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22nd November 2014, 11:34 AM
#21
Had to move the chassis yesterday as part of the Great Backyard Clean-up, so I leant it against the fence, resting on its nearside rail. That gave me a clear view of the steering relay assembly from the underside of the frame.
It occurred to me that the assembly is meant to be slipped into position so the only thing that can be holding it is a build up of rust and dirt. I am going to try to feed a bit of baling wire from bottom to top along the space between the assembly and frame. This should dislodge enough muck to allow me to slip a thin coping saw blade up where the wire went. Then I can use to coping saw blade to cut through the muck as I move it around between the assembly and frame. If I can clear away the muck, I think the assembly will slide out.
Old Man Emu
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24th November 2014, 05:41 AM
#22
Another little trick when dealing with rust is to load the item up in the opposite way it is to be disassembled.
By way of example, some times when trying to undo a rusted thread it pays to tighten the thread before undoing it, this breaks the rust bond.
I like the idea of that use of a jack, but it may be worth the effort to make an adapter to support the wall of the tube as the cross member section might distort with the chain putting pressure away from that tube.
I have seen the old relay sacrificed and the rusted tube cut out, replaced with a new tube that's welded in and another reconditioned relay fitted.
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24th November 2014, 07:54 PM
#23
The relay is slipped in from the top of the chassis cross member and its further downwards movement is prevented by the lugs that the retaining bolts go through, so it is not a possibility to knock it further downwards in an attempt to break rust seals.
The body of the relay looks like a dumb-bell in that it has a central waist. The dirt and muck accumulates around the waist and seals the assembly into the hole it goes through.
I had a bit of a poke with some stiff wire which I had thinned by grinding away one side for a few inches from the edge. I was able to scrape and pull muck from one side of the assembly and got the wire about 2" towards the top of the cross member from the bottom.
I was only testing the idea at the time, but it looks like it could work. I didn't spend more than 15 minutes scraping away, so next time I'll devote at least an hour. I'm going to try to shoot high pressure water into the space to see if that dislodges more muck.
Whatever happens, this looks like being a time consuming job and therefore not a viable approach in a commercial situation.
Old Man Emu
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25th November 2014, 09:49 PM
#24
I attacked today armed with a fret saw blade. The teeth on these blades are short, so are good for pulling dislodged muck out of the hole. I was poking my piece of wire into the muck to break it up, like using a spud bar to break out the earth for a fence post hole. I got the idea that a drill bit would work like an auger bit, to break up the muck so I gave that a go with some success.
Due to the narrow space between the relay assembly body and the chassis, I could only used a relatively thin drill. Also, the assembly is skewed and the biggest space between it and the chassis is under the securing lugs. So if I manage to break through from bottom to top, there won't be much leeway to jiggle the assembly loose.
I confident that I can dig the assembly out, but it will take a fair bit of time. Then again ... the Grand Canyon was once a gully.
Old Man Emu
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