I think that after 2 years I should probably provide an update on the progress of my project.
I can't quite believe where the time has gone. It's been a tricky couple of years for me for various reasons and consequently it has taken me a while to get anything done. If I'm honest I had no motivation to do anything I'd previously enjoyed and whilst I'm keen to finish the car, if you don't enjoy something then why do it? The good news is that I feel significantly better than I have for several years now and I have in the last month or so been able to get on and do a few bits and bobs.
My recent work has focused entirely on the back end of the car. Currently the car is mobile on a scrap set of axle and subframe which came with the shell. This has been extremely useful in keeping the car mobile during work. My garage is fairly small so being able to wheel it around a bit is really useful. My plan has been to build up the back end components and then go about swapping them out.
When I dismantled my original car it became apparent that my axle was in quite poor condition. Although not especially noisy it was extremely leaky from every orifice and more worryingly the tie bar mounts were heavily corroded. Looking at the numbers in more detail I don't think it's the original one either. Someone had at some point fitted a hub, or complete half shaft with 3/8" studs on one side, the other was the correct 7/16" size. I had previously purchased new hubs, studs and seals etc with a view to refurbishing it.
When Mike Papworth was working on my gearbox he offered me a complete Sprint axle which had good mechanicals and no major rust problems. This seemed like an attractive option so a deal was done and I decided to use this axle, keeping my 'original' as a spare.
In order to get a nice finish I stripped off everything from the outside and sealed up any holes in it before having the outside blasted and then as the blaster was getting into painting he offered to paint it for me too using epoxy mastic paint which gives a nice, if matt finish. He also blasted and painted the rear back plates too.
When I got the axle back I perched it in the garage and it was a few months until I got on with the next job. I started by inspecting the half shaft and hub assemblies I had in stock. In total I had 4, one looked very oily, one was the wrong sized studs and the other two seemed pretty good so I chose to use those. My original plan had been to strip down the assemblies by removing the hubs and replacing the seals and bearings etc. Of course removing the hub is very difficult and though I had picked up the proper Churchill factory tool I figured that this was just making work for myself and therefore I chose not to do this, instead after a bit of a clean up I went ahead with the half shafts I had.
Before I fitted new seals I had a go at setting up the end float with my new drum back plates. After messing around with various shims I got it just right. That was in May of 2015, work then stopped as I started a difficult time.
Almost exactly a year later in mid-May I decided I wanted to get on and do some more on my project. I thought the best thing to do was to start where I had left things, the axle. This had sat at the back of the garage for the last year, covered up and largely ignored. My first job was to look at the back plate gasket. Unfortunately the gasket I had bought didn't fit as it was either too small or had shrunk so was of no use.
As I now work at a company who works with, races, fixes and restores classic cars I thought let's see what we use at work. My boss pointed me to a drawer full of gasket paper and so I set about making my own. I used a material which is a mixture of nitrile and paper so it's good with heat and also for applications which are prone to leaking. Sounded perfect. On taking off the diff cover I found that despite being removed for painting an original paper gasket was actually stuck to the underside of the cover so I peeled it off and used it as a template for making my own. Cutting it out to fit was straight forward enough and my trial fit proved it was perfectly adequate.
I took the advice of our axle builder who recommended I use a little Heldite jointing compound on both faces. You brush a thin layer on, leave it for a bit and then bolt it together. I have not yet filled the diff with oil but it does seem to look OK and it was satisfying work to do.
Next my attention turned to the back plates. I chose to use some NOS back plates as the used ones I had didn't have the quality of finish I was looking for. These had been blasted, primed and painted a few years ago. I built up the backplates c/w wheel cylinders, handbrake levers etc off the car. I then fitted the new back plates onto my axle with the half shafts I had previously fitted. I checked my end float again and whilst one side was perfect, the other was miles out. This meant setting up the end float again from scratch but it did really need to be done.
Next up were the drums. These were again NOS which I had picked up from someone nr Preston about 10 years ago. They were covered in protective wax/grease which took some time to clean off. Then I gave them a good going over with a wire brush on a drill, wiped them over and then gave them a coat of calliper paint which is both tough and good for bits that get hot. As part of the process I had to cure the paint. I waited until the wife was out and then borrowed the oven to bake them for an hour or so at about 100 degrees.
With the drums painted I could fit them using the nice and shiny new screws I had bought. One side went on perfectly, the other seemed a little tight. Having tested another drum it seemed that one hub was a bit tight so I lightly dremmelled the face to remove a few thou, drum then fitted perfectly. it's worth pointing out that before I fitted them I actually balanced the brake drums using equipment at work. Balancing the drums is a good idea as they are often not very well balanced as this can ruin the ride and not do your bearings any good either.
I then moved onto the brake pipes. I already had sections of kunifer cut, flared and unions fitted so it was 'just' a case of bending them to shape. This is not my favourite job and the end result though OK is not as good as it could be. Fortunately you don't really see it when it's fitted!
With everything now assembled the axle is now pretty much complete. I do need to properly bend over the securing tabs on the back. I thought I'd do that at a later date just to make sure nothing needs to come out as they are a real pain. I actually pre-bent them slightly to aid the proper bending over when I do that bit.
I have also been working on the suspension components too. I had previously bought some new trailing arms, tie bars , anti roll bar, springs and shock top mounts. All were blasted and powder coated which gives a nice finish. I chose to fit new polyurethane bushes which were quite easy to fit using a hydraulic press. For the trailing arms I opted to go for Polybush branded versions. These come in 2 halves so are even easier to fit. The Superflex versions come as one piece and are all a bit stiff. The Polybush comfort grade fitted here is a much closer match to the original rubber ones. I did consider fitting new rubber bushes which I removed from the new arms but decided that actually the Polybushes would be better. I know some people have questioned the wisdom of fitting polyurethane bushes to the trailing arms as they believe they cause the arms or body mounts to break. Given the mileage I will do, the use it will get (i.e. not extreme) an the fact that neither the arms nor mounts are rusty and old the Polybush comfort seemed the only way to go. I can always change them again if I have any worries.
Shock wise I had in stock a set of Gaz adjustable height and ride front and rears. The springs I used are standard, actually NOS ones from Fitchetts which actually fit the top mount! With the height platform wound right down it was easy to fit the springs to the shocks without a spring compressor. I have not yet set the final height for these, they will be easier to adjust when they are on the car.
Finally I collected and allocated all the nuts, bolts and washers etc. to put it all back together. The next job will be to remove the old axle and fit the new parts to the car. It might be a little while before I do this. Not because I don't want to but because I may need to move the car in a short while and I don't want to immobilise it.
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