I wandered out to the shed this morning and had a good stare at the job. Staring at the job has been an integral part of many things I have done over the years,in fact if it weren't for staring at the job most things I have tried would have reached a conclusion, successful or otherwise , much sooner. So, at that point I decided to do something.
I found a piece of packing that would maintain the distance between the housing and the rear "leg" as it was that gap closing that had caused everything to bind up and ended with the large TWANG mentioned in the last episode....In an uncharacteristic move I wired the piece of packing securely so that if it did let go I wouldn't be on the receiving end. I got a pair of calipers so I'd be able to see how much it was moving......
The first few swings on the pipe that I was using as an extension weren't promising, it didn't have the firm but even feel telling me it was moving....I thought "maybe the thread is a little tortured" so I went to the other end, that felt better...... I should have put the Torque wrench on it so I could give you an exact figure but it felt like close to a hundred pounds on the 12 inch wrench I had on it.
This pic shows from the left , the hole cut in the axle tube to plug weld the insert, the piece of scrap I use to make sure the insert pulled
through the housing and the packing washers on the end of the insert....
It's not perfect yet but it looks like we're pretty close....
So I had a crack at fitting the bearing seat.....it's getting there