Plugger and The Camel

**Archangel007** · 23rd October 2016, 08:56 AM

Hi Everyone,

Well this weekend saw us officially complete some modules - more or less - and it also introduced me to the issues firsthand that is Britpart quality. Lets talk about Britpart first - Last week I wanted to finish off the front axle assembly but had to wait on some parts arriving up from a vendor in NSW. The original locking tabs for the brake backing plate I ordered from the UK - they came with all the other Britpart stuff like bearings etc - were absolutely ****e!! They were so thin that when I torqued up the bolts they just twisted and broke, or bent into grotesque shapes as to be unusable. So all of them went into the bin and I ordered original Rover ones which performed as per their intended design.

The next issue I had with Britparts was the U-bolts that hold the leaf springs to the axle housings. One is supposed to be longer than the other three to allow for the rise in depth of the axle housing where the leaf spring attaches to the perch! Even though it was a different part number to the other three, it was barely 5mm longer and all I could get was about 2 turns onto the nut - not even enough to meet the nylon insert of the nyloc nut. The vendor to their credit however swapped this out with one of a different brand which was just long enough to engage the nylon. When I questioned the vendor they stated (and not for the record) that the U-bolt comes back all the time - my question in reply was why stock them then??

So through the week some bits turned up as described - the lock tabs and the new U-bolt. Also through the week I took Plugger's front springs to Redcliffe Spring and Suspension to get them reset and matched. Dropped them in on Monday, had them back by Wednesday - cost was $260 which I thought was more than reasonable. Parabolics will have to wait until Stage II. Here are the springs with some bits leftover (made two out of three springs)

Painted:

I wire-wheeled and painted the wheel nuts while I was there. Not happy with the finish, might get them coated...

Also through the week I dropped Plugger's alternator into the local auto-electrician/motor winding place and got it assessed. They said it was still functional but they could not tell me for how long. They said that the increased load of two batteries, the winch, driving lights etc would outstrip its meagre capacity of 35 amps - being the original 186 alternator - and eventually kill it. A new 85 Amp would cost me $235, and to rewind and upgrade the original would be $285-plus. I shopped around... I went to my local Autobarn, saw my friendly parts dealer named Dennis and got a genuine Bosch 120A alternator for $220!! I thought that was a good deal! We know that the starter motor was fine as it started the 186 the day we picked the Camel up and it looked almost new. Here is the new alternator mounted - should be able to handle the electrical load and then some:

Also through the week Plugger and I stripped off the 186 the bellhousing adapter, scatter shield, spacer, pressure plate, clutch plate and flywheel. They of course were covered in muck from the custom Holden oiling system. I sent Plugger off to the parts washer (again) to clean them up. Then it was a nice coat of flat aluminium heat-proof paint as it is in relative close proximity to the exhaust. They came up fine and they are ready to bolt on when the gearbox gets overhauled. The tappet cover is now painted and on, this makes the engine overhaul complete - its ready to go back in:

Continued....

**Homestar** · 23rd October 2016, 09:35 AM

Geez, you're absolutley flying with this! You're making me look bad!

Keep up the great work.

**Archangel007** · 23rd October 2016, 09:37 AM

Continued...

This weekend we finished - well almost - the front axle assembly and suspension. First to be attacked was the diff centre. Internally it was fine, even though at some point it had lost all its oil. Just for added insurance I installed a new pinion seal. Remove the split pin, undo the single pinion flange bolt and remove the pinion flange.

The seal landing was a bit pitted so we sanded it with some 240 grade and that re-dresssed it nicely:

The old seal and the new seal were totally different shape. Out with the old seal:

In with the new seal:

Re-install the pinion flange. Install new differential casing seal, tighten bolts and then paint in our chassis black paint to match the rest of the assembly:

Continued...

**Archangel007** · 23rd October 2016, 10:08 AM

Continued...

With the diff centre back together and installed in the diff housing, I turned my attention to my son's pitted balls!! Yes, the steering round thingy's!! Due to monetary constraints I did not have the dollars to replace them if we were going to stick to the budget. I got onto a guy in the UK who had filled his badly pitted balls with epoxy and he said that the result was brilliant - even 2 years and 30,000 miles later. So I placed a call to Loctite Australia and asked them if their Superior Metal product would be up to the job. Its a two-part epoxy/metal that is used mainly for metal reclamation purposes etc. They said an emphatic yes! So, after cleaning the balls and wire-wheeling the pits to get to the substrate we applied the compound and let it cure for the recommended 24-hour period:

Then it was a case of sanding off all the unwanted filler to leave the epoxy/metal just filling the pitted areas:

I then gave the whole ball a coat of gloss black enamel paint. The reason being is that this would fill all the very minor imperfections (down to sub-millimetre level) and act as a sacrificial wear surface - the epoxy would fill the big stuff and the paint would fill the small stuff that the epoxy could not do:

On close inspection, the balls were almost perfect and hopefully would be a fair enough surface for the seal to seal against:

Continued...

**Archangel007** · 23rd October 2016, 10:36 AM

Continued...

Balls done - check!!

Time to re-assemble the whole front assembly and get this thing back together. In with the halfshaft seals and bearings and the halfshafts themselves. Rebuild the hubs and install. New brake bits arrived through the week so on they went (since I took the pics I have actually installed the springs the right way!!):

Install new bushes into the spring eyes. Plugger was at school when I did this so I engineered a novel way to hold the spring level and steady with the chain block and overhead boom while I used my 20T press to press them in:

Install new steering ball-joints into the clean and repainted steering linkages (and a big thanks to John in post #25 for enlightening me regarding the different ball joints that Land Rover have used - its knowledge passed on like this that makes these rebuilds so much easier - thanks mate!!). Install the springs, shackles and bolts etc. And finally all back together. Just waiting on new CS screws for the brake drums and the new brake hoses to turn up. And here is the finished product - what do you guys think??

The new drive-shaft boot arrived on Friday so that went on too after being re-packed with grease:

So, that's two modules down and a lot more to go. Next on the list is to refurbish the 2nd hand Series 3 brake pedal/booster and master cylinder I got from British Off Road for the princely sum of $80 - thanks Paxton that was a great deal and I really appreciate it. Also on the list is the steering relay!! I need some advice here as it is as stiff as all buggery - I am going to try and extract it and rebuild it - can anyone give me a heads-up on this other than "don't do it"....

Cheers and thanks,
Tricky

Note: All this happened over the course of two weeks in reality as work is a bit slow at the moment and I had time to attack it through the week here and there!!

**Homestar** · 23rd October 2016, 11:06 AM

Looks great!

Regarding the steering relay, most of the time the biggest issue with them is a stuffed bottom seal and no oil. There are 2 tapered bushes in there held in tension by a BIG spring. If there's no lateral movement in the shaft you may get away with just replacing the bottom seal and filling it with oil.

Worth a try - it worked with mine. Mine was so tight it was almost seized but once refilled with all and moved backwards and forwards a couple of hundred times, it actually came back into spec and works wel now.

If that doesn't work, just be careful when you crack it open - the spring is under a lot of compression.

**Walruslike** · 23rd October 2016, 01:15 PM

This is a real treat for me (and no doubt many others) to read and see... Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

As a mostly useless guy mechanically, it's amazing to me what you can do with old apparently buggered stuff and turn it into something that looks sweet.

Truly fascinating..... I'm loving your work, words and pictures. Thanks heaps.

Btw... Have you got a piccy of the brake springs on correctly? Just wondering how it should be...

**Gordie** · 23rd October 2016, 01:45 PM

Yes...agree with Walrus...I am reasonably mechanically minded, but no expert, it is great to see the running documentary and the pictures especially, nice to see how things look, should look, and are done. Most interesting and valuable. Cheers for that.

**Homestar** · 23rd October 2016, 05:03 PM

Knew I'd seen this somewhere - Steering Relay Rebuild

A good little thread on rebuilding the steering relay if you need to.

**Archangel007** · 23rd October 2016, 06:18 PM

Walrus - I will take a pic in the morning and post one up for you.

Gordie - No problems mate, and thanks for the kind words.

Homestar - as always, a big thanks to you for all your tireless hard work in the background - thanks man!!

Cheers,
Tricky

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