Saturday:
Sent the faulty radiator back to Rimmer Bros. in the morning.
But lot of other "stuff" filled the rest of the day, including taking my daughters to see the Minions movie.
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Sunday:
Last week I noticed that the nylon bush at the top of the steering column was split.
So I figured before I did anything else with the column, I should check the bottom as well.
According to the Haynes manual, the rubber "buttons" on either side of the lower bush needed to be depressed.
But they didn't line up with the holes and appeared to be partially cut off.
So I figured I should order a new one anyway and proceeded to cut off the remains of the buttons.
It then took a long time and a significant amount of brute force and ignorance to drift the lower bush out of the outer column.
So if the nylon insert wasn't damaged before, it certainly was by the time I'd finished.
But at least by the time I had finally finished knocking the rest of the bush out, I had got to the real cause of my problems.
Believe it, or not, but there were actually two bushes sitting at the bottom of the column (but only one nylon insert).
So I went back to the Rimmer Bros website and checked their diagram.
Clearly there is only meant to be one bush at the bottom of the column and it should sit around here.
Instead I had two sitting somewhere around here, although not protruding out as far they are shown in this photo.
So I went back to basics again and started at the top...
With the steering wheel fully pushed down onto taper on the shaft there is plenty of room for the nut.
I then left a
wafer thin gap between the steering wheel and the indicator cancelling bush.
And despite this, there was plenty of room at the bottom end for the clamp to go on.
Unfortunately, it was only when I was looking at the download of this photo that I remembered there was also a cap & nylon washer to fit.
So it was back outside, to try again and thankfully there was still plenty of room after these were refitted.
( Note: The lock nut is loose, and will not be in the way when fully tightened up. )
So if I go back to one of the photos I took last week, the alloy cap should be further up the outer column.
( But the protruding bush was preventing this. )
You can also see where this "extra" bush has pushed the rubber button of the other bush out of position & further up the inside of the column.
I guess the good news is that I can fit the new steering wheel without having to make any cuts/modifications.
The bad news is I can't fit the steering column back into the bulkhead until the new parts have arrived.
So this has been quite a frustrating exercise, but at least I know I will have done a proper job when I am finished.
Unfortunately, I have too many "non car" things to do to start on something else today.
( At this rate it really is going to take me a VERY long time to finish. )
Still, at least it was great weather for drying my shirts.
Until next time, take care, Paul.
