Another wee diversion and amusement.

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Another wee diversion and amusement.

Well, here goes with the "big" reveal - Ta- rah!

The first image is a "Swan neck" - that's what I've always heard them called? - It's used with old type (read very old, from my youth) Diesel high pressure injection pumps to set up the point at which the pump commences to inject fuel. It's not that difficult to do. With the fuel lines to the injectors disconnected the swan neck is fitted to a pumping element outlet, - usually No1 - then the low pressure lift pump is operated and fuel will dribble from the end of the swan neck. The pump drive is then rotated DOR until the flow just stops. This needs to be very precisely done which is why the chamfered "beak" on the end of the pipe is important as it helps to let you see exactly when the drips stop. Pump timing is supercritical on diesels if they are to run well. Once you know the pump drive is in this position you can set up the engine to it's timing position (ie degrees BTDC or whatever is specified) and lock up the pump drive flange to the engine's drive flange and you're done!

Image 2 is an obstruction spanner which was specifically produced to get at the locking nuts on the rocker pedestals on the Ford Pinto engine. The exhaust side adjusters were on the inlet side of the head and the middle two, especially No2 cylinder, were almost impossible to get at with ordinary spanners as the carb was in the way. The problem became even worse when they fitted the bulky (infamous) down draft Variable Venturi Ford carb. Someone has mentioned to me that they used to remove the entire carb to do valve adjustments! Worn cam followers and camshafts were a big problem on these engines, exacerbated by the small bore oiling pipe (rather like the first FIRE engines used to have) which blocked up. Frequent oil changes helped and keeping the valve clearances within spec. But, not surprisingly due to the difficult access, valve adjustment was often ignored by the less scrupulous. Even though we were not a Ford agent, doing a cam and followers with new oil pipe and often including a timing belt kit at the same time (easy belt to do) was a really regular job. I just remembered how easy it was to do a belt on the "O" series Leyland engine too, in fact many belts weren't too bad to do back in those days or were they?

Image 3 is a selection of mixture adjusting tools for Stromberg and S.U. carburettors. On these carbs mixture is controlled by a tapered needle mounted in a piston which entered into a jet in the bottom of the carb casing. The further into the jet the needle sits the weaker the mixture. The SU had a jet that could be adjusted up or down whereas the Stromberg had a movable needle. older versions were very easily adjusted - the SU could be done just with your fingers - but then they started putting anti tamper fittings on them and you had to buy all these wonderful tools to do the job - and this is only a selection!

Images 4 & 5 are of a bearing scraper for making adjustments to white metal bearing clearances (typically big end and crank journals). I inherited this one and have never really used it in anger - except to scrape the lip from brake drums which I now use a small grinding wheel to do - To be used very carefully because you can't put it back once you've scrapped it off! Luckily for me shell type bearings were the norm by the time I started earning my living from cars.

Image 6 is a piece of plate glass. Plate glass is very flat. I use it mainly for glaze busting brake pads by placing a sheet of emery cloth on top of it and rubbing the pad face against the emery. This ensures a nice flat surface on the pad. You have to remember the pads are going to need to bed in again if you do this so leave plenty of braking distance for maybe the first 100 miles or so after doing it.

Image 7 I was expecting people to have difficulty with because it's largely a cobbled up "Homer". As Jack was first to reason out it is for doing wheel bearings on certain rear wheel drive setups. I made it to replace the bearings on my MK1 Cortina 1500 GT back in the late '60's. The top item is a very substantial slide hammer, home made from steam pipe and fittings - it's a bit of a beast! Underneath it is a tube made up from what was lying about at the time but with the "business" end faced off square and of the right diameter to bear only on the inner race of the wheel bearing. Then there's a 2lb hammer, chisel and angle grinder with a cutting disc. The Cortina, and a number of others of that era had a half shaft with the flange on the end which took the wheel studs all forged in one piece so the bearing went on and off from the splined end of the shaft which fitted into the diff planetary gears. To renew a bearing you first had to remove the half shaft from the axle casing - backplate bolts undone and slide hammer used to shock it out. Then you found yourself sitting in your driveway with an extremely stubborn interference fit bearing and locking collar to get off the shaft. I know people who have spent hours trying to do this without success! What you do is first destroy the fit of the locking collar on the shaft by placing the chisel blade on it in line with the shaft and hitting it very hard with the hammer. It's not hardened like the bearing. You don't cut right through it, just two or three really good hits will spread the collar slightly and it'll just about drop off then. The bearing you just have to get violent with. Use the hammer to smash up the outer race and clear away the balls and grease. Now use the cutting blade in the angle grinder to cut a slit in the inner race as near to being in line with the shaft as you can mange, being VERY careful not to mark the shaft. Now place the end of the chisel in the groove you've just made and exploit the stress concentration so formed by belting the chisel with the hammer! The bearing race is hard so it doesn't do the chisel much good and be very careful of your eyes as wee bits may flake off and fly about. The shocks applied to the hard but brittle material will crack the bearing race and it'll then be easy to drift off the shaft.

Give everything a nice clean up, bit of carb cleaner on the shaft because you want the surface where the new bearing will sit to be oil free and, if you do see a wee burr you can planish it down with some emery. Now, having first remembered to put the backplate on if you've removed it - because a lot of backplates won't go over the bearing! Apply a little bearing/stud lock, place the new bearing onto the shaft from the splined end - check if the bearing only goes on one way round, a lot do - get the length of tubing and put the shaft down the tube end which has been faced off square. Now you've got the tube with most of the shaft inside it with the new bearing resting on the end of the tube (supported on the inner race only) and the shaft flange uppermost. Now we're going to hold the whole lot vertical with the flange uppermost and let it all drop to the ground so "dunting" the other end of the shaft hard against the ground (I actually have a very substantial flat faced "Lump" of scrap metal I use to "Dunt" against but concrete works well too although it does tend to break up so if it's your driveway you might like to think about it? It's not going to work on the lawn! The energy of the drop will force the bearing onto the shaft. Now repeat the operation with the locking collar again giving it a little bearing/stud lock application first. And that's it. One shaft with new bearing ready to go back in the axle casing.

Now for the brake problem chr1s. I was driving down the A7 back to home (lived with parents then) in the Borders after a very agreeable evening out with the future Mrs J in Edinburgh when there was a slightly "funny" not very loud noise from the back. Immediately thought I'd better stop and have a look but the brake pedal went straight to the floor! OOOPs hand brake then? but no, pulled right up to the stop! Ok, change down and slow that way? Nope, engine and rear wheels don't seem to be "speaking" to one another! Aiyyyy! Luckily I wasn't going very fast and we just coasted on down the road 'till the rear O/S settled to the road with a loud scraping sound and the wheel and halfshaft took off diagonally across the road into the bushes just outside Torwoodlee golf club's entrance! Luckily this was at about 2 o'clock in the morning so there was no-one else about to get hurt. Father was not at all please to get the "please rescue me" call though. In those days you had to find a call box too - no mobiles then! What had happened was that the inner bearing race had lost it's grip on the shaft - it stays there by virtue of being an interference fit, there's no nut or anything else - except the interference fit locking collar - to keep it there. So if it looses it's grip the half shaft comes out of the casing complete with brake drum attached! The brake master cylinders in those days were not dual circuit so when I put my foot on the pedal that O/S/R wheel cylinder promptly popped it's piston and, oops mum no brake pedal! because the shoes were no longer in contact with the drum pulling the hand brake up moved the shoes but with no drum there there was no effect and of course, with the half shaft now well clear of the planetary gears in the diff she couldn't be slowed down on the gears! Perfect storm really? and guaranteed to rouse you out of complacent pleasant memories of the evening just passed!

You'll notice I advocate using bearing/stud lock on assembly with the new bearing. Hmm, I wonder why?

I do hope you've all enjoyed this as much as I have. Anyone else want to give it a go so I can show how little I really know!
 
Gah I was thinking front wheel bearing for that last lot as it's one of those jobs that can be very similar for pain in the backside factor if the various components have rusted insitu on a front driver.

Obviously wrong era for me but the "order of brutality" seemed familiar..
 
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Gah I was thinking front wheel bearing for that last lot as it's one of those jobs that can be very similar for pain in the backside factor if the various components have rusted insitu on a front driver.

Obviously wrong era for me but the "order of brutality" seemed familiar..
Think I'd rather do the rear one, some of those front wheel bearing setups are awful to do without a workshop full of tools and a big press. I've noticed a trend for some to do the bearing complete with a casting all in one which unbolts from the upright/hub and you therefore don't need a press or have to do any of the really nasty stuff that comes with pressing the bearing out and back into the actual hub. A bit more expensive I suppose but I thought a good idea for folk like us?
 
Think I'd rather do the rear one, some of those front wheel bearing setups are awful to do without a workshop full of tools and a big press. I've noticed a trend for some to do the bearing complete with a casting all in one which unbolts from the upright/hub and you therefore don't need a press or have to do any of the really nasty stuff that comes with pressing the bearing out and back into the actual hub. A bit more expensive I suppose but I thought a good idea for folk like us?

It also removes the possibility of damage or poor fitment when replaced. Taking a leaf out of the Japanese book, design it foolproof.
 
Think I'd rather do the rear one, some of those front wheel bearing setups are awful to do without a workshop full of tools and a big press. I've noticed a trend for some to do the bearing complete with a casting all in one which unbolts from the upright/hub and you therefore don't need a press or have to do any of the really nasty stuff that comes with pressing the bearing out and back into the actual hub. A bit more expensive I suppose but I thought a good idea for folk like us?

If anything I'm glad I no longer have access to a garage and tools and there's a nice tame independent garage down the road. I very much envy all these YouTube stars in nice warm countries where they can go under a 20 year old car and not snap 50% of everything they look at.

Some crackers these days..wheel bearing pressed into the Brake disc you say? Why not sounds like a cracking idea. Won't make a make a simple brake job a pain at all. I suppose at least on that particular wonder you can buy discs with new bearings pressed into them so everytime you do the disc you get a new bearing.
 
Now a days disc rotors pretty much all seem to come off from the front once you remove the caliper and it's carrier but does anyone remember when the disc was fitted to the back side of the hub so you had to extract the hub from the bearings very often destroying perfectly serviceable bearings in the process. - I'm sure a lot of the old BL stuff was like this Mini, 11/1300, etc?
 
Now a days disc rotors pretty much all seem to come off from the front once you remove the caliper and it's carrier but does anyone remember when the disc was fitted to the back side of the hub so you had to extract the hub from the bearings very often destroying perfectly serviceable bearings in the process. - I'm sure a lot of the old BL stuff was like this Mini, 11/1300, etc?


Grrrrr Kia Pride circa 2000? Someone once asked me to help them with there brakes and on taking off the wheel I was left thinking “what the hell, is it the 1970s again?”

Obviously prior to this I had owned a Range Rover with equally awkward brake disc replacements so I was used to it to some degree but I have generally always worked on brakes where you take off the wheel and calliper and the disc drops off. As most cars since the 80s have had.
 
I knew about the diesel pump timing pipe, Pinto tappets spanner and the bearing scrapers but that was it. :)
The latter would be well used at any steam railway preservation society.
 
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