Thank goodness the rain stopped, and I was able to get out and fix things.
I had been getting worried about the car's portside rear hub, which had been leaking oil into the brake drum. So I took it to bits, and found that the bearing was breaking up.
Oil all over the brake pads is not a good thing when you want to stop quickly... look, you can see that there is a ball missing from the bearing there.
Lord knows where the missing ball went to; I wonder if it had been assembled like this at some point in the past? -a bit of the cage had broken off and lodged in the oil seal (the black thing on the right in this picture) and there was no sign of the spring that should have been wrapped around the inside of the seal. Which is why it wasn't doing its job.So there is now a new bearing and a new oil seal in place.
As I worked, I was accompanied by a young magpie, which had ventured out of its nest in the tree above the car and taken refuge in a nearby bush. The parents spent the day anxiously dashing to and fro feeding it. I know that feeling...
You car looks immaculate, I bet it turns a few heads. They don't make them like that any more. At least it was something you could fix without too much trouble. Perhaps the magpies stole it?
ReplyDeleteI have a picture in my head of the magpies flying to and fro with bacon sarnies in their beaks.
That shiny, shiny missing ball; I'd ask the Magpies...
ReplyDeleteHi Anji...
ReplyDeleteOne minute separates the wity from the foolish...
Great minds, Paul, great minds
ReplyDeleteHard to believe I changed a head gasket on a '39 DeSoto once, 39 years ago. Simpler car for a simpler folk, carless now.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to going car free again, Larry; as it is, the chaps at the Morris Centre reckon I must have about the highest-mileaged Moggy in the country. I would rather it were otherwise.
ReplyDeleteJust looked to see what a 39 De Soto looks like. Gosh! http://www.flickr.com/photos/carphotosbyrichard/3469681742/
More or less as I remember it. I owned it for less than a year and sold it to an old mechanic who not only admired it but had a shop and all the tools. He also bought the 41 Packard that had shot a connecting rod due to my negligence: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carphotosbyrichard/3406125252/in/set-72157614921762190/
ReplyDeleteThis is the Packard woody wagon of the same year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carphotosbyrichard/3233953131/in/set-72157614921762190/