Graham
came over in the evening prepared to do battle with the diff with his engine
hoist; which as it turned out proved unnecessary. With two adults we managed to
manoeuvre the diff into position so that the lower mounting bolts could be
installed. The distance on both sides of the diff & chassis rail was then
carefully measured & spacer sandwiches assembled by “glueing” washers
together with Copperease to get within the prescribed +-2mm tolerance). A
micrometer helps here.
Now
the fun part began! The long top mounting bolt was driven out of the top diff
mounting with the aid of a screwdriver & rubber mallet & the bolt
lubricated with Copperease to assist installation. With gentle persuasion from
the rubber mallet, plus some wriggling of the diff, the bolt slid through the
first chassis mounting bush & the same number of spacer washers were
applied each side of the diff as for the lower mounts. Unfortunately the bolt
then stopped at the second bush with the end sitting a couple of mm too high.
The spacer washers were aligned to make sure they were not obstructing the bolt
& the rubber mallet applied; no movement. Taking an alternative approach
the bolt head was turned with a rachet & the diff pushed & pulled to
allow the bolt to screw itself into the second mounting bush, before emerging
ready for the washer & nut to be fitted. Success!
The whole process took about an hour & was a
lot easier than my earlier attempts had suggested. We managed to get the diff
centralised in the chassis to within 1mm which I was pretty pleased about.
© 2011 Chris Jobling - All rights reserved
