Thread: The restoration of Wombat

Not sure if you blokes are encouraging me or scaring me

Took some coercion but it's out

In the end, I whaled away with a steel baby sledge, which isn't the best tool for the job but it was the best I had... and with the day I've had, assault and battery seemed a good option. If you look closely at the bottom of the spindle, you can see where it's been belled over a little but considering the sort of spline it is, I don't think that'll be a problem after some some cleaning up.

Speaking of cleaning up, you can see the gunk around the middle of the unit which is what holds it in place. You can see I'd got it rather wet with WD40.

I also got to the bottom of with with the trusty putty knife and cleaned up where it poked through the bottom of the chassis and it was after cleaning up this crust that I finally started to see some movement.

It took about an hour of bashing to lift it high enough for the top casting to clear the chassis brackets. During this time, I also knocked it from side to side - there was a small amount of movement and I figured that this would help break the seal and because it's cast iron, I didn't hit too hard, just subtle taps.

Once I had the clearance, I used a lighter hammer against a block of wood against the casting at the top to twist the relay one way and another. After doing this a couple of times (as far as I could), it seemed to free up so I got out my jemmy (prybar) and simply levered it out. Sure, I had to use blocks of wood to raise the jemmy as the relay got higher, but essentially, out she popped... er, slowly slid.

So that's out. I'll clean it up a bit tomorrow, then move on to the tie rod which I believe is the next thing I have to break... er... remove.

Finally got new hand pieces for my welder. Over the last two weeks, I've been to six shops trying to buy them - none had them.
Today, a local tool shop (the first place I went to) had a sale on. I dropped in, asked, and lo, there was what I needed plus good advice - the first time I went there, I got some drone who'd never seen them in the shop at all

Anyway, I've now got a good, twist grip hand piece for the rod and a new earth clip.

Fitting them raised two problems. The first is that the cables for my welder (an ancient CIG Metalcraft) are only about 4mm. This didn't stop me fitting it to the hand piece for the rod but it stymied my plans for the earth. I'd planned to use a crimped on loop end, but the smallest available was 12mm - wasn't going to work was it, so I just bared the end and twisted a loop. After some ham fisted efforts to solder that loop, I gave up and just bolted it in place. Not a bad option, just the lowest denominator option.

So now I was ready to start welding practice again

I haven't been able to get some some decent steel so was back to working on my rusty star dropper (yes, I know I need better).

I won't show you my earlier efforts, but this was my last straight run today.



As you can see, my hand's not real steady.

Then I tried welding a thin bracket to it.



Not too bad, apart from the gap in the middle.

So I reckon I'm getting there but would probably still cry for an expert when it comes to doing things to Wombat's chassis. I am thinking of making a cat run and might do that in steel to give me the practice.

That would hold something I'm sure.



Spend a little more time weaving and reduce the current a tab if it looks to be getting a bit hot.

I think that's good, I'd let you weld my car.


Keep it up mate you're doing a grand job.

Thanks.

Fixed current Arthur and yes, I need to get that mix of weave and forward movement working better. I work best with a circular action. My biggest problems are a hand that's not too steady when the rod is long and not judging the loss of length. I'm getting there though.

Originally Posted by crackers

Thanks.
I work best with a circular action. My biggest problems are a hand that's not too steady when the rod is long and not judging the loss of length. I'm getting there though.

Yeah. almost every night I say that to the wife

Seriouly though its looking ok, keep plugging away!

Originally Posted by crackers

Thanks.

Fixed current Arthur and yes, I need to get that mix of weave and forward movement working better. I work best with a circular action. My biggest problems are a hand that's not too steady when the rod is long and not judging the loss of length. I'm getting there though.

Hi Crackers,
Just a tip if your not already doing it!
Full length rods can be a issue some times especially in hard to get to spots, so cut your rod in half, scrap off some of the flux coating & away you go. Much easier to control with out the shakes!

Best regards Chris