Tom: April 2008 Archives

This week I removed the front hubs.  Again, I had to pull the cotter pin inside the hub, then use an extra large socket with extension to remove the bolt..  However, this time the hub did not slide off the way the back hubs did.  Lots of tugging and staring did no good.   Then it hit me, maybe I could use the Hub Puller I just purchased for the tool kit!  It is amazing how often the obvious just sails right on past me....

An original hub puller is expensive and doesn't look like much, but works pretty darn well.  It screws on to the hub (and can be flipped around to reveal a reverse thread for the other side of the car), then a bolt in the center screws in and pushes against the axel/stub thing to push the hub out.  It is a simple device, but probably the only one in the original tool kit that I would even consider using.

 

Once the hub is off, there are two backing plates to be removed.  The bearings remain inside the hub and will be removed later.

Following that, I had a nice day of degreasing parts.  When you read articles or blogs on car restoration, degreasing is a process that is mentioned as an aside, if at all.  Today I found out that it is not a minor job!  Most of the afternoon was spent scrubbing the hub parts, only to reveal rust.  I will probably have to remove the rust in the blast cabinet, but at least now I can pick the parts up without gloves and an apron.  Later, when all the parts are clean, I got to clean the cleaner!  The fun never ends...
 

Something I ignored last week was the removal of the rubber gasket from one of the rear axle pieces.  I decided not to attempt this until I found out how to do it properly.  It turns out that it was pressure fit, so all I had to do was to tap it out from the rear with a hammer.  Obvious now, but I'm glad I did not wack it only to find out that it screwed in!

Another weekend has come and it turns out that the rear hubs were not as bad as I had thought.  The rusty bolts holding the various flanges to the differential were a pain to remove, but turned out not to be my first obstacle.

In order to remove the loose disc bolts, one had to remove a hub sleeve that the bolts were threaded through, not the set of bolts behind it.  To do so, I had to first remove the nut inside of the hub.  This nut is secured by a cotter pin, which can only be removed through a hole in the hub sleeve.  So, using a very long nosed set of needle nosed pliers, I pushed the cotter pin through the hole until it could be pulled free.  That done, I had to buy a 27mm socket to remove the bolt; which allowed the hub sleeve to slip free.

Using a lot of penetrating oil and a variety of 14mm wrenches and sockets, I was then able to loosen the eight bolts that held the three flanges to the differential.  The first has a rubber seal that keeps the differential from leaking.  The second seems to exist only to hold the heat shields.  The third was part of the differential.

After doing the other side, I thought I would take another look at the seized brake pistons.  I succeeded in removing them by first collapsing them in a vise, thus breaking whatever bond the pistons had with the sleeves.  This being done, I put the grease nipple in one opening (if it wasn't already there) and blew varying levels of compressed air into the other.  When I got to 120 lbs., there was a loud POP and the piston blew through the towel I had wrapped around it and flew 10' out onto the lawn.  The next time, I tightened the towel!   Not only is this a dangerous projectile, but can spread caustic brake fluid all over the place.

Looking at my pistons and sleeves, I can see why they were stuck.  Not only did the 15 year old brake fluid look like mud, but the piston had rusted to the sleeve.  Both will have to be replaced with stainless steel before I will feel comfortable using them to stop the car!

 

Now all I have to do is remove and repack the bearings and replace the rubber seal.  I guess I should also dig further into the front hubs as well.  Time to do some homework to figure out those tasks.  Maybe next weekend...