[DML] The Resurrection of Vixen continues...

["Dave Stragand" <dave.stragand@xxxx>]

Hi All,

It was a rather uneventful week in the Last Chance Garage. I spent five
days dealing with one bolt.

Remember my warning about cleaning threads on nuts bolts before
reassembly? Well, I didn't take my own advice and got into a mess
(well, I only had an 8mm fine thread tap, not a 8mm course one...
otherwise I would have...). I was working on attaching the right
caliper mounting plate to the steering knuckle when I suddenly snapped
one of the grade 8.8 8mm bolts with barely any torque. Unfortunately,
it broke off flush with the steering knuckle, so I couldn't just cut a
slot in it to remove it. I couldn't find my set of screw extractors, so
I ran off to Pep Boys to get some new ones, plus a few grade 10.9
replacement bolts, and an 8mm coarse thread tap.

I centerpunched and drilled a 1/8" hole through the bolt, then inserted
the screw extractor. Less than a full turn later, the extractor broke
off in the hole. I managed to 'pop' the broken extractor out of the
drill hole, and drilled it out a bit for the next size extractor. That
one also promptly broke off in the hole, but would not 'pop' out.

I had to purchase a really good drill bit to drill the broken extractor
out. By now, the hole was so large I simply drilled it out large enough
to tap to 8mm. I cut a nice clean thread through the hole, and then
while backing the tap out -- you guessed it -- the tap broke.

No amount of drilling was getting that baby out of there, either.
Frustration, frustration, frustration... When things like that happen, I
find it's best to just walk away for a while and a solution will just
pop into my head. Eventually it did. I figured that the tap, while
exceedingly strong, was very brittle. I used an air chisel with a
needle point bit and went to work on the tap. It shattered into little
pieces in just a few seconds of chiseling. I then -carefully- tapped
out the remainder of the hole, inserted a longer-than-normal grade 10.9
bolt and put a washer and nut on the backside just to be safe. I don't
really agree with the design of that spindle, as the bolts are being
subjected to shear force, which is something a bolt really shouldn't be
used for. In my opinion, it should be shear pins with a couple of
countersunk set screws to tension the caliper mount against the spindle
carrier.

But then again, I never had a car designed and built, either, so I may
be full of @$#@$... My gut tells me to just trust Lotus. =)

So anyway, with that accomplished, I had the great pleasure of mounting
the front wheels for the first time in 10 years. It's finally starting
to look like a car again!!! Woo hoo!!!

I then went to work on the back axles. After a little bit of work with
an emery cloth, I was able to work the hubs into the bearings in the hub
carriers. The two bearings are different -- one is a CR bearing, and
the other is an SKF. The side with the CR bearing spins relatively
free. The SKF side is a bit stiffer, as it won't "freewheel" much after
I release it on a good twist. Something doesn't sit quite right with me
on that one. There doesn't seem to be any
binding/rubbing/scraping/grinding, but rather just a snugness/stiffness
that might just be due to the bearing being new. Has anyone ever
experienced this same stiffness with a new bearing? And if so, will it
get "looser" with a bit of use? I'd rather know if it's a problem now
rather than watch it cause damage later...

Next on the agenda is stiffening all the body mount nut cages with epoxy
putty so the welds won't break again (2 have already). Next, I'm going
to lay in the radiator piping and install the reassembled gas tank. Now
that I think about it though, does anyone know the Bosch part number of
the fuel pumps with the defective check valve? I'd like to check mine
before reinstalling it. Actually, I may just replace it. It doesn't
seem to do anything but 'hum' when I give it 12 volts of juice.
Shouldn't I be able to feel a little suction on the intake side? It has
been sitting dry for 10 years. I suppose I should soak it for a few
days in fresh gasoline to see if it breaks free. But if it's one of the
ones with the bad check valve, I should just order a new one and skip
the frustration.

A good car-friend once gave me a really important bit of advice about
working on cars. He's absolutely, 100% right about it, too. His
advice?

"There are two ways to do things... 'right' and 'again'."

-Dave #5927