1966 2 door saloon Milly restoration project

[David JM]

The Pickup has been waiting for ages for a time where I can do some routine preventative maintenance, the front brakes, the king pin dust covers, the new type that don't need the whole front suspension taken apart, I'll report on those later.


the hole welded up on the Saloon floor, a small job that took all morning and piled up the tools, more than I'd planned for, job done, she can come back down now and the axle stands can be used to lift up the Pickup so I can get great access under there.

[David JM]

up up and away, checking that all the axle stands sound off as fully loaded. the front stands go under the forward chassis legs, but the rear ward stands go one hole higher on the axle itself, just to keep the whole car held level. there's never been decent jack points on the pickups. I'm always worried at causing damage to the chassis legs, so I spread the attachment point with a block of wood to spread the load.

[David JM]

I may be a bit late to the split dust cap party, but I'd chose simplicity over stripping down the whole trunnion and king pin to replace the rubbers ones any day.

[David JM]

so far so good, and even if they only last as long as the rubber caps, they are a lot easier and quicker to fit.

[David JM]

I was going to replace the front brake shoes, but there is still a years worth left in these, but I'll order new one's ready to go on next year, always worth it for a clean down with some brake and parts cleaner.

[David JM]

Just to update about the fit of these new dust caps, one small correction, they should fit facing 6 Oclock on the drivers side and 12 oclock on the passenger side so they don't catch the tire. easy to adjust, just loosen the screw, rotate the cap, tighten the screw, as Doctor MC
coy once said, when returning Spock's Brain "I don't know why I didn't see it before, a child could do it"

[David JM]

today it was Charlie's turn to go up on axle stands for new brake shoes and new Swivel pin dust caps.


the dust caps are either a mess or have dissolved and the previous owner didn't notice because of the grease.


the drum screw on the nearside refused to budge, applying force simply turned over the screw slot shoulders and made the situation worse.
So out came the welder and a bolt welded over the mangled screw head.


such a great feeling when the bolt starts to turn and unwinds the screw from the drum. weld spatter on the threads of the lugs was easy to overcome too.

[David JM]

this is a great fix for stuck fixings, the heat of the weld helps to unstick the fixture with thermal co- efficiency.


with that little one and only gremlin out of the way, the rest was easy.

[David JM]

the new dust caps fitted after a cleanout of all the congealed grease. especially the groove around the trunnion.