"Betsy" my 80

[james-c]

I thought I would start a thread documenting the progress on my 1996 80 series, 24 valve. She's in a generally good condition, just the usual oil seal leaks etc. I'll post some pics of her shortly

I've already fixed some oil leaks on the valve cover.

The next jobs I plan are:
- Seats to be recovered
- The front axle needs attention. Replace oil seals, check and grease bearings.
- Front Locker does not engage, need to service
- Something in the roof window mechanism rattles, driving me mad...
- Some electrical work, for a secondary battery etc

And finish roof basket feet and painting.

I think this needs some cleaning first:

 

[clivehorridge]

I'm thinking that looks like the drive shaft oil seals leaking, allowing diff oil into the CV grease. Not good and the knuckle grease will probably be polluting the diff oil in return, which isn't good for the diff.

It's worth stripping down the front axle and doing some renewal before any collateral damage is done.

 

[james-c]

Yeah - I figured the seals needed replacing. In preparation of stripping the front axle I did some cleaning today.. hmmm arn't there supposed to be 4 bolts holding the steering arm

Are they just stud bolts or something else? Anyway I'll head over to the dealer some time and find out... hopefully not too much hassle to fix..

I think I'll paint the axle and various bits and bobs there while I'm at it.

 

[Chris]

Pretty sure it is somewhere between 5 and 3 studs, yes. They are a twin ended stud, with a cone washer, flat washer and a nut. Generally the nut doesn't come off the stud, the stud unscrews and falls out complete. I chemically cleaned the threads, warmed the arm and stud locked the studs in. I left them overnight somewhere warm to let them fully bond then fitted them and torqued the nuts up in rotation. Half tempted to look at using tab washers or maybe wiring the nuts in place. They shouldn't come loos if done properly and checked regulalry I guess.

 

[clivehorridge]

As a matter of interest Chris, do the threaded holes go right through into the CV chamber or are they blind?

I mean, if one should drop out as in James' case, will grease migrate out of the CV chamber as it appears to be doing in the photos?

 

[Chris]

The holes do go right through Clive yes. You could actually do something inside the hub to fix them in there if you wanted to.

The CV grease doesn't really migrate much at all. Even with gravity. But what does happen is that the inner axle seal fails and the oil that enters the hub washes the grease out. That's why it look so damn awful.

 

[clivehorridge]

The holes do go right through Clive yes. You could actually do something inside the hub to fix them in there if you wanted to.

The CV grease doesn't really migrate much at all. Even with gravity. But what does happen is that the inner axle seal fails and the oil that enters the hub washes the grease out. That's why it look so damn awful.

Thanks Chris, that's what I imagined.

I've never had one come loose, mine are fixed with locktite (so far) so no worries. Just a matter of interest really and an explanation for the mess!

 

[james-c]

I think the bolt has actually broken off, I tried pushing a skrewdriver in to check but it only goes about 1cm in. I hope there is a bit of the bolt sticking out on the other side which would make it easier to remove...

 

[james-c]

Tomorrow I'm gonna get these fixed up. The upholster will replace the leather on the front seats and make a canvas cover for the back ones.

 

[james-c]

Over the last weekend I rebuilt the front left steering knuckle, put a new studbolt in where the old one had broken off and glued all of them in place. Although its a relatively straight forward its a real PITA to do - not to mention the cleaning required. I also took the opportunity to paint the hub.

Nice and clean now.... Although I one of the bolts holding the wipers broke off while loosening it, which I need to sort out.


I'll try do the other one next weekend. This weekend I'm going to the farm , and use the miller to cut some grooves in the last of the roof rack feet i'm making. Hopefully finish the roof rack over the next few weeks too.

Then I think I've got to service the front diff lock which is not engaging... hmmm

 

[james-c]

Got my back seat back, on Monday too. Got them covered with grey canvas. Should give some protection against the kids and dog..


Hopefully the front seats are done soon.

 

[clivehorridge]

Knuckle looking good there..

 

[james-c]

Did the other knuckle today. looks like who ever did it before me did a little of a bodge job . They used a chisel to tighten the BIG nut. Swivel bearings were dry and needed replacing. Anyway, all grease up now and should be ok for the next few years.

 

[james-c]

GRRRRRRRRR...... The right hand side knuckle that I rebuilt 2 weeks ago is weeping oil/grease again. D@mn. Either the breather is blocked, or the small groove worn in the drive shaft where the oil seal fits is worse than I thought.

I've disconnected the breather, to be sure. I'll test it over the next week and see if that solves the problem. I want to replace the breathers with something else anyway - I'll see what I can come up with. Thinking of 8mm pneumatic plastic pipe and compression fittings.