The Stag is ready to run once more
Now that the new Limora CV-jointed driveshafts were fitted to my Stag, the final assembly was required, replacing the rear brakes and hubs, then fitting the wheels so it could be taken on test drive to see what improvements had resulted. Prior to replacing the brake shoes and drums, the nuts securing the inner hub flange to the trailing arm required careful tensioning as the 3/8in studs are screwed into the aluminium trailing arm and it is easy to over tighten and strip the thread. The hub outer flange has holes drilled in it to allow access for a socket on a 3/8in drive torque wrench to access the retaining nuts, so allowing them to be secured without damaging the threads.
Although I have removed and refitted the rear brake shoes on a number of occasions, I always find replacing the shoe retaining springs difficult. I am not sure whether this is due to the new springs fitted during the restoration being extra strong, or just normal
for a Stag. I have devised a method that involves clamping the shoes in place and then using wire loops and a lever to correctly position the three springs that are fitted to each hub, but it still always seems to take far more time than would normally be expected. After finally getting the springs into position, the shoes could then be centred, allowing the drums to slide on and be retained with two small screws.
The M20 x 1.5 threaded hub retaining nut in the centre of the drum required torquing to 240Nm. Initial attempts were thwarted by my inability to prevent the drum and shaft from rotating whilst tightening the nut. I could have removed the centre disc from the alloy wheels prior to fitting them, then with the car sitting on the ground and the wheels securely chocked the centre nut could be accessed with a socket and torqued up. Instead I chose to drill a long bar with two holes spaced to locate over two adjacent wheel studs so that the bar could be tightly attached to the drum, allowing the outer end to be prevented from rotating by wooden blocks on top of a trolley. The centre nut was then able to be torqued to the correct figure, and I realised that by reversing the position of the bar I could check that the nuts attaching the inner driveshaft flange were correctly tightened too, giving them a final tweak if necessary. There was not sufficient room to use a socket and torque wrench on these nuts, but by having the shaft locked tight, I could use a ring or opened ended spanner to get the nuts tight and close to recommended torque.
Whilst working around the rear wheelarches I noticed that the paintwork on the lower edges was getting some minor chips from stones being thrown
up from the rear wheels. I live in a relatively rural area where most houses are built on a land area between one and five acres. Consequently most local roads do not have pavements or kerbs, resulting in plenty of loose gravel laying along the edges of the relatively narrow roads that gets flicked up by the tyres.
The car had been painted in acrylic lacquer that is not as hard and chip-resistant as modern two pack finishes, so some minor paint chipping in vulnerable areas was inevitable. When the car was originally restored, I had purchased a pair of rear Stag branded mudflaps from Rimmer Bros, and now seeing the stone chips I decided that it would be a good idea to fit them! Although the mudflaps had the Stag name on them, they were obviously a universal design and had a number of optional blind fixing holes that were partially drilled through the rubber. After a few minutes of trial and error, the best mudflap location was decided upon which determined which fixing bolt holes were required and subsequently drilled completely through the rubber.
The wheelarch lip was covered in a few of layers of masking tape that enabled the correct hole position to be marked and easily seen, and also afforded some protection to the paint during the drilling.
After marking the position of screw holes and using a spirit level to check the flaps were level, small dot marks were made with a spring punch allowing pilot holes to be drilled. The initial holes were drilled with a small bit that has a finer tip, thus reducing the tendency for the drill bit to wander and damage the paint. I used a right-angle battery powered drill so the drill bit could be positioned at right angles to the lip of the wing, reducing the chance of the drill point wandering. ( The limited space between the wing lip and brake drum prevents access for a conventional battery drill.)
The holes were then enlarged to the correct size, then after a successful trial fit of both mudflaps, the holes were painted, firstly in primer then in Carmine Red top coat. Whilst I had the paint tins open, the stone chips on the lower sections of the rear wings were touched up to prevent formation of rust – having the car in the air on the hoist made this a simple task compared to crawling around on the floor.
The rear wheels were then fitted and the car lowered to the ground, ready for a test. My initial test was around my local roads, with a brief run up the highway where I could travel at the 110km/ h speed limit to ensure that there was no out- of-balance with the newly fitted shafts. All seemed to be fine, and the overall ride seemed to be an improvement over this short test. I will take the car on a longer club run with more sweeping faster bends as soon as I can to get a better idea on the handling improvements.