1988 Fiat Panda, minor update.

[wesacosa]

cheers mate..Kind offer. I think I found a more suitable gaiter on Amazon so fingers crossed that sorts it.  really hoping to try and get it finished this weekend so I can try and get it MOTd during the week and out to the show at Brands at weekend. 

[wesacosa]

blimey ordered late yesterday evening from Amazon and woken at 715 this morning to the dog howling at the door as the Amazon man delivered this.  Not identical but looks a better fit and seems to be the same as the Ricambio part from what I can tell  so should be more suitable . No clips or grease with this one but should have both kicking around the garage 

 

 

[tooSavvy]

I had a 750L.... Effing Ace!!

An 'old skool/in the trees' place, nr Longtown, had one laid up..in the weeds.

.... scored a Hatch + pass door for £notmuch 👍

Keep it up ⚙️🔧

🚙💨

[CaptainBoom]

Likewise to @Back_For_More, if you need a pair of hands, I’m not far away. 

[wesacosa]

3 minutes ago, CaptainBoom said:

Likewise to @Back_For_More, if you need a pair of hands, I’m not far away. 

thanks mate much appreciated 

[tooSavvy]

#sidenote....

Same breaker got me a minty (sort of galv plated) gearbox tinpot end cover for my Savvy >> Malaysian one rusted through about 3yr old 🙄 >> took it off some antique Renner.

 

£notmuch 👍

🚙💨

[Grumblespeed]

I'd fit the first boot if the ends are the right size. There's not a lot of clearance between the gaiter and the bottom of the shock and I've had them rub through when I've fitted boots with a fat first pleat like that Amazon one.

[wesacosa]

why

why oh why

why oh why oh why oh why cant I learn to leave things well alone 

All it needed was the gaiter, it wasn't leaking before I took the DS off so I clearly just nicked it on something or split it when I was manipulating the shaft out. There was plenty of grease in there. All it needed was the gaiter 

but no, I can't help myself.  I decided the ball joint had to come apart and be cleaned and regreased.  Haynes says twist the bearing races 90deg and pull them out.  I twisted it 90 deg and a couple of the bearings popped out the cage so I eventually wiggled the bearing cages out. Cleaned everything and repacked with grease.  Popped the bearings back in the cage and went to refit. The bastard thing will not go back in. The only way I can see to push the races back in the joint is if some of the balls are not fitted, then even when I do that I can't figure out how to manipulate it so the balls align with the cups in the housing 

this is the best I can do but that is with two balls removed and you can see if you then try and turn it 90deg the balls in the races won't line up with the cups 

Not sure if its my tired mind missing something obvious but im stumped. If I admit defeat and buy a new CV joint its going to need to be bought online so im probably waving the white flag on having it ready for the weekend show

@Grumblespeed hmm interesting thought on the gaiters. I will measure the ends on the first one. It is a good 20mm longer though so I thought that would be too much 

[Mr Pastry]

Its a very long time since I worked on CV joints like that, but ISTR there is only one position in which it will go back together.   The cage is not totally symmetrical, and it has to fit into the housing in a specific orientation.   And one of the slots in the cage is longer than the others which allows the final ball to be fitted.  Something like that, anyway.  Very easy to get it wrong.  You need to completely degrease it and assemble it dry so that you can see what is happening.

 

[wesacosa]

10 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Its a very long time since I worked on CV joints like that, but ISTR there is only one position in which it will go back together.   The cage is not totally symmetrical, and it has to fit into the housing in a specific orientation.   And one of the slots in the cage is longer than the others which allows the final ball to be fitted.  Something like that, anyway.  Very easy to get it wrong.  You need to completely degrease it and assemble it dry so that you can see what is happening.

 

thanks. I will take a look. yeah I definitely should have try assembled first. I did mark the inner and outer races so they went back in the same way but didn't check for a longer slot. will take a look. ta

[High Jetter]

It was assembled originally, so it must be possible - no matter how impossible it seems.

[wesacosa]

5 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

It was assembled originally, so it must be possible - no matter how impossible it seems.

you'd think so. But some of the balls dropped out  when I flipped it through 90 degrees and allowed the races to rotate, but they fell down the back so its impossible to push them back in that way so I can't do the exact reverse of how it came out

[Grumblespeed]

Wonder if I've got a spare in the garage

..... oh no, it's on the other side isn't it!😉Never taken one apart I'm afraid.

[wesacosa]

1 minute ago, Grumblespeed said:

Wonder if I've got a spare in the garage

..... oh no, it's on the other side isn't it!😉Never taken one apart I'm afraid.

haha top tip, don't!

Definitely think I need to clean it all up and see if I can figure it out without the grease there. It was a pain to get out though and most of the balls had come out by the time it came out so might just have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Will give the local motor factor a call in the morning as they might be able to get one quicker than ordering from Ricambio 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

you'd think so. But some of the balls dropped out  when I flipped it through 90 degrees and allowed the races to rotate, but they fell down the back so its impossible to push them back in that way so I can't do the exact reverse of how it came out

I get that, have been in same position many times. There must be an answer, finding it is the hard bit. Like very cryptic crossword clues"

[wesacosa]

7 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I get that, have been in same position many times. There must be an answer, finding it is the hard bit. Like very cryptic crossword clues"

yeah I suspect there is. might need to find someone who is good at Rubik's cubes !

[tooSavvy]

3 hours ago, wesacosa said:

yeah I suspect there is. might need to find someone who is good at Rubik's cubes !

YooToob not yerr friend 🤔

"Gunna need a bigger boat mallet!"

🚙💨

[wesacosa]

15 minutes ago, tooSavvy said:

YooToob not yerr friend 🤔

"Gunna need a bigger boat mallet!"

🚙💨

not that I can see. Most people just seem to change the CV joint but they are pretty hard to get hold of in a hurry these days. 

[tooSavvy]

I wonder if that Panda is still 'out in the woods' @Longtown 😵‍💫⚙️🔧

Whitesyke Garage
01228 792110
https://g.co/kgs/MCPi4NY

[EyesWeldedShut]

Just now, tooSavvy said:

I wonder if that Panda is still 'out in the woods' @Longtown 😵‍💫⚙️🔧

Whitesyke Garage
01228 792110
https://g.co/kgs/MCPi4NY

Went past there two weeks ago ......

[Grumblespeed]

I'll have a look, might still have a used one to get it back together until a new part arrives.

[wesacosa]

thanks @Grumblespeed

but  by some miracle its back together although don't ask me how. I was just about to chuck the towel in

its drier than a dry thing though so gonna see if I can pump enough grease in to be happy without taking it apart again 

 

[High Jetter]

That's worse, isn't it? Fixed it, but don't know how. Do it again? No chance.

Flood it with grease and slap it back on sharpish, before your balls go missing again!

[wesacosa]

to be fair I probably could do it again, although it would be tricky with grease 

just incase anyone else is daft enough to take one apart, or I do in the future.....

Line the inner and outer race as per the marks you hopefully made and aim to put back in the correct slot in the housing as pockets are not equispaced  Put one or maybe two balls in, insert in 90 deg rotated posting and then twist so the balls sit in the pockets. You may need to play around with which ball or balls you start with so you can get the races in. I did two next to each other I think. You can the manipulate the innner and outer races so that you can easily get 2 more balls in, but ensuring you don't move things too much to risk the balls dropping out. Once in get them all lined up in their pockets.  The final two you need to do one at a time. Push the opposite side so its as far down as it will go. You may need to lever the opposite side a little to give enough clearance . Place the ball on the rim with the edge partially in the hole in the cage. It looks too big but when you then push the races back down so its in its correct position there is just enough clearance to snap the ball into the cage and sit it in the pocket 

[High Jetter]

Racey balls play! Hope this doesn't get out! 🤣

[wesacosa]

On 23/06/2024 at 18:31, Grumblespeed said:

I'd fit the first boot if the ends are the right size. There's not a lot of clearance between the gaiter and the bottom of the shock and I've had them rub through when I've fitted boots with a fat first pleat like that Amazon one.

with the new gaiter being a fair bit longer is it better to secure the small end at the same point and have the bellows more bunched up or slide the small end further inboard to clamp it?

[Grumblespeed]

I should just fit it where it naturally falls, just clean up the driveshaft so you get a decent seal and don't get rusty crap inside. It's not fouling anything where it goes in so the extra length shouldn't make a difference, it's only there to protect the joint.

[wesacosa]

46 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

I should just fit it where it naturally falls, just clean up the driveshaft so you get a decent seal and don't get rusty crap inside. It's not fouling anything where it goes in so the extra length shouldn't make a difference, it's only there to protect the joint.

cheers think I went too far forward as it strains a bit when manipulating joint. will move back outboard a bit

joint seems quite loose now. not sure if thats due to clean up and fresh grease or an error. does it look a bit floppy?

 

 

[Grumblespeed]

Can't really tell from a video. Whack it on and see if it breaks😉

[wesacosa]

8 minutes ago, Grumblespeed said:

Can't really tell from a video. Whack it on and see if it breaks😉

to be honest I can't think why it would have gone wrong.  It was quite hard to move by hand when I was working the grease in and everything looked to be seated properly