Thought I may have found an easy fix for Barbara's noisey gearbox. When I looked underneath I noticed alot of oil around the n/s inner cv boot, Ha! maybe it's just that the gearbox is low on oil?
So I renewed the cv boot today, I'll give brief run down of how I do it in case it helps anybody.......
I remove the driveshaft and hub as a unit with the track control arm and tie bar attached. Once the brake caliper is tied out of the way (hose still connected) it's a simple matter of undoing bolts to take off the rest of the assembly, I do it this way because there's no need to split ball joints or undo big tight hub nuts.
The triple bearing taps off after removing the circlip, then you can lever the boot off the bearing with a screwdriver.
The L/H boot (top one in pic.) is different to the R/H boot so make sure you get the correct one.
If you've ever wondered how the steel straps are fitted this is the tool. Cable ties have made this job very easy but if you want an original look you really need to use the steel straps. This tool is the only way to get sufficient tension on the straps, you feed it through the cutter at the front of the tool and then through a slot in the back shaft. You wind up the back shaft to tighten the strap, once it's tight enough you bend the strap back on itself to about 90' then turn the front shaft to cut it to length. Then it's a case of flattening the end right back on itself and bending in the little tabs to lock it.
Job done, well once you've done the strap at the big end anyway. I refilled the gearbox with 20/50 engine oil and took it for a run, still noisy
, not as bad but not good enough so time for plan 'B'.........
Speaker upgrade
The bearings need replacing, especially on the first motion shaft so a gearbox rebuild is still on the cards. Ah well, at least I'll be able to clean it properly