[Plodder]

Well finally managed a car show this year with my local club at the Dartington Hall South Devon.
Rounded off a good couple of weeks with a new MOT for the year with non advisories.



Back in the garage, probably for the winter, and hopefully complete a few jobs ready for POL 2025 rather than doing the work in the summer and wasting the show season.
Anyone know if you can get a rechargeable heater to keep me warm whilst working in a lock up garage with no power during the winter.

[Plodder]

Well finally found time to start the camshaft belt and water pump replacement .

Thanks to the advice from the forum recommending a long 3/4"SD breaker bar to crack the crankshaft pulley bolt.
Invested in a 40" 3/4" breaker bar and 400mm extension.
Made the task relatively easy. But even at this length it required some effort, but not too much though, to crack the bolt . .



Brought a US Pro breaker bar from Tools2UDirectSW in Plymouth for just under £30. May not be robust enough for regular professional use but certainly seemed good for the occasional DIY use and was a lot cheaper than I'd seen elsewhere, Hopefully it wont break when I next use it

https://tools2udirectsw.com/products/us ... s=e&_v=1.0

Happy that I've got the worst bit sorted and can now get on with doing the rest of the job.

[Plodder]

Well never say that's the hard bit over with!

Whilst I had the alternator, washer bottle and alarm out I decided to give this end of engine bay a clean up and also replace the power steering fluid.

From my records it hasn't been changed for at least 27 years.

However trying to disconnect the pipe/hose from the power steering pump has turned into somewhat of a saga with the union nut welded firmly to the metal pipe.



Given the limited time I'm able to allocate each week and no access to electric light and power in the lock up garage this has turned into a 2 month saga of spraying with all sorts of penetrating and freeze release sprays , leaving to soak and returning a few days later, all to no available.

I'm now trying to release the other end of the pipe from the steering box so I can remove the pump and pipe from the vehicle and take it home so I can take a more robust approach to releasing the union. Although the other end is proving just as difficult. A longer spanner has now been ordered.

Interestingly all the other union connections to the steering box have undone with no problem. Just seems to be this one pipe, must be the combination of metals used.

Worst case is to get a replacement pipe/hose assembly and then I will cut the pipes so the union is disconnected from the pipe and then they can just be unscrewed from the steering box/pump.

Hopefully once this is sorted I can get on with the cam belt change, but i have managed to replace the alternator brushes and will get the the steering box cover and exhaust manifold shrouds repainted whilst I do the other work.

Onwards and upwards, hopefully

[GTiJohn]

Can you free the bigger adapter nut from the body of the pump?

That way you might be able to get the loose pump out, followed by the HP hose assy and get it to a bench, where you can apply some heat to it.

[Plodder]

Thanks might give it a go, although a bit cold at the moment to go scrabbling about on the garage floor.
Would definitely make it easier to remove the pipe assembly once I’ve released the other end.
I’ve been loathed to take a heat source to it in the car and lock up garage as I don’t want an oil fire to start. Seen that in a garage near me with a Mk1 escort. Not much left of the car in the end.

I’m waiting for Chris Taylor to get back to me after the holidays about a replacement pipe so I can make some progress on it as it’s getting a bit frustrating now
Will make sure I get some copper or ceramic grease between the union and the pipe to make it easier to dismantle in the future.

[Plodder]

Well finally managed to disconnect the High Pressure pipe from the pump.



Was just about to give up for the day as had made no progress in disconnecting the high pressure pipe from the steering box, corroded solid as well, and it was looking like I would have to cut the pipe to remove it.

Once it was released with a crack I was able to carefully remove the union with loads of releasing agent.
It is now easy to assemble and disassemble and I'm able to fully tighten it again, so it will at least seal properly .
Given the problems removing the union I was surprised how little corrosion there was on the pipe.



The pipe is a bit misshapen, but perfectly usable, and hopefully it can be straighten a bit.
But at least it's apart and I can now get on with the original task of changing the cam belt.

I might get a replacement pipe and change it in the future when that's the only task I need to do.

At least I know what to expect now

[StubbornPatriot]

Congratulations. Perseverance, caution and circumspection finally paid off. That's great news. Cheers, Duncan.

[Plodder]

Power Steering brackets, alternator brackets , exhaust heat shield and steering box shield back from the powder coaters.
Had them all done in silver rather than some of the parts being done in black, have to see how it looks when it's all back together,



Just waiting for the delivery of some new bolts for the water pump (the old ones were starting to get a bit worn), before putting it all back together

Ordered the correct bolts from Rimmer Bros only to be told after 2 weeks that they didn't have them in stock and didn't know when the new stock was going to be delivered.
(Order was on hold until I rung them up - bit disappointed)
Ordered some from GWR fasteners on Thursday and they were in the post by Thursday evening, hoping they will be delivered today.

Certainly been an interesting experience replacing the Cam Belt.
That seems to be the easy bit, it's all the other worn out and tired bits around the Cam Belt that seem to have cost me the time and money.

Maybe I just getting too fickle about doing the job, still should be easier to do next time

[GTiJohn]

This continues to be a well considered and executed resto

Glad the PAS union finally gave in, without any damage

The powder coating looks good - it'll be interesting to see how the manifold heat shield withstands the heat cycles.

[Plodder]

Yes I’m wondering too about the exhaust heat shield.
I replaced the exhaust shield about 7 years ago, the original had corroded away, and the new one was just beginning to show some signs of corrosion. It didn’t appear to be any type of special coating so I decided to stick with a standard powder coating.
Easy to remove and get redone in something better if it all lifts off
Brought some nylon block to make some tooling to straighten the power steering pipes, but main priority is to get it back together and running.