So firstly apologies for the radio silence... It's been a crazy hectic period, but there have been some updates. Did it get to Le Mans - let's see!
About 10 days before the trip, I felt a grumbling in the passenger rear wheel - sure enough, the bearing was failing. So bought a replacement, and put aside 3 or 4 hours to do the job. well, I spent that time just trying to split the hub! Eventually, having broken my hub puller, I whipped off the halfshaft and hub, and took it to a local machine shop that specialises in commercial vehicles. They put it into their 20 tonne press, applied all the pressure, soaked it in all the penetrating oil, applied all the heat, shocked it, left it overnight, and... TADA! A broken hydraulic press... seriously, this wasn't going to let go. We're now about 5 days before the trip, so contacted a scrappers, got a replacement hub and shaft. 3 days before the trip, I bolt it all up, and TADA! the new bearing was worse than the original. So I whipped it off , and replaced it with the original (finishing off at about 2am, checking that everything was bolted down properly) while I planned to press out the bearing on my own new 20 tonne press. Took it for a spin round the block to see how bad the grumble was. What I didn't take into account was the hub being heavily soaked in penetrating oil. I really didn't take into account the studs that were also soaked in the oil. Anyhow when I stopped at a roundabout 1/4 mile up the road, the rear felt off, and I thought "Oh great, now the bearing is splitting...". Best get it home then. Pulled forward, the rear collapsed, and the wheel bounced past me onto the roundabout. Turned out the nuts cannot hold on the oiled thread, so jacked the car back up to height (happily that ground clearance really helps!), bolted the wheel back on REALLY tight, and tentatively started the short drive home - got opposite the house, and the wheel fell off again!
I took the 330 vert to Le Mans. The mx5 sits in disgust on the driveway while (a) we build a stonking great extension on the house, and (b) find time to sort the bearing on the spare bits and repair.
It is what it is...
About 10 days before the trip, I felt a grumbling in the passenger rear wheel - sure enough, the bearing was failing. So bought a replacement, and put aside 3 or 4 hours to do the job. well, I spent that time just trying to split the hub! Eventually, having broken my hub puller, I whipped off the halfshaft and hub, and took it to a local machine shop that specialises in commercial vehicles. They put it into their 20 tonne press, applied all the pressure, soaked it in all the penetrating oil, applied all the heat, shocked it, left it overnight, and... TADA! A broken hydraulic press... seriously, this wasn't going to let go. We're now about 5 days before the trip, so contacted a scrappers, got a replacement hub and shaft. 3 days before the trip, I bolt it all up, and TADA! the new bearing was worse than the original. So I whipped it off , and replaced it with the original (finishing off at about 2am, checking that everything was bolted down properly) while I planned to press out the bearing on my own new 20 tonne press. Took it for a spin round the block to see how bad the grumble was. What I didn't take into account was the hub being heavily soaked in penetrating oil. I really didn't take into account the studs that were also soaked in the oil. Anyhow when I stopped at a roundabout 1/4 mile up the road, the rear felt off, and I thought "Oh great, now the bearing is splitting...". Best get it home then. Pulled forward, the rear collapsed, and the wheel bounced past me onto the roundabout. Turned out the nuts cannot hold on the oiled thread, so jacked the car back up to height (happily that ground clearance really helps!), bolted the wheel back on REALLY tight, and tentatively started the short drive home - got opposite the house, and the wheel fell off again!
I took the 330 vert to Le Mans. The mx5 sits in disgust on the driveway while (a) we build a stonking great extension on the house, and (b) find time to sort the bearing on the spare bits and repair.
It is what it is...
