While I’m waiting on the head coming back from the machinists I decided to attend to something I’d noticed when doing the diff output seal a while back. I could see a little movement in the right hand half shaft UJs when reassembling it.
So, off with the half shaft. It comes out pretty easily six nuts and bolts secured the hub end to the dedion elbow. Despite the nuts being inside the elbow and working by feel they were surprisingly easy to undo. Then the four securing to the output flange and brake disc. Pull the shaft out through the elbow (the plastic shield likes to catch and make things a little bit of a pain and it’s out. Blimey it’s not a light part!
Before removing the UJs I marked each end to ensure everything went back the same way. Probably unnecessary, but I felt it worth doing. Getting the old UJ’s proved easy on the hub end. But the UJ on the diff end was a different story!! Rust had worked its way between the bearing caps and the yoke. It took a good two hours to coax them out! But once out I could reassemble.
The new UJs come with grease nipples which is a nice upgrade. The old ones were bone dry after 54 years. But that makes them a little bulky, plus there’s a pronounced flash rib around the edge of the spider. This meant they can’t just be fitted, I had to selectively grind away the ribs a little of the body to get them to fit into the yokes. I kept the bearing caps in place as I did that, sealing the important bearing surfaces from grinding dust.
After a couple of false starts (needles not staying in place while driving the caps in) I was able to get the UJ back together. “Red and Sticky” grease is your friend here I’ve discovered.
Reassembly was reverse of dismantling. I found putting two elbow bolts in first with nuts on loosely followed by two bolts on the diff end held everything in place. The shaft (especially the hub) is quiet weighty, so having it supported helped a lot.
Once everything was torqued to spec (20 ftlbs for hub end bolts and 80 ftlbs for diff end) all was done. One note on the diff bolts. I switched to red Loctite thread lock a couple of years ago instead of the tab washers. In that time nothing has loosened and it makes for much easier assembly. Worth considering if you do this.
So worth the effort? Definitely. If you’d asked me before hand if I had noise or vibration in the back end I would’ve said ‘no’. But the car is certainly smoother and quieter now. Plus the rear end feels a little tighter - that could be imagined on my part, but I don’t think so.
Remember these UJs do triple duty. They transmit drive and braking forces with the onboard discs. Plus that take cornering forces and push those through to the diff and it’s mounts. Worth checking yours