All done with the help of a 30 tonne press.

New silent blocks required anyway and these will be used as exchange units. We had to set fire to one of the units to melt the rubber enough to pull the outer case off and then heat to red hot the inner core. Lots of heat and pressing and finally everything came apart.

Finally getting some positive things done!!

I like stripping and tearing stuff apart but it is nice to start rebuilding and getting parts back.

Had the front brake shoes relined - the old ones were down and past the rivets (so had trenched out grooves in the drum too) and now they are glued on and very chunky.




Had the drums skimmed too and these are now super smooth.



Got my rubber seals for the slave cylinders so after cleaning, cleaning and cleaning them, they are as good as new.

Any updates on this? Best resto thread I've read in a while!

Not yet - I still have 3 weeks of the work season to get through.

But today my scissor lift arrived, so now I will be able to raise it 1.4m off the ground

Tried it with my 4L and it is great.

October 1st and I will be back on the Traction.

Right where was I

I finally got back into the barn today to start work on the Traction again. This is how I left it in May.



So first things to do were take off the exhaust system with the help of my angle grinder (and that scissor lift makes it so bloody easy).
I then took off the steering rack. Withdraw the rear brake pipes and fuel line from inside a duct in the floor (very clever design). And then stripped everything in the engine bay (handbrake mechanism etc etc).

The dirtily work then began with heat gun, wire wheel, paint stripper and my favourite cleaning product "Baby Wipes"

This was the end of the day

Bloody Hell! That's so clean for such an old car......

Another day in the barn working on "Vinny" as named by my wife, Julie.

I have prepared the engine bay for a quick coat of paint (primer and a couple of final coats) so I can start putting back all the parts I have stopped of in the past 6 months.

I have cleaned and prepared the handbrake assembly which came up quite good seeing as it was coated in mud. I have a feeling this car may be similar to the Peat Bog man - it has been preserved for the past 44 years in the barn by a layer of mud after its last owner drove it through their potato field. I have only found one small rust hole so far in the floor pan of the drivers side. Fingers crossed this will be the trend

This lift is the best thing I have bought in a long time (and it will be a long time before I can afford anything thing else )


Handbrake mechanism cleaned and ready to be painted


This is the number stamped into the bulkhead - it will be covered in paint soon so caught it on camera


Cleaned and painted with rust proofer ready for the first coat of primer in the morning

Does she expect it to come out of the garage and head-butt you within seconds?

lol.

Nice to read my favourite thread is back in action after the summer. Keep up the great work, Trip.

I have been working on the steering rack for the past day or so and although I tried my hardest to get the steering arms off I was defeated. So I had to order yet another "Special" tool for the traction.

Got my new tools today, which was quick. This time from PAT2D here in France, ordered before midday and it arrived this morning.

5 minutes and both steering arms are off



Needed a bit of persuasion though



And how about this for a spanner - 50mm is no problem now and then end cap of the steering rack is now off. Nearly ways the same as my little AZU