This is a historical post from Jan 2018 I’m catching up on. Not only is the build slow. So is my blogging.
I’ve managed to get in some decent weekend hours in the garage but it’s the sort of slow and steady progress that doesn’t make for interesting blog posts. One thing I have definitely learnt the past couple of weeks… Always wear protection!
I’m normally pretty good about stuff like this but for some reason didn’t wear goggles & mask while cleaning the first rear upright. Well… Lesson learnt. I’ve been using a little Dremel grinding wheel to clean parts and it kicks up an inordinate amount of really fine rust (plus the odd bigger chunk flying out). It’s basically unavoidable to get some in your lungs and eyes while cleaning parts for any period of time if you don’t wear the right gear. This meant a trip down to eye casualty for me on Thursday to let a doctor pick at my eye with a needle and a q-tip, followed by antibiotic cream 4 times a day for a week. Oops…
Reflecting back on this nearly 2 years later. This was horrible. The eye pain was so bad it was making my whole head hurt. I was really lucky not to do any permanent damage. Seriously… Always wear protection. Don’t just do a safety squint!
Glad I didn’t do any lasting damage at least! I’ve been back out there this weekend to get through most of the components needed to rebuild the rear running gear.
Next up on the job-list is
- Shopping list – I need to do some research here and make sure that I try to get all the parts in one go. Means I don’t end up missing a key part during assembly and I only pay for shipping once.
- Drive shafts – These need degreasing as the end that goes in the differential is still properly manky. Then get them stripped down and repainted.
- Painting – Apply Hammerite liberally to the uprights, hubs and driveshafts
- Assembly – Get everything together, plan, double check the plan, plan again and then try putting it all together.
I won’t write an article for each part that I clean up, as it’d make for some pretty boring blogging. I will post photos to Instagram for the different parts though https://www.instagram.com/daves_roadrunner_sr2/ as it’s low effort and I find the pictures quite cathartic 🙂
