Right, on with the refurbished rear axle with new discs, bearings and bushes. This is a temporary measure while I refurbish the axle that was on the car which is not as corroded and will look as new when coated. Then it can all be refitted and the initial one used for the Silver VR. Double the work, but the car needed to be mobile for the MOT and due to storage demands.

Given it looked as though nothing had been undone in 17 years, all went well except for: stripping the head off a sub axle bolt; trying to get the brake bias valve off; needing to replace some of the brake lines (all will be done in any case). Given the car's age, the original items are in pretty good shape, as expected.

Ready to go

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Looking good under here, just needing a bit of clean

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Stripping off the old

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Apart from dirt, little wear after 17 years

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And it's off

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As expected, needed to replace some brake pipe hard lines and needed new ABS sensors. For the brake lines, used Cunifer (copper nickel alloy) rather than copper or steel. It is stronger than copper, doesn't work harden, easier to work with than steel. Not as tough as steel but will not corrode like steel, especially from the inside. And you don't need to weaken it by scraping off external rust. These should last a lifetime. Also fitted some newly refurbished tank straps while I was at it.

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Fitting the new beam was OK. Had to tap a few holes to clear the nylon coating and do a quick weld on a broken exhaust bracket, to get through the MOT.

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And then it was fitted, re-plumbed to the brake lines and the stub-axles, new discs and brakes refitted. As this is not the finished deal, some of he old bolts and parts were re-used. All new ones will be put on when the original axle is re-fitted.

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As mentioned, had a couple of gorillas on the way. Needed to weld a nut onto a sheared stub-axle bolt so it could be extracted:

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But the main swine was the original brake bias valve. It was completely stuck fast and a welded-on bolt just snapped off. So, welded on a piece of bar which did the trick and cracked the screw. A bit of grinder action to cut off the bar, then some serious adjustables to extract it. You can see that the bolt was galvanically corroded along its length. Not wanting this to happen again, did a bit of research and came across 'Duralec', a lubricant designed to stop galvanic corrosion http://www.intek-uk.com/duralac.htm. So shall be using this on the brake bias valve in the future.

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The 'new' valve in place. This one has been recycled from -Neil-'s white VR when he broke it earlier this. Was relatively new and in good condition. A brand new one awaits the refurbished axle and this one will be for the Silver VR.

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The next day, the car passed its MOT. As the Inspector said: "You don't find many of these as clean as this any more".

Finally, the best tool of them all. A truly serious cordless impact driver which made short work of 17 year old stuck-fast nuts and bolts. If I ever had the money (about £500) I would buy one in a heartbeat.

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