I can still remember, how that building used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make that Locost…

Building has recommenced, after a break of almost two months. Sometimes one has to bow to the demands of the job. And when those demands take you to far-off lands, it’s tough to bring the chassis along with you. So it was good get the hands dirty and full of little splinters of metal. Ah, the joy of building.

We started with a visit to the scrapyard. Our outstanding bits include the yoke (connecting the gearbox to the prop-shaft), alternator mounting bracket and alternator pulleys. Hermann actually gave us a yoke, but it seems it’s for the smaller gearbox output shaft.

I can’t help but feel a little sad when going to scrapyards. Hundreds of engines, diffs and gearboxes all just lying around. Like organs for sale. Those once belonged to Daddy’s (or Mommy’s) pride and joy. They came home one evening, and said to the kids “come look outside”, and got all the “wows” and “hoorays” – Daddy has a new car. Now that pride and joy is an unidentified chunk of metal rusting on the scrap heap. And that’s not even contemplating the final act that may have caused it to be there. Sheesh, that got melancholic rather quickly.

Anyway, on a cheerier note, the visits were a complete waste of time. Scrapyard 1 was completely closed, despite a confirmation call the previous day saying it would definitely be open. The others had prop-shafts, but not exactly what we needed. The alternator mounting bracket, as well as pulley, were a complete loss. Then they all closed. We did find out (thanks Brad) that actually the guy who makes up the prop-shaft can typically source the yoke anyway.

For the afternoon we decided to sort out the fit between the gearbox and the engine. Previously we had machined the  end of the gearbox input to 10mm. However, the pointy bit is too long and must be cut down a bit. To avoid changing the steel tempering (hardness) we decided to cut this the old fashioned way – hacksaw. But first we needed to measure how much to cut off.

So we removed the clutch pressure plate and clutch. Then assembled the engine, bellhousing and gearbox. Remember to attach the bellhousing to the gearbox first, not to the engine. We knew this, of course. The photo is just demonstrating the wrong way to do it.

Now because our gearbox needs to have a bit chopped off, there results a gap between the bellhousing and the engine. We adjusted the various bolts to ensure the gap was even the whole way round (check with the vernier), and then took that gap as being the amount to remove. The whole shebang was disassembled and then the tip was lopped off at the right place (well, more or less). Be warned, that thing is made of hard metal. You’ll need a good quality hacksaw blade to get through it (or rip the teeth off a cheaper one).

A file was used just to neaten it up a bit, and we’ll probably give it a last touch-up with a grinder. A bit of water-paper to polish it up.

The reason for all of this is that unlike a FWD gearbox, the RWD needs to be supported in the crank. The crank has a 15mm hole in it, for which a brass bush has been made. It’s 15mm OD, and 10mm ID. The gearbox fits into the bush, providing the necessary support. Since these only spin at different speeds when the clutch is disengaged (i.e. no load), it’s hoped that the bush will be sufficient.

Next up will be engine mountings, since we have now sourced all the materials we need.

B

A major step in the life of the locost builder is that first visit to the scrapyard. Especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve had dirty nails, and you get blisters using a broom. But like most things, once you give it a go it’s really not such a big deal.

We aimed to visit 3 scrapyards, in Springs and Benoni. Our primary target was a 4.11 ratio diff from a Sierra (independent suspension). Our hopes were not high, having read all the forum posts saying how hard these diffs are to find. We figured that at least we’d find out “how the system works”, even if we don’t find anything.

Three scrapyards, three strikes, we were out. Leaving the third scrappy (about 12h30) we saw a sign to another scrappy. It seems scrapyards in springs close at 12pm, while those in Benoni close at 13h00.  Deciding to give them a call, we were quite pleased to hear they were still open. We followed the sign and there it was.

B: “We want a 4.11 diff from a Sierra or Sapphire”

Them: “Which model is that”

B: “Ummm… bugger, should have looked that up. Never mind, just show us your diffs.”

None of the loose diffs had the even-prime combination we were looking for. So we moved onto the cars with diffs still attached.

D: “There’s a little metal tag, probably under all that gunk – can you read it to me?”

Them: “Oh-Six-Ee-Bee-Ar-Aye-Tee-One-Zero-Four-Point-One”

B: “Huh?”

So I checked, and this is what I saw:

Very excited we found out the price (reasonable, with room for haggling) but being clueless we were a bit worried that we’d get it wrong. So we decided to come back as soon as possible when we were sure that it was the right one.

A couple of emails to the Oracle confirmed our hopes, and gave us some guidance before purchasing:

• Check that it turns smoothly and that there is no grinding noise
• Have a look at the oil inside (large sump plug can be removed). Also check for metal shavings attached to the sump plug
• They are fairly indestructible – so don’t stress too much

A week later I was back, after phoning the friday beforehand to make sure they removed it for me ready for collection. Bright and early Saturday morning I arrived, and of course it was still firmly attached to the car.

This particular scrapyard doesn’t have a forklift, so it was removed by two chaps scrabbling in the mud, with dodgy tools. Finally it was out, and delicately put into the missus’ beautiful RunX. Getting it back out the RunX is a story of it’s own…

So we have our diff, it looks in excellent condition, and it’s onto the next thing. We just don’t know what that is.

B