Sandringham 6x6

[sako243]

I remember having a late Friday evening discussion with the engineering director at my old job, one of the most talented engineers I know about drums and disc brakes.

He pointed out that drum brakes are much more self applying than discs so don't require nearly as much assistance to apply them. The main reason discs have become prevalent is ease of maintenance and automatic adjustment, that and motorsport factor.

The only place drums lose out significantly is cooling as @Wildefalcon points out but if the drums are sized appropriately then no real cause for concern. Modern engines are also far more efficient and therefore offer less "braking" effect, particularly in automatics. I'm genuinely surprised at how much engine braking I do get from the L322 but that is a 4.4 litre V8 diesel coupled to the auto.

Bearing in mind this vehicle was also designed with an 8t train weight in mind.

 

[sako243]

Jotun Hard Top XP top coat done. If I feel really enthusiastic I might do another coat this evening but it's all had two goings over with the spray gun. With the first batch mixed.

 

[Robotstar5]

I had discs on the front and drums on the rear of my 90, no matter how much I cleaned and adjusted the drums, after a few weeks they would start squealing so I swapped it for a disc braked axle off a later model - sorted.

Sidenote: the manual advises that 3 people are needed to safely remove/refit the axle, I managed on my own with a couple of trolley jacks and some ratchet straps.

 

[sako243]

I've never had an issue doing it. Lift the body and roll it underneath.

Moving them around is easier now I've got older though.

 

[sako243]

Decided to escape into the workshop where it's relatively cool. Well the house is nice and cool but that means nothing will progress. Thought I'd tackle the bushes on the springs since they need doing, painting the axles etc is a nice to have.

First order of business make something to help support the other side of the spring in the press. Normally I use some 20mm plates but balancing them is a pain. The puller I had for the JCB liners was almost perfect except the centre bore was a touch too tight (clearance for M30 threaded bar) so I bored it out to about 32mm so the leaf bushes passed trough nicely. Also put a bit of a chamfer onto the inside face to help with alignment.

It won't negate using it as a puller for future engines (people know I've rebuilt a Perkins 1000 series now and I'm one of the few to have done it in the area) as it just needs to accept a threaded bar to wind out the liners.



Then rather than get all balancy and sketchy I screwed a 4x2 (or what amounts to one these days) into the joists so I could put a sling and a chain hoist onto it to support the springs. Rather conveniently a piece of press brake tooling I acquired was the perfect height for a mid way support to stop it from twisting.



That's some ISO twist lock 20mm plates I had cut as packers (nice because they have a big hole in them) underneath, then the liner puller, spring and then the bit I turned a few posts back for pressing the bushes. Various sockets then tk get the necessary travel.

Currently about a 1/3rd of the way through all 12 bushes. I've had to cut through one bolt on a shackle so far as it was seized to the bush. Thankfully the other two have undone so far which has made things faster. Got a bit of a system going now so shouldn't be long.

 

[dobbslc]

4x2 (or what amounts to one these days)

 

[sako243]

And done.



After a slight practice cooking session for the Scotland trip

. Yes we do normally eat like this when wild camping. Venison and wild boar steaks with new potatoes in mint and some fried baby corn with brocoli on the side.



Hoping to be up at our family's place in Scotland prior to the trip all being well so might nip out onto the hill and see if there's any wee beasties about to stock up on before the trip.

 

[sako243]

Well after a grand total of 1h sleep last night and an extra hour or so this morning (thanks brat, although she has been ill) wasn't feeling particularly enthusiastic this morning but finding out the manufacturer and model of the locks (and a possible replacement set of barrels) for the camper perked me up a bit.

First order of business pressure washing the axles. Which took a lot longer than it should have due to the pressure washer playing silly buggers but we got there. Each axle was slung off the forks, no photos I'm afraid because everywhere got very wet.



Yes, the solution to the pressure washer issue was to use the pool for a source of water. I think it was struggling to pull it up the 4ft from the well, far happier at the same altitude.

Then yet more needle gunning and a bit of wire wheel action. I have to say unless it's for cleaning out threads the needle gun is far far faster and superior to a wire wheel in a grinder. I did one bracket with a knotted wire wheel and it took about 10x longer than the needle gun.



Then some more hydration because why not



The rear axle (Salisbury) got some needle gun action, the other two are in decent cleanliness and the needle gun isn't doing much so they'll get degreased and painted.

But I found this...



I think I'll pick off the bodge and see what's behind. Hopefully I can just dob a few blobs of mig weld on there and patch the hole.

On the subject of springs I've had a think and I'm going to leave then alone for now. I know they're not the best at being springs but now everything has been dismantled and I'll slather copper grease over the bolts when I install them if I have time before the trip then I can attack them but I'm conscious of time disappearing away particularly as I'm away for a couple of weekends.

 

[sako243]

So I've forgotten a few updates on this thread but basically all the suspension bits were cleaned a treated with Hydrate 80.

I spent a long morning with an airline and Charles cleaning out the chasis of as much crud as I could. Then found I had a PCL sprayer with a multidirectionl nozzle on a flexible hose so I could spray what I could of the inside of the chassis with Hydrate 80.

Then it was into pulling in the bushes in the chassis. This was met with a mixture of success, some went in smoothly others decided to jam. Some I was able to back out, reclean the tube and pull back in. One of the front ones decided to jam 5mm before being fully seated and typically I can't get it back out. A new one is on order and I'll probably have to cut the "old" one out to replace.

A glorified shotgun cleaning brush in the die grinder works well, until it doesn't and decides to unwind.

Giving up on the jammed bush I moved onto pressing in the leaf spring bushes.

 

[sako243]

The next step was to clean up the axles for painting and fix a few minor issues. One being a small weep discovered under a bodge of some kind of JB Weld.

Well despite draining the oil it was still weeping out of the hole so rather than try and weld a hole filled with EP90 it was time to see what was behind door number 1.

And behind door number 2?

And door number 3?

The two "inputs" appear to be more or less standard pinions, well the input (far right) looks to be a machined down pinion.

And after all that I blobed some pigeon poop on the hole, not the prettiest but I think I got it.

Then I smashed the JCB door

 

[sako243]

Well after a smashing day yesterday



I couldn't sleep so was up at 4.30am needle gunning the last bits of the middle axle. Once everyone else was up I got the axles out into the old blacksmiths so as rain is forecast so I could spray but not have to do it in the workshop. Two spare tyres and I could stand the rear axles on end. I decided to hold the front axle on the engine crane so I could get underneath it more easily.



And some spray gun action later



Went straight to the Jotamastic this time as its supposed to be able to go straight on bare metal and has rust prevention properties. Rarely do axles rust out so decided to skip the primer step.

Top coat tomorrow hopefully and then they'll be ready for assembly. Need to do both swivel seals at the front and ball joints. Also try and find where the weep from the freewheeling hub is coming from.

 

[Robotstar5]

Thought this maybe of interest, one of our club members did his own 6 wheel conversion in the 80's, although it only ran as a 6x4 and I can't recall what was under the bonnet.