My 1St Major Mechanical Diy And Pretty Chuffed :-)

[Dodgey]

Had my westie 2 months now. Tracked her 2 weeks ago, had a blast, and the diff pinion bering let go. My first thoughts were , " I wonder which garage can do this for me?" . Then, as research and confidence grew, I decided to tackle as much of it as I could.

To give you an idea of my lack of experience, I have had to buy a trolley jack, axle stands, ratchet spanners ( well, I didn't 'have' to buy those but they were so shiney ;-) ) , oil catch tank, tap and die set (to fit my mirrors), 100's of latex gloves, to finally find I need the large size :-p

Cut a long story short, I have removed the half shafts and diff, replaced the diff with an ebay one, and reconnect all including the brakes etc. test drove her today and she's perfect :-)

I've also completely refurbished my old diff to Ford spec - which was quiet a challenge. It is currently going stong at £128 on ebay with 32 watchers and 4 days to go :-) it should pay for all of the above.

Only help i needed was a mate's garage friend to press on the pinion bearing, and I paid a garage to put on new wheels bearings. Knowing what I now know, I would not do that again, but instead buy my own hydraulic press.

Got to say, I never realised there would be mechanical aspects of Westie ownership like this, but it has been great fun so far, a real fun learning experience, and I have to say, as someone who did NOT build his own car, taking her out for a shakedown after rebuilding the rear end adds a new dimension to driving, especially when you put your foot down and your life is in your own hands/handiwork :-)

Also, as it always is, with what I now know about English diffs, it is likely that I could have just nipped the pinion nut up a little to re introduce preload on the bearings and carried on with the same diff for a good while. Still, i have a better ratio now so it all worked out ok :-)

[SootySport]

Good grief Dodgey! Rebuilding a diff is quite a technical bit of work as a 1st. timer, well done.

If you are going to do lots of trackdays then you'll need to learn quick, a few things will break on the way.

[s2rrr]

Well I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating, well done for even attempting a diff rebuild lets hope that it stays in as good a shape as it sounds now. Well done. With a bit of common sense and some application it wasn't too hard.

Bob :yes:

[Dodgey]

Your help made it a lot easier than it could have been Bob ;-)

[s2rrr]

All part of downloading my head full of sometimes usefull, sometimes useless knowledge to help others. I must say I wasn't expecting to have to rethink that build sequence, not after 42 years buried in my old brain, one of the trickiest, especially to try and write it down. I did do a short spell on Borg Warner type 35 automatic gearboxes just after, now that was tricky setting them up but I was working, well in reality being trained by probably one of the worlds experts on them, by eck he was good as well as my diff trainer a bloke I held in the greatest esteem until he died a couple of years ago. As a raw 19 year old working on stuff like that was heaven and with proper "Technicians" who wore suits under their white jackets, almost everyone was a Phd and what a brilliant bunch of blokes to work with, no attitudes just pure knowledge probably some to genius levels. Some of the greatest brains the "Oil company I worked for" had hired to experiment and test on cars. Not people who call themselves Engineers cos they work on engines. Enough dwelling on the past.

Happy to help, pleased to hear that it went well. Bet you think now that it wasn't as tricky as it initially seemed and was basic logic really.

Bob

[Pistol Pete]

If you have had the rear end to bits, you really need to set the geo again to make it a top job, well done .

Not only have you done very well for a 1st timer, you have also documented and explained the process in very simple clear terms that others can follow :yes:

[Dodgey]

It's a live axle - nothing to adjust :-) (loving the live axle, if you catch my "drift" :-) )

[peterg]

I have had to buy a trolley jack, axle stands, ratchet spanners ( well, I didn't 'have' to buy those but they were so shiney ;-) ) , oil catch tank, tap and die set (to fit my mirrors), 100's of latex gloves,

You're on the slippery slope now, after nearly 40 years of working on cars and bikes I finally got round to sorting through all my tool cabinets and boxes to find I have 41 screwdrivers, 9 sets of spanners, 4 socket sets and enough nuts, bolts, washers, screws and other stuff to sink the Titanic...

Well done on getting stuck in and learning to do the job yourself rather than just chucking at a garage and paying them to sort it out, one of the major advantages with a Westfield is that 99% of any work can be done at home in a garage with a decent set of tools

[Meakin]

Wow well done dodgey I built my car and have never done a diff. So thats amazing. You have the mechanical bug now though so you end up just tweaking all the time. (and buying more tools) Congrats again.

[markcoopers]

You're on the slippery slope now, after nearly 40 years of working on cars and bikes I finally got round to sorting through all my tool cabinets and boxes to find I have 41 screwdrivers, 9 sets of spanners, 4 socket sets and enough nuts, bolts, washers, screws and other stuff to sink the Titanic...

I'll see your collection and raise you a tap and die set found recently and a truck load of wood working tools (blunt obviously) and various fluid transfer devices and at least 3 battery chargers......got to love westfields

[Matt Seabrook]

It can get a little expensive if you get carried away.

I took these photos about four years ago and the tool box is now bigger and I now have more spanners

[Dodgey]

Haha :-) Awesome. (I'm currently eyeing up a press...)

[SootySport]

It can get a little expensive if you get carried away.

I took these photos about four years ago and the tool box is now bigger and I now have more spanners

That looks cleaner than some kitchens I've been to.

[Meakin]

Matt could you stop posting porn please! drool

[Matt Seabrook]

I must get an up to date photo of the box with the side lockers on it as it looks a little small in this photo.