Why thanks Red Barron... and apologies for my tardiness, all shall be revealed...Mr Red Barron said:
...Yes, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, or possibly last night's curry which still won't disappear after two flushes... I have returned! :lol:
Once more calling upon great reserves of patience (as I've little else to rely on skill-wise) to stalk my Puma until I overcome its wild side and get it purring like a kitten; all while explaining how I've gone about it, so that other tenderfoots can follow in my tracks and hopefully avoid being chewed up and spat out by their own little kittie.
First, though, a quick explanation for the extended leave... and for a thread which hopes to help mechanical virgins pop their automotive DIY cherry, a rather dirty confession!
Basically, I needed the intervention of a mechanic, despite my best intentions sometimes you just have to!
It came after very nearly losing the Puma due to a cambelt change that had gone wrong. Not my work I hasten to add, I'm not that foolish to attempt it (yet :grin: )... and indeed tbf it covered about 500 miles or more after being done, however, it then decided to 'let go' and sounded truly catastrophic. I had no real idea what was causing it but a quick check with the diagnostic gizmo suggested that the timing might be out and after getting some advice from Barry (much appreciated btw) on how to do it, I checked the timing to find that it was indeed out, waaaay out. When one cam was horizontal the other was at about 75-80 degrees. Eeek!
After another rather despairing conversation with Baz me ol' china (sorry, the missus got Eastenders on iPlayer as I type) and the strong prospect was raised of valves having gone all AC/DC on me and head-banged their way along the highway to hell, it was decided to best to then leave it to a professional, and prepare myself for a large bill and possibly a terminal kitty.
So I left it, in fact for a few months as it was all rather depressing and I had other things going on that took priority. Eventually, I had a mechanic I'd gotten to know have a look at it for me and, as luck would have it, he needed a roof-rack for his Disco and I happened to have one going spare, so a deal was struck!
It was trailered there, just in case, but it was driven back! Thankfully, in the end, it just needed fully re-timing (as in the Gates tech bulletin, http://www.partinfo.co.uk/files/Gates%20TB%20036%20K035433XS.pdf which it's suspected wasn't properly followed hence the problem) but definitely a good call not starting again and then trailering it as the mechanic said he'd never seen a car so "out" that had not mashed its valves, so a very lucky escape!
Of course, it does mean that the car now needs a bit of a shake-down as it's been stood still for seven months. One of the first jobs being a sticking offside caliper which was noticed on the drive back.
So that's presented me with a perfect opportunity to pick up basically where we left off all those months ago, looking at the 300mm brake disc conversion! Spooky huh?!
After previously being forced to admit defeat in using the Grand Focus calipers (due to their carriers using M14 bolts) I'd ordered some ST170 ones from a scrappy who assured me they were in "good working order". They arrived when all of the above was happening, so had sat in my shed ever since. This, it turned out, was unfortunate, as when I eventually got around to inspecting them this was what I found...
IMG_2439 by G Whizz, on Flickr... to be strictly accurate this was about 30 mins later as I'd already started on physically de-rusting 'em.
IMG_2440 by G Whizz, on FlickrNot my idea of GWO and annoyingly missing the springs too. Grrr. :evil:
Now, I did have the option of a local company powder coating them for £30 the pair, which seemed quite reasonable... but in the spirit of this thread (and being a tight git) I decided to have a crack at stripping, de-rusting, rebuilding and painting them myself.
It was quickly evident that this was going to be a bit laborious and a battle of attrition so I thought I'd proceed straight to chemical warfare
Accordingly, I removed as much as I could with a flat screwdriver blade and a wire brush and then, as I already had some Bilt Hamber Deox C, decided to pop the calipers into a solution of it to see if that could do the trick. Having spoken to Pete at B&H he assured me they could be dropped in 'whole' but as I'd already decided on rebuilding the calipers I stripped 'em down first. Most folks use an airline to pop the piston out, not having one I made do with an SDS chisel bit and slowly tapping it out. The piston could have been worse but still worth the rebuild...
IMG_2442 by G Whizz, on FlickrWith seals also removed and suitably bare, I dropped the calipers in the solution and waited to see if it worked... this was the end result:
IMG_2458 by G Whizz, on FlickrI was amazed to find gold powder coat still under all that rust!
IMG_2459 by G Whizz, on FlickrBit amusing though that the other was revealed to be silver powder coated... ah well!
It took a couple of goes to get there over a couple of days (with a bit of wire brushing in between to agitate and break off what rust I could to help the solution penetrate) but it was really rather effective. It's quite cheap too and 1ltr of Deox C powder makes about 20litres of solution in all, so there's plenty left, even after doing the carriers too, which were just as bad:
IMG_2444 by G Whizz, on FlickrI decided I was going for a simple Hammerite Smooth paint job, mainly as I already had some (I did say I was tight), the choice being gold or silver but I figured the gold might be a bit OTT so went 2 coats of silver to get this...
IMG_2461 by G Whizz, on FlickrNot bad really, came up smart I thought.
IMG_2462 by G Whizz, on FlickrI then decided, what the heck, a bit of bling wasn't a t'ing and so did the carriers in the gold:
IMG_2473 by G Whizz, on FlickrI'ze gangsta now! (Well, probably more Gianni Versace but you get my drift )
So, now I 'just' gotta fit 'em... a couple of quick questions to throw out there (and check if anyone's been reading this far) ... the carriers didn't have the stainless anti-rattle clips and I can't seem to find any online, are these obsolete nowadays?
Also, I'm not too keen to drill the hubs unless absolutely essential, so was wondering what do folks think of my alternative idea of having the ST170 M12 carrier bolts turned down to M10 roughly halfway down, so they screw into the carriers but then don't need the hub holes enlarging? Feasible? Ludicrous...or maybe that's Ludacris now I'm getting my bling on?
I shall eagerly await your thoughts on this, and in the meantime also turn the noggin to my next project as today I managed to pick up some ST170 rear hubs etc. that some thoroughly decent soul had sprinkled a little Moondust on and kindly machined to take the ring for the Puma ABS system, cheers bud!
k:
