Tuesday 01/11/2011

Hi

Well last day home today so been rather busy, all of the jobs that should have been done during the week have been handed down to me. Tried to escape but she had me, so after 2 cars washed all the floors vacuumed, washed and believe it or not; steam cleaned, add a few other bits and I was free.

I did manage to get most of the jobs I had planned done but the highlight of the day was the arrival of the post man, he had the most fantastic steering wheel I have ever laid eye's, I've told Lynne that she is on the settee tonight and the steering wheel is getting her side of the bed.

My baby

Isn't she lovely! well some people are easily pleased. £108 + p+p and well worth it.

I started with the fuel tank, I had one of the brackets off yesterday so just one left before it could be removed, I new there was not much fuel in but the jack went under anyway. After a look in the back of the car I found the fuel filler pipe and the sender unit, and after disconnecting them all got the last bracket off

Filler and sender unit

There are no bolts inside the car so it just lowered out nice and easy, I managed to empty around 4 litres out of the tank and this went into Lynne's car.

Fuel tank

I was a bit concerned considering the condition of the rest of the car as to the state of the tank, but I was surprised at how good a condition it is in. Not only the tank but the whole area above and around where it sits is very clean and in great condition, so all this needs is a good clean and spray paint.

The rest was not so easy as the tank, I first removed the hand brake mechanism which is just 2 R clips holding a pin and a bar that goes thru a bush attached to the diff, this was the easy bit

hand brake mech

The next step was to jack the weight of the axle but not lift it of the stands and then the first bit of the suspension system the Panhard rod. This was the start of the Battle of the Bolt, even my big air ratchet could not budge these, I even tried heating them but it eventually came down to the grinder which soon had them off, shame really as these are high tensile bolts which I will have to replace. The next battle came with the top 2 nuts on the dampers, no matter what I tried they would not budge so again the grinder took over.

After these 2 main items that hold everything up, it all was resting on the springs and the jack, I then removed the bolts from the prop shaft after paint marking the 2 flanges, I probably did not need to mark this but just to make sure; I shall chisel mark the paint marking before sand blasting. The rest of the nuts came of with the big gun and left them in place. The bolts I was most worried about was the top spring bolts but surprise surprise there practically threw themselves at me, it was strange though that the pass side had a 17mm head and the drivers had a 13mm head I found the same on some of the other bolts 19mm one side and 17mm the other. What's that about.

Spring un-bolted

Wheels on ready to drop

 I now fitted the wheels so there was less of a drop before I removed all of the other bolts, it was now just a matter of sliding off the prop shaft and levering the arms out from there brackets.

After releasing the jack out it rolled, I still had the brake pipe connected which I had difficulty getting at before so removed that and pulled out the axle.

You can see the oil stain that much clearer now on the diff, I don't know if its the pinion oil seal or just the cover gasket so I will have to change both just to make sure, well next time home.

I have received a number of emails from people after reading my blog and I would like to thank them for there help and advice, of course Terry is helping me continuously which is a great. John Manuel who let me know about the pit falls of changing seats even though they advertise as fitting the Kallista. This morning I received a very interesting one from Alun Williams concerning my thoughts of powder coating the drum brakes. Alun was an accident investigator for VOSA and has seen a number of incidents where the wheel nuts have become loose and the wheels coming off due to the powder coating softening because of the heat generated during braking. Again something that would never come to mind. 

I also received another email from Paul Yates, I had been in contact with Paul before concerning rocker covers. Paul has a website www.regaliarockercovers.co.uk and he makes rocker covers for specialist cars with the Essex engine, I contacted Paul thinking that the Essex had the same rocker design as the Cologne v6 and if he could make a set with Panther or Kallista imprinted in the top as he does with his others. Unfortunately this is not the case, but I am sure I am not the only one who would like a pair of alloy rocker covers, I have been looking on Ebay and they are quite a regular item and always go for around £130. SO if there are any like minded Kallisa owners reading this then contact Paul at his web site and maybe if enough people want a pair he will design a set for us.

Well that's all for this time home, back away for another 2 weeks.

see ya Paul