68: Monday 16th November 2009

I chose the 'phone-a-friend' option and my friend and very capable mechanic Mick came round. After about 2 minutes trying to pry the lower ball joint apart he suggested we undo the hub nut and disconnect the hub from the strut. Thankfully I had borrowed the 32mm socket and torque wrench from my brother, so with my foot firmly on the brake pedal Mick took the hub nut off, disconnected the hub and swung it down. Then we tapped the CV joint free from the hub and took it in the garage for a good clean. Mick then fitted the CV joint to the end of the drive shaft and checked it was fully home, fed it back through the hub, we fitted the hub nut, and he left me cheerful to finish putting all the rest of the bolts back in. I fitted the CV joint boot and clipped it on. Then the wheel was fitted back on and after about an hour I was back indoors. A good session. Now I am ready to mount the electric motor. Hopefully I can catch up by the weekend and be ready to start mounting the batteries. Now it feels like I am building an electric car. Up until this point I have just rebuilt the probe and tidied up as original. Everything I had done so far was preparation for installing the electric drive. Now the fun begins. Thankfully I have already had it all set up and working on my garage floor, the next challenge is getting it all to fit in the car. Oh and I still have the fuel tank to remove (don't forget that old chestnut....).