WHAT YOU DID TO YOUR TRUCK TODAY!

Replaced the front wheel bearings on the Frontera this morning. I have to say, using rifleman's guide, made the job far less daunting!. The 'B' series hub is even simpler than the one in the brilliant guide, which was a nice surprise.

I wasn't looking forward to possible seized retaining screws and drifting out the old bearing races, but as with every job so far on this car, everything went smoothly, the screws I was worried about simply cracked off first try, and drifting out the races on the hub was a doddle, owing to Vauxhall leaving a couple of recesses to accomodate a drift.

The strange thing with these bearings, was, I found out by accident that they were worn. There was no noise from them, and it was only after I leant on the top of one wheel that I noticed that there was significant play even with the wheel on the ground :shock:

. The car had been slightly wayward at speed this particular day, but I had put it down to the new rear tyres fitted that morning, and was just checking the pressures when I leant on the wheels!, one to remember in the future.

New rear pads tomorrow, should be nice and simple, owing to me having removed and greased the sliders last week when the rear brakes were binding, thats when I noticed the pads were getting low. Hope the weather holds

Well today start off so well. Lol
I spent about an hour sanding filling ( chemical metal ) the rear crank then had to stop because my back was hurting by that time Ian & Maria turned up after a little chat Maria went in doors with Lisa out of the cold. Then Ian and myself set about doing the job in hand Ian started by doing more sanding whilst I fitted the new clutch release bearing on the carrier.
After an hour or so sanding Ian put the new seal on. Then we started putting everything back together ready for the gearbox to be put back on so we set the winch up and a trolley jack lifted the box up with a little wiggle of the box it was in. ( we couldn't believe how easy it went in. 10 minutes max ) fastened everything up then it was time to start the engine that is when we found out the cluch slave was leaking

but as Ian & Maria had to set off so we left the slave for now and started the engine to see if we had sorted the leaking crank seal we left the engine running for about 15 minutes and all was good.

we said are good byes to Ian& maria then I fitted the spare slave I had in the garage but that leaked as well. So I'll have to buy a new one before I can drive the car. Put all the tools away in that time I still had the engine running. And this photo is the end result of the engine running for about an hour or so.

Once I've got the new slave fitted I'll be able to see if the new seal holds up under pressure ( yes I no not the rag the engine for a 100 miles or so )

Once again a huge thank you to my partner in crime Ian :clap:

No progress for me today after work but at least my exhaust gaskets arrived today. So maybe tomorrow I will fit the manifold and cat

today i opened the bonnet on the swan to look at the oil (had some leaking)
and the engine and bonnet was caked in oil :cry:

but it seams that the rocker gasket wasnt doing anything.. so new one now in, hope it is all ok

Fitted new rear brake pads this morning, took longer to undo the wheel nuts than to change the pads :shock:

why do tyre fitters always torque 'em up so much?

They leave the airgun on full power to undo the nut but its too much trouble to change for every wheel and car!!!!! :mrgreen:

Replaced the seized front caliper on the Jeep, realised there was a problem when it kept kicking down in cruise control at 80mph the other day, and then when I pulled over smoke was billowing out of the nsf!!! :lol:

Still did 80 ok though, even with the front wheel not wanting to turn, you gotta love a 4litre 6 banger...
didnt even pull with its silly featherlite steering, only pulling when I braked as the pads had cooked on the nsf so it pulled the other way as only the osf was doing anything.
All better now though...

Looked at the sky, checked the seaweed hanging inside the shed on the door and decided to begin fitting my winch to truck. It was going well, the bullbars came off with no real problems, all 8 bolts came off with no hassle and I even remembered to mark up the light connectors to aid putting it back on (I can never remember which is which).

So with the bullbars off, I then attacked the bumper, firstly cleaning up the bolt threads with an old wire brush from a bang stick cleaning kit and then giving the threads a good spray of penertrating oil which was left to soak while I had a brew. I then proceeded to shear one bolt in half and rip the welded captive nuts free on another two which meant Mr Grinder came out to play, 3 out of 4 bolts knacked :oops:

Anyway, to cut a long story short. Things got measured, metal bits cut, parts 'tacked together' ready for a proper welder to finish off and it then rained....

I now know I have a puddle on the drive, pretty much where I was lying under the truck putting the stupid bumper and bullbars back on... Feel and look like a drowned rat... But at least the trucks back together and ready for the morning.

Will sort out a thread for the winch bumper once it's completed. Also pondering if it's worth getting another battery and rigging a dual battery charging setup. And if so, where to put the battery. At the moment consideration is leaning towards re-locating the steering pump reservoir and fuel pump, then chopping a bit off the top of the wheel arch (which will be welded back in but a bit lower) so I can extend the battery tray and fit one thats the same as the existing battery (which is the biggest one that I could fit in the tray).

Removed the non height adjustable steering column from the Sport and replaced it with the height adjustable jobbie out of my LWB, swapped over the steering lock barrel so I have the same key for all the locks

Is that a difficult job, Chris, Got to do mine at some point

The sun is out the sky is blue and I am still waiting for my exhaust to arrive.

Ok so that did not rhyme but hey ho.

Fitted the exhaust manifold and cat, reinstalled the fan switch and now just waiting for Mr Postman. Maybe not today but PLEASE tomorrow so I can drive my car.

Finally a decent day so changed the oil,oil filter,air filter,cam cover gasket, new set of plugs and a full cambelt kit on the 2.2...........and no I didn't need to do the head gasket! :dance:

.
Now the cambelt on the 3.2 tomorrow and fuel filter, oil and air filters :dance:

I didn't start work until 2 today so I thought I'd have a stab at the vectra as the fronty has bored me for now. Managed to get it all timed up according to the tool Vauxhall kindly left on the engine for me. Then started to turn the engine over by hand and the exhaust cam keeps jumping 2 teeth, I haven't gone round after it jumped but I hope the valves aren't bent. Looks to be like the chain has stretched enough to jump even with the tensioner in place

Oh and I also bought my tax disc. Soooooo tempted to fire up the engine on an open pipe just for fun.

Fitted the CB arial mount on the back door and found the broken wire that was stopping my rear wiper from working!!! Bonus!!!!! :dance:

Picked up the Disco today

Drove it home, 130mile or so, took the wife out for a drive, she likes it, bonus, went to drive down the shops and the key would not turn in the ignition barrel. Tried spare key and all sorts of wiggling etc but no joy :roll:

So within 4 hours of buying it I have had to get the tools out and strip out the steering lock, free it off, pump some graphite powder into it and refit

Some remind me why I bought a LR :lol:

Classic Yaki

Offside rear wheel started smoking and smelling of burning when i got to the horses yesterday so i thought i would strip the brakes down to see they were binding! I was wrong it looks like the wheel bearing is shot!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

Am i right in thinking you dont need the bearinator to get the bearing off on a ""B"" series?