OK, we left off with the axle being ready for re assembly. I spent a few hours putting together an axle dolly to make moving this lug of metal around easier. Worked out quite well. I used 2x4 for economy, a premade one was something like $130 and I had a hard time being able to justify it. I only have one axle.......so far. But it works, and doesn't mar the paint.
The cautious side of me (not the one that bought the car, lol) went back and did a version 2.0 of the axle gaskets. FYI, I find a good pair of scissors better then a razor knife. They fit great, and I have no leaking. Of course, I'll need to check that after she's been a few miles; so far, so good.
I can honestly say it was worth it, these are sooo much cleaner looking.
The 1/2 shafts and brake assemblies slid right in with a little jiggle to mate up the splines.
The 4 bolts that hold the whole thing in were torqued down with the Digital Super Torque 5000 (but wait, there's more......). I would note that little hole in the rotor doesn't line up perfectly with the bolts, but we got to the 25 ft/lbs with no difficulty.
Then the new wheel studs were installed. I used an old lug nut and some anti size lube to press them in with the impact wrench. I used the old ones because the new ones are nice acorn ones.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
The wheel studs are a story in themselves. Short version, I fired Advanced Auto parts. They have had 3 chances. They pooped the bed all three times. The last time, they actually told me to go to O'reilly's; which is where I should have gone to start. They, and NAPA, have been great with parts and advice. So I'm officially down to 2 local suppliers and the interwebs.
The week before labor day weekend a mate of mine called and said his brakes were dragging. He wanted to know if I had ever worked on disk brakes. No. but that's never stopped me. I loaded up the dogs and we were off.
Got to Atlanta in record time, and got The Black Pig in the air. She's a 2006 Saab 9-3 2.0t. He's not a car guy and had 6 different issues including marginal brakes. He was amazed at my trouble shooting abilities, which consisted of wiggling wires and pulling fuses until we found what did what. He as missing two 10 amp ones, which solved 3 of the 6 problems straight away. Now he thinks I'm the Saab whisperer. I wish my wife impressed so easily.
All that made me miss the 9-3 Aero convertible we had in Dubai when she was the brand manager. 2.8l V6 turbo.....it was a sweet ride.
A few false starts and a youtube video later, the fronts were done. It turns out the rears were the issue, with no meat being left on the pads, just metal grinding. We got that sorted the following morning. All bedded in and safely stopping The Pig. I'm not sure how you go that long with out noticing your brakes are crap, but he did. I also aired his tires up properly. Combined it was like an all new car. All he needs now is an AC controller, which I'll have to drive back down for. If only Gabby was as easy.
The Dachshund of War kept busy, discovering 3 baseballs and 2 tennis balls in 24 hours, all in the neighbors yard. Truly talented, that one; since they don't have any kids.
All 3 of us loaded up again, and headed home to get back in time for the new Simon Pegg movie launch. We invited a few of my wife's employees over for a pre launch marathon. Obviously, hot smoked ribs were needed along with other goodies. 4 hours in the smoke at 250 leaves them juicy and falling off the bone. Turns out the new movie sucks, but the ribs were awesome. Corporate spouse win.
Party went off with out a hitch. There were
Hot Fuzz quips all night long. Mrs. Marie was pleased. It's hard to see, but this is her happy face. I think at 16 she's starting to like having company over. No one was harmed.
Labor day plans to jet off to DC were canceled due to timing being poor with my wife's job, so we zipped up the road to Louisville instead. 2 hours vs 10 makes a difference in the relaxation level. We got to see the Slugger museum and the Woodford Reserve distillery. Both very cool and well worth the time. Louisville has a nice little beer scene and the people watching was a great change to rural Kentucky. I miss being able to sit on a sidewalk and just watch a big slice of life walk by. Good car watching too.
And today, I took apart the old anvil stand. I built it in South Africa to hold a Japanese style knife anvil I made. But when we moved to Atlanta, I found a local 360 pound one in a more traditional English pattern. Way better rebound and efficiency in striking.
I cut it down so that the new 360#er could be in full time service.
Wednesday I'll get the forge set up and a new work bench built to finalize the organization. I've sort of let it go during the heat of the summer and with the car being worked on. But with the summer heat fading and the humidity dropping, forging season is almost here. Also, my wife needs a stress outlet and banging on hot steel has a way of taking it right out of you.