Bearded Baldy

I like the rapid deployment tapemeasures.

Rock auto to the rescue?

Overdue update to seal this up. Found the sheath in the shed, was dried out and crumbly. Managed to revive it partly by applying half a dozen coats of leather boot grease. The old boy made a kwila stand for one of my motorbike models back in the day, when i track down what box my model collection got relegated to i plan on repurposing it as a base for this. How it has turned out.

Car got relegated back outside so i could use shed to build a kids playhouse then mucked around with the ute a bit. Quad bike is next for a quick refurb before winter missions so car will be outside for a bit longer yet. But i did a deal the other week for some spare glass. Now i have 3 spare rear screens, 2 spare sets of rear screen chrome, and 2 spare front door windows. Need to find a set of rear door glass then i will be happy. Ish.

Test drive report is a success. Left wheel was grabbing slightly on the brakes so backed it off a touch and primo. Rh side backing plate must have gotten a tweak on the way home and was catching on the drum when turning sharp. Drum off and found the highspot nice and shiny. Fixed via percussive maintenance. Currently blocked in with wifes car so will test drive again tomorrow with gps to verify speedo. Fingers crossed.

Got the diff and driveshaft fitted up, new brakes and back on the ground. Made mk1 bracket to mount fuel pump and wired up nicely with relay and hidden trigger feed as an immobiliser. Have a few days off this week coming so hope to get it plumbed up and testdrive it by the time i go back to work.

New uni joints and a coat of paint for the spare driveshaft.

Cut new gasket from a manila folder and ready to go. Whole lot is now assembled on the bench, was a bit of dicking around setting the axle float with limited shims. Ended up blocksanding one of the thicker ones to get everything right. Now to get the ute into work and fit everything up.

Lom83 is the magic number. Googling shows it fits from first gen through to second, in 4 cylinder diffs.

Big thanks @MaxPower, sorted me an lsd head from a gen 2 to play with. Quick measure up and they are interchangeable. Stripped it down, washed in old 2stroke mix, dried and now ready for reassembly with the 3.9 gears.

Housing, head and backingplates got waterblasted, wired brushed, wiped with petrol and coated in paint.

Like the sound of that idea. Will get this diff sorted then see what i do next.

Well shit, that escalated quickly. Got it on the bench at work and took the axles out. Looked like relatively fresh grease on them, feel smooth enough too. But what can only be described as mud on the splines. Hmmm Looked at the pinion trying to decide whether or not to spin it and ruin my day. Pinion bearing growly as the dog. Pulled the head out and checked it over. Bit of wear and pitting on the teeth, all bearings rooted. Have it all stripped down waiting on a waterblast now. No rush as the first place to price bearings came in near 460 dollars which ain't happening this xmas. Will let my fingers do the walking tomorrow.

Love working at home. Rules can suck it. Loaded up ready for a ride to town.

Have been putting off doing anything to the utes for a long time, funds and inspiration are lacking. Pushed bluey onto the mowed part of the lawn tonight and lightly buffed the label on the diff. 3.909 ratio! Will jack it up this week and pull the diff out, put it on the white ute and take it to work for the xmas break. Be nice to work on things without interuptions. New axle bearings, brakes, and a rattlecan resto on the housing is the plan.