Drip, Drip, Drip

Well, after doing the rear flange, I was seeing a few drips and once a decent puddle. I guess my repair didn’t take. Also, I was seeing a few drips from the front flange.

So, this weekend was the second attempt at stopping the drip, drip, drip.

My parking brake was nearly down to the rivets and a spring was broken. I did not discover this until I had it apart last time and I had to get her back together. This time, I had new shoes and springs waiting.

Last time, I had to reuse the original flange. The replacement from Fitzpatrick may not have been machined properly. I could not get it in the brake drum. I emailed Fitzpatrick for a replacement and never heard a word from them. Done with them.

I got everything apart with no issues. I tried the new flange again and it appeared hopeless to get her in there. I tried to source one locally with no luck.

So, for about 45 minutes, I sat at the workbench with a hand file working back and forth grinding away on the brake drum. Finally, with my hands cramping up, I got it to fit.

A new seal, Permatex #2, some Aviation Permatex and she was all back together. All told, with the search for the flange and a run to Napa for another jug of GL-1, I was about 6 hours into it.

New shoes are a bitch to get in.

I had a replacement flange for the front. So, I pulled it apart and thought I would give it a shot since the transfer case was drained. Even with an impact wrench, I could not get the nut off. With a shot of the acetone and ATF, she came right off. No problems getting the flange out. She had a nice grove in it and the felt was MIA.

Then I made my big mistake. I tried to remove the seal. My seal puller cut the seal. Now I was committed. For about an hour, I drilled, chiseled, cut and pried at that damn seal. Great, I’m screwed. Now, what am I going to do? At 9:00, I surrendered.

Today, I was back at it. Drilling, hammering, prying, chiseling and cursing. One broken screwdriver, one broken needle nose plier, one broken drill bit, two more hours and a partial loss of my sanity, it came out! That ranked high on the pain in the ass list for my 40 years of tinkering on cars.

A little cleaning up of some gouges and errant drill bit marks and she was ready for reassembly. Repeat the sealing process. No problems.

I got a nice little workout pumping nearly a gallon of GL-1 back in there. This old girl better start showing some love. This is the third time in 9 months that that I have owned her that she has gotten a fluid change.

Everything is back together. No leaks. Shop is cleaned up. It is nearly 6:00. Time for a test drive. I take her around the corner and come back. On the return trip, I see a nice fluid trail leading home. Damn it! I pull onto my street and there is a puddle in the middle of the street like someone threw up and then drooled a stream for another 15 feet. Oh, what the hell!. I could not have screwed it up that bad.

I pull up to the house, shut her down and take a peak underneath. Nothing pouring from the transfer case. I look in the street and it is a puddle and trail of nice clean oil. What the….? Damn it, I do not want to do this again. I look under again and up a bit and see a couple drips coming from the engine. I open the hood and there is the problem. I cleaned the air filter and replaced the oil. I did not seat it correctly and it came apart dumping a fresh quart of oil in the street. Well, that could have been a hell of a lot worse. Replace the oil, seat it properly and it is off for a test drive. I need a cup of coffee. I notice a drip out of the rear. I’m hoping it is just the seal getting seated. I’m not doing this again. I hope it holds.

I’m on my third beer now. I think I will take a little break before I tackle the next 2A project. I’m sure this memory will fade and be replaced by the fun of replacing the front and rear axel yoke seals. They drip, drip, drip.

Micah