[Mgs] Nuts, etc...

[Richard Lindsay]

Hello Friends,

Yes I put the rear of the frame up on jack stands and removed the left
rear wheel and - wait for it - cleaned and painted the lug nuts.  I
like to refinish as I go.  It gives a bit of variety to the work, not
to mention sitting versus standing and visa-versa.

The next step was to remove the left rear damper.  It was quite
heavily coated in dirt and grease.  And quite honestly, that's a good
thing.  It precludes rust!

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_080633.jpg

A few Whitworth spanner twists later, the damper was free.  All bolts
and nuts came free somewhat easily.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_082638.jpg

I did discover that the bolt threads were damaged so I have bought
replacements in 3/8" - fine x 3" length, grade 5 bolts, washers and
nuts.  The mounting point on the frame is just fine.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_082646.jpg

With the damper free and upright on the workbench, I moved on the to
spring.  With the axle hanging on the straps, I broke the nuts loose
on the U-bolts.  I had soaked them yesterday with Liquid Wrench.
Here's a look at the area, just for documentation.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_082651.jpg

Another couple of documentation pictures.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_082709.jpg

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_082718.jpg

While the nuts and U-bolts soaked, I removed the rear shackle.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_084022.jpg

And with a few more spanner twists, the spring was free.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_092350e.jpg

Here's a look at the front spring mount point, before cleanup.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_094159.jpg

If it wasn't a bit of a PITA, this would be funny: After removing the
nut from the front spring bolt, I used a drift pin/punch to push the
bolt out.  A few taps on the drift broke the bolt free and sent it
flying INTO THE TUBULAR CROSSMEMBER!  I did say a few ugly words upon
discovering that!  Without much worry, I realized that I could just
feed a length of old hose through the tube and push the bolt out.

I had spent enough time fighting bolts (and looking for old water
hose) so I stopped and cleaned, sanded and primered another bit of the
frame.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_104247.jpg

Here's a little closer look.  Primer still drying.

http://www.aubard.us/MGTD/20130529_104252.jpg

And with that, I cleaned myself up and went for a drive in the E-Type
(read: went to the hardware store for those new damper bolts).  Fun!

This afternoon I hope to clean the rest of that run of frame, clear to
the end, then start the cleanup and refinishing of all the hardware
and bits I have since removed.

With best regards,

-rick