Its been quite a while since i updated my progress, I've not been entirely idle over the summer, but any progress is naturally hampered by more pressing needs and demands.
I thought i would show a few images of the running gear before i stripped and re-painted them as can be seen above.
N/S drive shaft and elbow, fortunately the rust was only surface and the metalwork was in surprisingly good condition, once dismantled everything was cleaned back to bare metal with various types of wire brush in my electric drill, then treated with Rustbuster before 2 coats of epoxy mastic under seal.
The universal joints were completely shot and had broken up around the top of some of the sockets, i had to cut through one so that i could get it out.
New universal joints being inserted, i had to give the holes on the drive shafts a good sand with a sanding wheel in my electric drill before i could get the new sockets to slide in.
All hubs were treated to new bearings and oil seals if they need them or not.
Had to get inventive to remove the old rubber bushes, however i soon learnt that its easier to drill out the rubber out and then carefully cut through the metal bush with a hacksaw, then they can be knocked out easily.
N/S drive shaft and elbow now re-fitted. I used a lot of webbing to bind the road spring and hold the elbow in place so as to take the pressure off everything until i can get the car back on its wheels. Some of you may note that i have used a rubber dust cover from a Triumph Stag as i could only get hold of 1 original Rover dust cover. Like the Rover cover they are impossible to fit without separating the universal joints, The Stag cover is a good fit and clears the universal joint inside.
Again i had to make a jig for removing the front ball joints, which with a lot of heat to the joint did the job well.
O/S front strut now re-fitted, again with new bushes and ball joints.
After a lot of pondering i decided to use poly bushes all round, as "Edd China" once said that if you want to improve the handling its the best way to go. I also fitted adjustable shocks so that i can adjust the ride as desired.
Again i have strapped the road springs to take the pressure off the parts until i can get it back on its wheels.