Jason arrived and set to work loosening the wheel nuts. He was mighty impressed with Damian's wheel brace that had the painted end to show which end to use!!
With the wheel removed, it was time to get the brakes out of the way...
And through the magic of the interwebs, they are gone!! Out came the old split pin...
And with a bit of heave-ho followed by some strategic leverage, Damian got the hub removed and handed it to Jason to get the bearing outer-casings from it!!
And in went the new bearing outer casings...
Meanwhile, Damian continued to do battle with the inside wheel bearing's inner casing, which remained firmly affixed to the axle!! This was due to the water that got in there during the first esCarpade when the boys lost the axle cover...
Finally, it was removed!! A very relieved looking Damian...
The axle was cleaned up, and found to be in very good condition!! Hooray!!
Meanwhile, over at the bench, Jason was packing the bearings with grease...
No Jason, it's not caramel, it's grease!!
Jason's new recipe - caramel wheel bearings... yum!!
Time for the reverse of the first process... On goes the hub!!
More grease for good measure!!
Damian took the opportunity to feed through the new speedo cable... That's it hanging down!!
It needs to go in here...
Hmmm... Damian thinks he has found the problem with the old speedo cable!! (For those who aren't mechanically inclined, the little part sitting on its own is meant to be connected...)
Having adjusted the linkages to the transmission, hooked up the new speedo cable, checked the extractor bolts, adjusted the exhaust bracket and generally checked, rechecked and triple checked Booger Mobile, it was time for a test drive!!
Damian reversed out of the shed and up the driveway... upon putting it in drive, he was met with a god-awful noise... he stopped and popped the bonnet, it sounded like the transmission was going to explode!!
Jason sat in the driver's seat to have a listen to the noise, and Damian noticed that when he revved the engine, the passenger side engine mount appeared to be broken...
After gently reversing and then rolling Booger Mobile back into the shed, Jason climbed underneath to check for the source of the noise... the new flange on the exhaust pipe has changed the weight distribution and angle of the exhaust ever so slightly, so it's now rattling like a bastard!! At least THAT wasn't anything too serious...
HOWEVER...
Sure enough, the engine mount is broken clean in two... This is what sad looks like.
Having attempted to locate a new one (and going on a wild goose chase to pick one up from the auto store who said they had them in stock, only to find that they weren't the right ones), the second engine mount was removed for Jason to take away to get remade.
And that's where today's sorry tale of woe ends... No decent test drive (although technically Booger Mobile has now been driven since the engine rebuild), another debacle to sort out (the horrid rattle in the exhaust) and another part to replace... Business as usual really!!
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