It is the second build weekend and because Alastair is here I need him to help me get some of the nasty and heavy work out of the way.
Up early as I want to maximise the weekend so I leave Al to sleep and get on with the handbrake. I've studied the setup all week and my only puzzle is how to fit the main cable. I hit on the idea of feeding the handle end of the cable through its hole, then pulling the wire all the way out backwards and feeding that through the hole on the engine side, and hey it nearly works the damn hole is just a tad too small for the snout. Out with the die grinder and now it goes in snug. Fit the circlip and job done. The rest is a doddle, "D" plate, pins, cotters left and right cables, a smidgeon of grease and it is all good.
Just in time for the shops to open....
I hurry off to Autozone to pick up some new oil seals for the diff, some LM grease, GL-4 hypoid oil and some other odds and sods.
Get home, and first thing we empty the diff of oil. Hypoid oil has got to be the most evil concoction ever, well, concocted. Clean Green? You might as well use shampoo...
Using my trusty impact wrench we sound like a NASCAR pit and off comes the back cover. Where are these circlips so I can remove the pinions.....?
No circlips, in fact the inside of the diff bears NO resemblance to what the manual shows. The cage is completely closed except for 2 small apertures. I see no way I am going to disassemble this bad boy so I admit defeat, cut a new gasket, bolt her up. Its just as well it wasn't leaking anyway.
With the bitter taste of defeat in our mouths we decide to do the lower wishbones. To our surprise these go in relatively easily, because I hit on the idea of sharpening the washers on one edge to "get a foot in the door" so to speak.
We break for lunch. Now for the diff.
When I get back I realise that to fit the diff we have to remove the rear aluminium mounting plate. OK that means removing the lower bolt for the left wishbone, undoing the ally plate and "V" struts, and swinging it upward out of the way. No problem.
So we loosen the attachment bolts, loosen the "V" struts, remove those and we lift in the diff. The front goes in fine but the diff will not lower into position. Quick, check the handbrake. We see that a stiffening rib on the bottom of the diff housing is resting on the handbrake "D" plate. Out she comes. Break out the grinder and I have at the casing. Looks like I've taken off enough - try again. Nope. Out she comes and this is where I get medieval on its ass and grind a whole lot more off. Try again. OK the handbrake works but somewhere in its arc it fouls the diff again. Out she comes. By this time I am getting a bit tired of this so I REALLY go to town on the offending ribs. In she goes. This time it clears and lowers into position. Do up the front mounts which are M12. Get to the middle ones and find that the mounts on the car are M10, the threaded hole in the diff case is M12. So I need some M12 bobbins and new bolts. By this time Alastair has named this the "Diff from Hell" as so far it hasn't ticked ANY of the right boxes and he is wanting to know was it actually a Ford Sapphire I took this off? Oh, and by the way did you fill it up with oil before we fitted it? 'Cause with this plate in the way.....
Smartarse. Out she comes for an oil fill. One litre of GL-4 wotsisname oil later and in the diff goes again, we do up the ally plate and the rear mounts on the diff.
Then we re-install the left lower wishbone. By this time it is dark. Off to the "Dros" and we watch the Stormers thump the Bulls. Great!!!
What an end to the day!!!!
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