Just a short update – it seems the damaged front spindle is still usable, which is great news. A bit of fine-grit water-paper will be used to make sure there’s nothing sticking out to catch the new bearing, but other than that it should be ok.
The rear stubs and front uprights have gone in for machining:
1. Rear stub machined to fit bearings used in Locost SA hubs
2. Rear hub reduced to fit the golf brake disks
3. Front upright machining
Needless to say I’ll post pictures of these when they get back.
I finally finished cleaning all the remaining parts (of the diff, that is). Next step is de-rusting and painting (where applicable).
Also made sure I could removed the oil-filler cap of the diff. Despite its severely beaten condition, it wasn’t too hard to remove. The bad news is that it did have some metal shavings on it (it’s magnetic). I then removed the diff back plate – the diff innards look in excellent condition, and the oil tide-mark on the rear plate shows that it’s spent its life full of oil.
The gasket did not survive the removal of the back plate. This isn’t a major problem – will just use some silicone gasket builder (non-setting) when the diff is re-assembled.
B