I am having tremendous fun making my newly-acquired Libra fit for an MOT test. The minor crash damage is no great problem - a bit of grinding and a little fibre-glassing, followed by some paint will sort that out. It's more the effects of antiquity that are troublesome. The first snag was that the passenger door could not be opened. The lock and latch mechanisms all appeared to function okay, so I had a good look as a spare metro latch which I have. It appears that the latch which releases the striker is free to rotate slightly when the lever activating it is moved by the door button, and it looked as if there was scope for this to jam if rusty. So, a week of dousing with a mixture of WD40 and thin machine oil (Esso Nutol - rust inhibiting, as it happens) followed by some GENTLE tapping, and the door opened. Once this was achieved, it was clear that the latch was indeed rusty - so it might be a good idea to apply occasional helpings of lubricant to prevent. Once the door was open, it was obvious that attempts had been made to lever it open with a screwdriver - there was a fair bit of damage to the gelcoat, and of course, levering was never going to work. Now the door is open, I can see that the hinge "top hat" inserts need replacing - a lathe job, unless I can find some spares lurking amongst the remains of my old K3.

Next rust problem: Is there a magic trick for removing the inner ball joints from the ream trailing arms - other, that is, than an hour's hard work with a 3lb club hammer? The problem is plain - the thread on the ball joint is a good centimetre longer than that into which it screws, leaving an exposed length to rust. You'd have thought it would be safe from wet in the hollow interior of the trailing arm, but it would seem not. I suppose it would do no harm to shorten the thread of the ball joint, to the same length as the female thread - after all, the extra bit is not actually doing anything. Any reasons against? Also, does any one happen to know what the thread is on the ball-joint, as I need to get a tap to tidy up the threads in the arm - dragging the old joint out seems to have ragged the thread slightly, and the usual trick of grinding a flat on the male to use as a tap is not working - or I am too feeble to turn it!

Incidentally, on the recommendation of this forum, I have bought FAI replacement b-js, and note that the tapered bit has a 6mm hex socket at the end - which must make both fitting and removal a great deal easier - I had to use the grinder to remove the nut from an old one, as the taper had released, and I could see no other way, due to lack of access. So one up for the forum - and FAI.

Back to the brakes now - when I fathom how to load pics from my camera to the computer, I'll post a mildly interesting example of totally Toffee cable routing.

The thread of the BJ that goes into the trailing arms is 11/16" x 16TPI UNS.

I cleaned out the thread once using an old BJ with two cuts sawn 10mm(ish) in the end cross wise to act like a tap, just remove any fash off the cuts beforehand. (plenty of lube too!)

I always Waxoyled those threads very well so never had a removal problem. I'd say clamp the arm in a vice and put a long lever on the sticky up bit - either a long tube or drill a hole in a long stout bit of wood and hold in place with the nut.

I thought the tube on the inner side of the arms was threaded all the way. If you're sure there's a section hanging free I see no reason not to remove it, that said I probably would just use plenty o Waxoyl to protect it.

SAS

Thanks for info, Sidewinder - I assume you meant UNF?? As for the undoing, the blighters are more stuck than that, but I shall certainly be applying the waxoyl - I thought I'd left that all behind when my sons left home, taking their RS Turbos/RS Fiestas etc with them. No more rust!!?? Ha ha!

No, they are UNS thread not UNF.

The TRE parts come in RH & LH threads for the Landrover but I think GTM uses only RH thread parts.

Tried heat and/or penetrating fluid (not WD40) also?

SAS

Thanks for enhancing my education, Sidewinder, I had not come across Unified Standard before, which is a little surprising as I was involved in the electro-plating of billions of threaded components back in the day when I was properly employed. Never too old to learn something new!
I'd already used penetrating fluid and heat, but actually, three feet of scaffold pole impressed the ironmongery sufficiently to budge. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Thankfully, I have a pretty hefty stainless steel work bench, which cost someone a small fortune, but which was a gift to me when an engineering company local to me closed down.
I checked again, and the female threads for the inner ball joints are indeed a good deal shorter than the threads on the joints themselves, so I think I will abbreviate the latter to make future un-doings a little easier. And Waxoyl!

Hi,
For the hinge top hat, this post might help.
post16357.html?hilit=Door%20bush#p16357
Might save making your own?
Cheers
Juls

No problem making them myself, but the oilite is a good idea - and at that price probably cheaper than the acetal or nylon that I would use/waste making my own. Thanks for the tip.