28th March 2007 - Been working a

1st April 2007 - Not sure if the date has anything to do with it but made a bit of a cock up today!! I decided to build up the rear half shafts with UJ's etc. Got the first one done and sat back to admire my work(!!), then realised the mistake!! I had put the UJ's the wrong way round so that the grease nipple is facing the wrong way and will not be accessible once the half shaft, hub etc etc are all in place...............deep joy!! I am going abroad for my company tomorrow, for a week, so it will fester away till next weekend!! The only way is to take it off and put it round the right way. May as well do it now rather than having to sort it out when its on the car. Hope I can get the UJ's off without damaging!!! Pictures below will hopefully show my mistake. This is fun isn't it!! :o(

30th March 2007 - Weekend here at last!!! Got a batch of goodies from Ward's today which should enable me to finish off the rear axle parts. The parcel included UJ's for the Half shafts, bearing kits for the wishbones, Lower shock shaft assemblies, 1 inner pivot shaft (one was OK from the donor) and lots of other nuts, bolts, shims etc etc. This will give me something to do instead of gardening!! (who's that in the corner doing a rain dance!!!).

10th April 2007 - Had a quick hour in my garage tonight. Had a bit of a tidy up and then I decided to put the needle roller bearings into my two inner rear wishbones. I also cleaned up the grease nipples and replaced them. Soon be running out of things to do until I send my hubs and brakes away for renovation and rebuild. I still haven't decided what to do about my Diff. I have a feeling I may just send off to Wards and pay the £350 for a rebuild. Only intend to do it once so I guess its pointless not doing it right now...................It's only money!!!!

6th April 2007 - Home for the Easter weekend with renewed enthusiasm!! Set about removing the UJ's to put them round the correct way. Despite being told by some people it would not be possible without damage, I astounded myself by removing them relatively easily. Used and old clamp in a vice together with two sockets, to gently push the caps out. this worked a treat and both the caps and rubber seals were undamaged. Pics below, including the two finished drive shafts! Notice the nipples are round the correct way (said the actress to the bishop!!!)......

8th Oct 2007 - After a marathon session in the garage this weekend I have finally sorted my rear axle!! Not a job I would want to repeat. As with Andy (see links page - fellow builder) I basically followed the tried and tested method of getting everything level and using a laser spirit level, as laid out by Simon (see links page - and then look under "rear suspension on Simon's blog). If your nearing this stage, go to Simon's blog, and follow the steps. Basically I ended up with 21 thou (3 x 7 thou shims) under the O/S rear carrier bracket, and 15 thou (3 x 5 thou shims) under he N/S carrier bracket. This essentially gave me an overall "toe in" at the front base line of 0.6mm, which fits in with GD's recommendations of 0.5 to 2.0. Although its a bugger of a job, I did all the shimming when the axle was together and chassis on (strapped up the wishbones to secure in place), not easy but easier than setting it all up without the chassis and then risking having to do it all again when the chassis goes on. Not many pics on this section, my wife went a way for the weekend and took the camera!Once I tighten everything up I can move on to the front axle!!

10th Oct 2007 - A couple of things I forgot to mention. The rear shock need to be spaced with washers at the top to fit snugly into the GD chassis bracket. I just packet them with three washers which were perfect (see pics below). Also, the washers supplied by Wards for the bottom of the shocks snag on the bottom shock casing so don't sit flush. I will have to find some that fit properly.

23rd Sept 2007 - One step forward and another back!! Just when I thought I was getting on OK, and getting ready to sort the toe in/out and thrust line out, I realise a cock up has been made!! (sure this won't be the last!!). Got my neighbour round to help me position the chassis onto the rear axle, got it all bolted up, and then it dawned on me, I hadn't put the brake callipers on!!! I had a quick look at putting these on with the chassis in place, but this soon became obvious its not really possible. So, off came the chassis so I could sort the callipers out. I didn't swear much!! Anyway a couple of hours later, and some skinned knuckles, the callipers were on and I put the chassis back on the rear axle. I have also realised that I forgot to order handbrake pads, but luckily these will go on later as access is not really obstructed.

18th Sept 2007- Managed an hour or so in the garage tonight, and sorted the camber out for both sides of the axle. It needed four camber shims to get a reading of "0" degrees on the nearside but only one on the offside. This was taken with the Diff on a 9" plinth and the wishbone resting on a 7" one giving a 2" drop as Andy suggested. All ready to drop the chassis on now and sort the toe in and thrust line out.

15th Sept 2007 - Back from a week working away in France. Spent an afternoon in the garage putting the rear axle together in order to set the camber and toe in. I set it up on the floor of the garage with the Diff on a 9" plinth as suggested by GD. The plan is to put it all together, drop the chassis on it, make sure all the camber and toe in is set correct, then take it all apart and lock wire, torque correctly and put back in the chassis permanently. I am taking the lead from Simon and Andy (see links) regarding the calculations and measurements for the camber an toe in. It seemed to work for them, so I won't argue with that. More than happy to follow a successful operation!!

I have previously checked and sorted the brake shims so I started by putting the brake disks on followed by the rear wishbones, putting the myriad of washers, seals, seal retainers etc on (taking the lead from Ward's diagrams and good old Haynes manual), and then pushing the rear pivot bolt through to retain them. At this stage I haven't put the spacer tubes in. Having got the wishbones on, I fitted the GD chassis brackets. I am a little uncertain about these at this stage because Andy and Simon (fellow builders - see links) needed shims to make these fit. mine went straight on..? I guess I will see how things go together later.

I then put the drive shafts on and connected the hubs to the outer forks by pushing the outer hub shafts through. All the hub bearings etc had been fitted by Ward's when reconditioned.

All of the parts were bolted on using either the old nuts (calliper retaining) or packing with washers (GD brackets) to preserver the new Nylocs.

1st Sept 2007 - Spent a few hours in the garage today getting the rear axle parts ready for installing into the chassis when it arrives next week (hopefully!!). I firstly did a test fit of the rear wishbones and drive shafts. I put the pivot bolts on without the space tube, and without shimming the pivot bracket. I will do that when I get the chassis brackets from GD next week. Once I was happy that everything went together OK, I dismantled it all ready for final fitting next week.

I then fitted the hubs to the drive shafts, using loctite on the splines.. I used the method adopted by Simon and Andy (see Links page) to hold the hub steady while I torqued it to 100ft lb. Worked really well, thanks guys!!

................and it turned out to be perfect!! See the pics below with the disk smack in the middle of the calliper! What I don't know is how I am going to torque up the brake calliper bolts, I can't get either of my torque wrenches in there, and according to Ward's they should be torqued to 50 ft lb!! I have asked the question of my fellow Cobra builder Simon (see Links page) who has recently been there!!

29th July 2007 - Really waiting for the Chassis now which hopefully won't be to long (might ring GD next week). In the mean time, wanting to keep myself busy with the build, I thought I would sort the shimming out for the rear disks. When I took the Diff and hubs to bits initially there were 25 thou on each side, so I basically started off with that...............

6th July 2007 - Finally.................my Diff has gone away to Wards for reconditioning!! Wards send TNT to pick it up, and with the help of my wife (!!), the driver managed to get it into his van, and it's on its way. Rang Eddie at Wards and he reckons I will have it back in about two weeks. I really can't believe all the trouble I've had with this. Ward's have been great, but the couriers....................nuff said!!

29th June 2007 - I can't believe it but I still have not got my Diff sent away to Wards!! Firstly City Link sent a woman driver who couldn't lift the box! (I had arranged to leave it in the porch for pick up while I was at work). Then the next arranged day they never turned up! Finally they refused to lift if unless someone was at home to help them (its aprox 45kg). Eventually after talking to Eddie at Wards, we have decided to bin City Link and he is going to get TNT to pick it up next week (I hope!!!). Its amazing City Link have been picking up Diff's for Wards for ages, but it seems that the Scunthorpe depot have decided to be difficult. Hopefully next week TNT will have some bigger, stronger drivers!!!

16th June 2007 - Spoke to Ed at Wards yesterday and have arranged for them to pick my Diff up to take away and recondition. Last bit before the rebuild "proper" starts!! He told me to take the back plate off and have a look for rust and scratches which would maybe mean crown wheel replacement etc. If this were to be the case, it would almost make the job to expensive and another Diff would need to be found, as the reconditioning is £350 to start with. Anyway, as you see from the pics below, everything seems in order, and its ready for them to pick it up on Wednesday.

19th April 2007 - Spoke to Ed at Ward's today regarding getting the Hubs and Brakes reconditioned. They do a courier service costing £28.00 pickup and return, which considering the weight of the box I've just finished filling with the Hubs and Brakes, is pretty good!!! I had to make it from strong ply due to the weight it's going to carry. I hope the courier has strong arms because I can hardly lift the box!!! Once I get these items back I will use the same box to send the Differential, that's even heavier!!! Once I get the Diff done (hopefully next month) I will then order the Chassis (Yippeeee!!!)