Westfield build, Mazda SDV

Managed to get everything I wanted to get done err… done today. First up was removing the other driveshaft. It really wasn’t playing ball, so I gave it a rest and removed a couple of wishbones instead. Attacking it again it still wasn’t playing ball, and I managed to slip and punch the diff a couple of times. It’s ok, the diff survived.

Eventually, it gave in and went off to meet its sibling in the storeroom leaving me with an armless diff.

So now I could let myself loose on the wishbones on the other side. This didn’t go quite as well with one nut proving to be particularly stubborn. Out came the angle grinder and that bad boy was soon turned to sparks. This left me with two clear arches at the rear.

I quickly checked the front and it looked like I’d need a 21mm spanner to remove the upper wishbones. I didn’t have a 21mm spanner, so I decided that I’d pop into my local euro car parts and pick one up. I’d already dropped the missus’ car off for a service first thing in the morning so I had to do some of this walking stuff. It’ll never catch on. Whilst I was at euro car parts I got a phone call saying her car was ready. Annoyingly the garage was the other side of town, so I had to walk past my house and another mile or so beyond. I think I’ve earned the beer I’m drinking whilst typing this up!

Once back, it was time to get cracking again. The passenger side came off easy enough, once I’d removed the anti roll bar and steering rack for the best access. Much like the rear though, the drivers side was less accommodating. The angle grinder made another appearance and another nut was turned to sparks. Hot burny sparks.

At roughly the same time Olly appeared to pick up the bits he needed, including the wishbones I was in the middle of removing. Luckily he was patient and waiting the extra half hour whilst I tried to set fire to myself and everything around me.

As a last job, I removed the fuel filter. Probably didn’t need to as I expect I’ll fit a new one to the westfield but I wanted to play with my pipe clamping tool I’d bought for the job. Whilst I was down in the rear drivers side though, I decided to see how bad the rust in the corner was.

Whoops.

I assumed the filler on the side of the sill was to cover up the welding like the passenger side. I assumed wrong and the filler was covering up the rust. Intrigued, I began to chip away at it and ended up with this:

I’m sure there are MX5s worse than this, but I’m quite glad I didn’t offend my MOT man by presenting it for a test! A suitable donor me thinks…

I’m going to try and remove the diff tomorrow (need to support the gearbox so will have to rob the jack from the Land Rover) and hopefully gather the lads to remove the engine on Sunday.

Getting somewhere again now. After the week off, it’s time to get back on it and I’ve had a medium amount of success tonight. I wanted to get both driveshafts off, and managed to do one. Reason being the bottom bolt holding each hub on needs bashing out and it was getting a bit late for that.

Basically, to get the driveshaft out you have to prise it away from the diff. Now I’m sure there’s a nack to doing this, and I think I stumbled on it rather than sussed it out. It seemed impossible so I was prising it a little, not getting any movement, turning it and prising it some more. In the end, it slid out really easily.

Spot the difference

So that’s where I’ve left it for tonight. Right had side ready to come out and all the wishbone bolts soaking in PlusGas. I’ve got the day off tomorrow so if I can get the driveshafts out and the wishbones off I’ll be happy.

Actually, I’d say slack wasn’t the problem here. I’m already a fair way ahead of schedule, so not getting much done this week hasn’t really had a negative effect.

I’ve been thwarted removing the rear hubs, specifically, the hub nuts. Now, in hindsight and for those of you reading this before attempting your own project… slacken off the hub nuts before lifting the vehicle!

These are done up to around 190lb/ft, so ensure you have a large breaker bar at the very least! Unfortunately, I could find no way of stopping the hub rotating from the force required. We’d refitted the brakes and put the handbrake on very tight, but it still managed to turn.

I’ve therefore decided the driveshafts will come out from the diff instead. I’ve bought a crowbar to help lever them out, and a set of punch/drifts to help remove the long bolts that are holding the bottom of the hub on.

So, what have I achieved this week? I’ve removed the front lower ball joints from the wishbones and that’s about it! I could have removed the tie rods too, but I think I’ll just buy new ones.

Not at home this weekend, but I’ve got next Tuesday off when I’m planning on getting those driveshafts out and the wishbones off. Not least because somebody is coming to pick the wishbones off on Tuesday!