MGD72Monte Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Just thought I would share some daily driver news and a pretty effective red neck temporary repair. My daily driver is a mid 80s GM front wheel drive and I'm trying to keep it as long as I can still buy parts. Last Sunday night I was checking tire pressure when I noticed some grease splattered in the front right wheel. A quick look underneight revealed the CV boot had finally split wide open . It had surface cracks for the longest time. Sunday night is never a good time to start a repair and I needed the car the next day so to hold me over for the week until I got time and parts I used some plastic sheeting, hockey tape (I was all out of duct tape ) and some tie straps. This worked quite well for the entire week and contained the grease. Now I am in the process of replacing the axle shaft this weekend. I also noticed that the brake hose I replaced about 10 years ago is about to blow (has two large swollen blisters ) so I guess it's good that I'm in there. The Haynes manual says to replace the wheel seal (also called steering knuckle seal) when replacing the shaft. but I'm thinking it might be re-useable . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G. Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaman Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 nice fix... I should snap a couple pics of the repair I did a couple weeks ago on the exhaust for my daily driven ricer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Well I manage to replace the shaft and I even decided to splurge and get a new wheel seal. However, there is one part I couldn't re-use and cannot find. It's called a slinger according to the diagram that came with the new seal. It is shown below on the old shaft. I'm thinking you're supposed to re-use this but it might has well have been welded on the shaft and made of soft pasta. Another victim of the salt conspiracy . When you install the shaft without this piece there is a leftover gap as per below . As I understand it, this part helps keep contamination splashed up by the wheel from damaging the seal that protects the hub bearing. Again I need the car for the week so in an effort to minimize contamination until I come up with a better plan. I came up with another red neck temp repair. I used more of that hockey tape and gave it a few wraps to fill the gap. Gave it a quick test drive, seems to be holding. Not sure where to go from here, looked on the Internet and did not find anything. The junk yards around here have long crushed all cars like mine. Any ideas out there? Red neck or otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robs70monte Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 What kind of car is it i can look out back at work to see if there's any cars with OK looking axles the set up your car has looks to be the same as the 1980-1987 buick regals and Rivieras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 Thanks Rob, it is actually of the 80 to 85 Buick Skylark, Chev Citation, Oldsmobile Omega, Pontiac Phoenix family. The car is a Buick Skylark front wheel drive 2.8V6. I the absence of options I actually went back to the old shaft and chiseled the original off. Here it is below. The good news is I was able to get it off much to my surprise, then bend it back into shape (sorta) but I'm going to have to figure out how to refurbish it. I'm thinking of taking measurements before I sandblast it because I'm not sure hom much will be left. Any ideas how to build this up are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaman Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Good job getting it off. I would probably recommend getting your measurements, a new sheet of metal and a block of hardwood. Cut the outside diameter of the ring and the inside diameter taking into account the material needed for the lip. then cut/drill a hole in the hardwood the same diameter as the opening in the ring. then "hammer-form" the lip using the wood as a "buck". I hope I expained that ok... I'm sure there are other ways to do it but that was the first that came to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Thanks Steve, I just sandblasted the original. I have thought about a home made one and I'll keep that as an option. My concern was that this item is a precise interference fit with the axle and that is what holds it in place as it rotates at the speed of the wheels. The original is solid in the area where it fits to the axle. I think as long as that is solid, the rest can be built up. I'm considering a few options to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 To close off this post, here are some photos of the final fix. After sandblasting there was noticeably less material, nevertheless I painted what was left with a rust paint. To build the part back up I used some electric tape as a frame to form the shape where the shell was almost gone. I stuck it on with some JB Weld then used JB Weld to strengthen the form. On the side which still had some material left, I just used some JB Weld to fill in the holes and strengthen the cracks. Why electrical tape? I chose it because, much like plastic, it does not rot out in the elements. The only problem it usually has is the glue turns to goo. In this case that should not be an issue because I used JB Weld as a substitute for the glue. I re-disconnected the shaft from the steering knuckle, took off my improvised Hockey tape shield (it kept me on the road for the week) and installed the refurbished slinger. And with the whole thing re-assembled. Gave it a quick test drive and called 'er good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyKenny Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Wow nice mcgivering there on your part haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGD72Monte Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 Thanks Kenny, that's what you are faced with when the car is 27 years old and it is not a classic for which there is a repro market . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.