Thread: The restoration of Wombat

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I can't remember - is it an 80"? If not, later balls can be used, I'm pretty sure. Can be for 80" ones too, but you need to change more things.

John

It's a 107 John (I measured it ) and I'm guessing you agree with D.

This discussion will come up again when I start to do up the axles.
As it is, I have to finish getting it apart, then strip, repair and paint the chassis, pull apart the springs and repaint them, THEN I can worry about the front and rear axle. So not an immediate priority but at least I know they're something I have to source to get past that point.

Time to remove the steering relay. I thought I'd be smart (for a change) and read the manual... and quickly learned why I dislike manuals.

Anyways, both steering arms are removed.
The bolts holding the top of the relay to the chassis are removed.
The manual says to gently tap it out with a hide faced hammer. HAH! The rotten thing is fossilised in place - the 'hide faced hammer' advice probably only applies to a vehicle they've just assembled in the factory and realised they need to pull out the steering relay.

A search suggests that this is another exercise like that firewall bolt that took three weeks to remove.

So, has anyone ever worked out how to remove the things? If so, how?

Apparently you can rebuild/service the relay in situ. How and is it worth it?

I did remove the bolts holding the flange on the bottom to the chassis but it doesn't want to come free though I confess I haven't applied any real force.

Any thoughts on what I should do now?

Hi. it took me a full week. penetrene one day, flog with a #4 hide hammer then soak again. In my case I didn't want to apply heat as I am keeping the chassis with the original paint. On mine, three of the four chassis bolts broke and the 2 bolts through the mounting plate were not coming out for love nor money. I bought a new one from All Four X Four at Kotara, for $100 as I had few options. It was still very tight once it started to move.

I put heaps of graphite on it when I re-installed the new one.


Erich

Originally Posted by crackers

Time to remove the steering relay. I thought I'd be smart (for a change) and read the manual... and quickly learned why I dislike manuals.

Anyways, both steering arms are removed.
The bolts holding the top of the relay to the chassis are removed.
The manual says to gently tap it out with a hide faced hammer. HAH! The rotten thing is fossilised in place - the 'hide faced hammer' advice probably only applies to a vehicle they've just assembled in the factory and realised they need to pull out the steering relay.

A search suggests that this is another exercise like that firewall bolt that took three weeks to remove.

So, has anyone ever worked out how to remove the things? If so, how?

Apparently you can rebuild/service the relay in situ. How and is it worth it?

I did remove the bolts holding the flange on the bottom to the chassis but it doesn't want to come free though I confess I haven't applied any real force.

Any thoughts on what I should do now?

Plenty of penetrating oil, and leave it for a week or two. In the meantime, it might be worthwhile to remove the bottom cover plate and see if it is oily. If it is not, you can be pretty sure the works will need attention! In the unlikely event that the bottom is oily, and the seal surface on the shaft is reasonable, you probably will get satisfactory results by simply fitting a new seal in the bottom plate and reassembling it, repeat for the top. Note that the bottom plate must be a tight fit in the locating circle on the bottom, if not, replace the circle. If the shaft is too bad or there is no signs of oil, you will have to be overhauled (or replaced).

The guts can be safely removed by removing the bottom plate and gently tapping the top until about 3/4" of the split bush is protruding, then clamp with a hose clamp. Repeat as the top bush appears. When removing the first clip, have the whole assembly in a stout bag to catch the bits. This can be done in situ.

John

Probably meant 'unicorn hide hammer'. Damn near impossible to remove otherwise.
Keep up the good fight!

Fortunately, there's no problem flooding the top with penetrating oil (I'm using WD40) and I'm pretty sure this will be seeping down between the relay and the chassis. I'm guessing the problem is old, dried grease that's seeped past the seals over the years and we need to loosen that.

In trying to tap the brute free, what am I supposed to be hitting? All I can get at is the shaft and walloping that doesn't seem like a good idea.

I don't have a hide hammer but is a rubber mallet (heavy) a good option?

As far as removal goes, would I be better off disassembling it in situ? I'd rather not because it makes it harder to store.

I'm going to have to stop thinking 'one job at a time' because at the moment, it means I'm achieving little in a weekend. Mind you, I'm determined not to be a work-a-holic either so maybe that's part of why it's baby steps forward.

And why do I keep finding things to take off the chassis? Realised today I need to get the stumps of the engine mounts off, and a couple of earth leads, and the rebound stops (might be able to reuse them), and...

Re the steering arms that will not budge a few posts back... You need a decent length of timber, and a decent hammer (and be accurate with it). Place the timber (or big bar) between the two track rods, as close to the joint as you can. Using the length of timber (or bar) press down on the end.. This will put a lot of downward force on the joint you are trying to remove. Make sure the nut is loose but still in place so that it does not fly apart. Once loaded up, then strike the end of the arm that the joint is stuck in hard. Do it hard enough first time and the taper holding the ball joint in the housing will let go. If not, hit it again!

Re the relay, find a piece of tube that sits up under its bottom, and can reach the ground (or a jack). Put the weight of the chassis on the base of the relay, place hardwood blocks over the top of the relay that bridges it so you are hitting the chassis surrounding the relay and not the relay itself. Find a sledge hammer and again, HIT IT! Word of warning here... Once you have removed the relay, do not be tempted to remove the 4 bolts on the top.. From memory, there's a big spring in there that'll go off with a bang if you do. Good luck, and just keep soaking stuff with WD40.

This is the method I used on 113-372 to remove the steering relay, I knew it was U/S so it had to come out. I didn't bother reading the manual (soft hide hammer LOL) it had been soaking for some time in penetrating oil, some heat/hammering etc had been applied all to no avail.
So a quick look around the shed environs and I had enough scrap to make a frame to mount my porta power ram




it took almost 5 ton to move it, it let go in spectacular fashion, it ripper the whole unit + the sleeve it was rusted into

which then made the 2nd cross member a write off (Land Rover class the bumper bar as the 1st X member) luckily I had a spare front chassis section that I had been keeping for years in anticipation of being able to purchase this Land Rover 1960 Fire Rescue Land Rover Truck in VIC | eBay
I had been keeping in touch with it's owner Ian Tankard but he kept telling me that is was being donated to a worthwhile cause, well that didn't happen for him or me, anyway the chassis that I had to cut up

to retrieve the 2nd cross member, it was a straightforward enough job to cut out the damaged X member and cut in the new (old) one, anyway maybe hopefully you might not have this drama, cheers Dennis
ps this is the x member that was removed from that chassis section (which wasn't needed for the fire engine) but it was needed for another project

and fitted to the chassis

sorry for the hi-jack cheers