Hi list,
Saturday, completing the sandblasting of the Scout chassis was called on
account of threat of rain (which is a big deal in this drought-ridden area!)
It did NOT rain, though.
What remains to be done is 3 feet of frame rail, one leaf spring and the the
interior and exterior of two brake backer plates and one hub/drum. The rear
suspension is complex enough that sandblasting is something of a "buckshot"
approach since I blast what I can from each position I find myself in and
repeat until the job is complete. Utilizing regular white chalkboard chalk,
I mark the areas I missed in between each load of sand. A crude system, but
it works and the job gets done right!
In preparation for doing the brake backer plates I will gut the brake
assembly of all brake parts which will be renewed or replaced. I expect to
find the back brake shoes to be as worn as the front. I have also
determined that the right rear return spring has broken as I can see a bit
of it trying to get out of the drum between the drum and backer plate. As I
am long overdue for a major foul-up on this job I figured I had better
practice removing the rear drums on the other Greek Scout car since I have
not yet purchased my tech manuals from Portrayal Press.
The Greek Scout came to me without rear axle shafts and as such, the outer
grease seals were exposed. In fact, they were so cruddy I was unable to
determine that the outer grease seals have a flange. So until I got eyeball
to eyeball with the darned things I couldn't see how that outer nut could be
engaged for removal as only the collar of the nut was exposed and the
hexagonal portion was completely concealed from view. A little poking
around and off popped the seals, exposing the traditional hub bearing
arrangement. No problemo. :^)
The Greek Scout has always been a bugger to move by hand as the brakes
(though no longer working) have always dragged on the drums. The adjusting
cams have frozen in place so backing them off was out of the question.
Anyway, I figured, what the hell, I'm halfway in, I'll just go in and remove
the shoes and the other parts (remember I need a return spring) and set them
aside for later. Well, my brothers, this is one of those times when going
just a little farther pays off. Keep in mind, my demilled Greek Scout is
the archtypical "hangar queen" and looks every bit the part with rust and
crud on every inch of it. With a little finessing, off came the brake drums
and there were two sets of brake shoes with almost NO wear on them, not to
mention all those other little parts! Well, I was pleased, to say the
least! Truly, the grass IS greener on the other side! Even the bearings
and races were in good shape. Go figure! So now I have lots of lovely
brake parts which, after a little clean-up, will go into the other Scout.
As an added bonus, the rear wheels on the Greek Scout now turn freely.
'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/,'/
RAIN! By golly, fellows, as I am writing this it is honest to God RAINING
outside! The big wind isn't making my sandblasting tent fly away so I guess
I finally secured it right.
Keep em rolling!
TJ
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