April 2010
Hello again
It seems like there has been lots going on this month and there is lots done on 35.
I have managed to get some more wire bushing done on the chassis rails and now there are now only about four or five more pieces to do. This seems to be taking the longest of all the jobs to as there is a lot to rub down and then paint. I was going to have them all shot blasted but got carried away doing a bit at a time. I then thought I might as well finish now I have started. All seems good though to having the rails bolted (or at least started) next month. I can’t wait till this stage as there seems to be so much work done but still not a lot to show for it.
The head stock and the steering box have been Aqua blasted and painted by Transline and they are looking very good to. The steering box has not been stripped as it works fine so there seems no need to strip it down.
The big one this month is that the rear axle has now received all its parts and shot blasted the hubs and stripped and painted the diff. The back plates have been repaired which means the axle has been rebuilt. All was going well so it seemed, I took the axle cases and the two drive shafts over to Transline where they pressed them into the housing for me. Once back I then placed plenty of grease on the bearings and then inserted the diff gently tapping it home with my dead blow hammer and then got the other casing and located it into the spine and then tapped this home. All was looking good and rotated as it should. Next on was the hub ends followed by the back plates. As the brake shoes have not been done yet the drums have been left off for now and will be fitted once the shoes are in place. The axle looked so nice sitting there and as I was looking at my handy work I slowly rotated the diff round. This is when I felt really silly for as I was watching the hole in the side of the casing (which is used to grease the diff) I realised that there was no grease nipple. Well not that there was no nipple but it was on the wrong side DOH. So this means that I had to strip the axle back down to get the diff out and turn it around. While it will work both ways in the casing it can only be greased from the one side. Now the axle is all back together again and the diff is in the correct way round.
The good e-bay find of the month was a lovely wooden Alfa Romeo steering wheel which has a flat base fixing for only £20. This means that I can now save money in having a wheel made. All I need to do now is get the boss machined and a plate made up and welded to the boss so that the two can be welded together.
We would like to wish two new supporters for 35 on board this month; they are Mountford Rubber & Plastics Ltd who have supplied a nice rubber floor mat which looks right for the year. This will protect the load bed nicely.
Also coming on board are Mercury Precision Ltd who gave up there time to remove the broken bolt in the rear suspension
Well got to dig the wire bush out now again so till next month have fun
It’s very dirty work cleaning up the chassis parts
Can you spot the grease nipple
Old and new made missing damper plates
Forget Freeze spray the wire brush is my new best friend
If you find any missing or broken links please let me know at geoff@35reliant.co.uk. And if you have any information on Reliant pre 1952 please get in touch at the above e-mail address as I would love to hear from you.
1935 Reliant
Jan 2024
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