have seen from the house photos that I'm not a risk taker

On one side the seal fitted perfectly and then this one the seal wasn't making good contact. I ended up tapping the seal in over about 1/3rd of its diameter.
Just need to sort out the drive shaft for this side and I can put it back together and see if it holds oil...

Stripped the spare axle this morning and the driveshaft isn't much better. Thread on the end better condition but splines badly rusted. Roller bearing rooted (rust & severe wear), UJ rusted.
The diff looks OK except the pinion flange taper roller bearing is rusted, if the inner taper roller is OK I might strip and rebuild the diff as a spare.


Saw these on TV the other day, might get some for the next time I have to work on the roof https://secure.roofhandles.com.au/index.html


Colin

It's been too hot today to get up on the roof & paint so I managed to sort out Wallit's drive shaft.

One of the UJ cups had been spinning which made me think I should probably replace the UJ. The one fitted had plastic cups fitted (because it was a propshaft UJ) so I thought I'd rip one out before removing the UJ. More on this in a separate post.

Anyway, good thing I decided to replace the UJ !

DSCN2018 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


The wear pattern is odd, groves on one side, immediate thought was that it would have been the drive side. Then looked a bit further and the wear grooves on the next pin faced the first pin.
The cup that was spinning had a crushed needle roller in it, maybe one dropped out of place when it was assembled in the past ?

Drive shaft ready to go back in.

DSCN2022 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


I need to make a puller or a split ring to allow the inner roller bearing race to be pressed off the drive shaft. The one I removed from the spare axle needs an inner race fitted, a new UJ and some work with a file on the splines......

DSCN2026 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


Now was it the rubber boots that starved the UJ of oil or just a poor pattern part ? Was it the fact that the previous owner ran freewheel hubs ? Should I have checked the other driveshaft a bit more carefully before reassembling ??

Colin

I was on the roof most of the day but decided to spend a couple of hours on Wallit this evening.

Re-fitting brake shoes has always been an issue for me. Do you lever them on with the springs in place, try and fit the springs after the shoes are held in position ??
I managed a while back to obtain some brake spring pliers, they would be OK for a small car but they struggle with Land Rover brake springs.
I keep meaning to ask the father-in-law, he will have some sure-fire way to do it (he was in the brake business for a number of years).

To side-track for a moment, it's always funny going to an old car rally with the father-in-law. He wanders up to early vehicles with spoked wheels, sticks his fingers through the spokes to the brake drum, feels it and usually states "that's one of mine...." The business he worked at made a lot of vintage, veteran and unobtainable brake drums, shoes etc for a number of years. The business was sold, the new owner a few years down the track had health issues and the business moved to Queensland.
I wonder what happened to all the old castings, patterns etc.

Anyway, I was about to fit the brake shoes and decided a special tool was needed. I thought if I could make a strip of steel that hooks over the edge of the shoe with a handle I can grab with both hands I could stretch the spring and get it into position much easier.
I found a stip of steel from the scrap bin made the hook to go over the shoe then because I couldn't be bothered to drag out the MIG welder I just put a hook on the other end I can slip an extension bar into.

Worked perfectly....

DSCN2031 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


Here's a closer view of the hook.

DSCN2032 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


When I stripped the brakes down the slot in the wheel cylinder pistons was rusted. With this in mind I used rubber grease in the slot and on the end of the brake shoe. I also slipped the rubber boot up the end of the shoe while I fitted it, I've slipped before and managed to put a hole through the boot.

Swivel hub filled up with GL4 EP75W90, I was about to fill the diff when it crossed my mind I should change the pinion oil seal. I want to drop the propshaft anyway to check the UJ's so I might have a think about that tomorrow.

DSCN2033 by Colin Radley, on Flickr


Wheel is now back on, I need to jump up and down on the front crossmember tomorrow then tighten all the spring & shackle bolts.


Colin

You clever; clever lad Colin!

What a superb answer to a difficult problem! I always fit the springs to the shoes and then lever the shoe with a big screwdriver, but the stupid chamfer on the end of the shoes makes this a difficult proposition.

Your solution is brilliant, and one I shall plagiarise for my own toolbox,

Cheers Charlie