This Week in Wheeler's Workshop

[Nick W]

We're going to use the same 2 1/2 foot length of bar supplied with the first tool(that is also welded together). It's been used several times and is still straight, so I'm confident hopeful 


Besides, making the tool from a single piece of 60mm bar is not a job for me!

[STEMO]

I'm sure it will be fine Nick, and, if it's not, then you will think of something else.
If something were made from a solid bar, then surely it would just comprise of a 12" long hex with a hole in it? Get cracking. 

[TheBoy]

Get cracking.

Is that the noise a weld makes as it fails


(Not that I think it will, as a good weld should be virtually as strong as solid metal, and I know Nick W has done a fair bit of welding )

[Nick W]

The prop was much tighter than it should have been, and needed a 16stone weight hanging off a 5foot long bar and a lump hammer to undo it. I did have to weld a strap across the open end of the tube.

The tool doesn't look quite such an engineered piece now!

[STEMO]

The prop was much tighter than it should have been, and needed a 16stone weight hanging off a 5foot long bar and a lump hammer to undo it. I did have to weld a strap across the open end of the tube.

The tool doesn't look quite such an engineered piece now!

Come on, you know you wanna show us...please 

[Nick W]

Haven't done much lately, just a few bushes, and converted a normal nut to a castle nut.


But this week I was handed a partially disassembled voltmeter, with a cracked glass. Can you do something with that? she said.


So after grumbling about how the clamping ring was badly bent, I used the body of the gauge to draw a circle on a scrap of perspex, and gnawed it off with a hacksaw. Some careful belt sanding brought it close to size, and then draw-filed it to a nice where's my little tappy hammer fit into the body.


At this point it became clear that the rubber sealing ring on the front had a bit missing. Although my O-ring set had one the right diameter it was much too thick. So we had a scratch around in the stores, and found one much too big, but half the the thickness, all in a nice paper envelope with an official AN part number on it. I cut the necessary amount out of it, and superglued it together to make a much smaller ring.


It only took another 20minutes  to straighten the clamping ring and fit all the new pieces together like this:





There's just enough clearance for the needle to move!

[aaronjb]

a nice where's my little tappy hammer fit

Also called "a machinists fit", I think. Very satisfying when you get it right! (less so if you overcook it a bit and then ruin the new bit trying to dig it back out when it's half way home. Not that I've ever had to do that to anything, you understand..)

[Nick W]

a nice where's my little tappy hammer fit

Also called "a machinists fit", I think. Very satisfying when you get it right! (less so if you overcook it a bit and then ruin the new bit trying to dig it back out when it's half way home. Not that I've ever had to do that to anything, you understand..)

I think you're right, but it's less descriptive if you haven't heard the term before.

My usual problem with this sort of thing is having to make another because the last tiny bit of fettling was too much, and the part is now too small. Fortunately, I don't work with expensive materials

[Nick W]

Continuing on from the What did you do to your car today thread, here is my plan for rebuilding the diff/rear subframe mounts. I could fabri-cobble a one-off 'jig' out of scrap MDF in minutes, which would solve the single broken mount I have.



What I intend to build is a bolt together metal jig like this:





that will clamp both metal parts of the failed mount in the correct orientation, and then fill where the rubber used to be with castable polyurethane(the red area, although I shall use black as I'm not 18):





Copious use of silicone release spray should make the repaired mounts 'easily' removable
Some further thought suggests building it on a bigger plate, replacing the angle upright with a thicker piece and doubling the clamps. This will enable me to bolt a pair of diff mounts back to back, and repair both with one mix of urethane. That ought to make THIS sort of thing a lot more affordable!


What do you all think?

[amba]

You clever old sod

[Doctor Gollum]

I used cardboard, grease proof paper and wax...

Reckon that should do it

[Tick Tock]

Liking this so far. 

In years to come when Omegas are down to double figures out there on the road, this is one aspect that could make the difference between a 'saver' or a 'scrapper'. I noticed mine were looking a bit rough around the edges, and careful use of a sharp blade makes them look more tidy, but was of concern for the future.

[Nick W]

Liking this so far. 

In years to come when Omegas are down to double figures out there on the road, this is one aspect that could make the difference between a 'saver' or a 'scrapper'. I noticed mine were looking a bit rough around the edges, and careful use of a sharp blade makes them look more tidy, but was of concern for the future.

Mine both looked OK, until I undid the bolts and the metal outer fell of the O/S mount.


I've ordered the urethane, and if it isn't raining when I get in tomorrow will remove the better mount for a measure-up

[Lazydocker]

I'm interested in a set of diff mounts once you have the jig made

(Or you could lend me the jig and I'll pour my own) 

[Nick W]

Once I had the knackered mount off the car I did some redesigning to simplify the jig, and made this out of finest Scrapbinium^Tm:





That's an old Sunbeam gearbox cover, a chunk of 20mm ally plate and a couple of spigots to locate the inner parts of the bushes. It all bolts together to make removing the repaired bushes a bit easier - polyurethane will stick pretty much anything to anything, so I intend to grease every surface I don't want to bond together.


This will enable me to do a pair of bushes at a time, and will be durable enough for lots of use.