Pre-Christmas Skiving

I had the day of work today... Guess where I spent it! 

The chassis is now up on the build stands, rather than axle stands. Marlin DHL'd them up at the beginning of the week, And boy does it make a huge difference. I can get under the car very easily now, and with the stands being on castors I can move the whole chassis around the garage:

As you can see, I've managed to get the trailing arms bolted onto the chassis:

And I've managed to drive the rear hubs into the bearings, after re-attaching the brake disc shields:

I also cleaned up the drive shaft bolts and washers, and gave them a coat of paint to keep the rust at bay:

Whilst I had the brushes out, I also gave the Marlin modified front uprights (they've chopped them down to size and welded a threaded collar on the top) a coat of POR15 paint. This stuff is great - very tough - but it is not UV stable. So once it's dry, they'll get a couple of coats of smooth black satin Hammerite to keep the sun off them:

I also started to paint the modified rear springs. Marlin cut a couple of turns off, and then collapse the top most part so the spring has a flat 'base' to engage on the chassis's top most spring seats:

Finally, I modified the original BMW 'witches hat' top spring seat rubbers. On the donor, these slipped over a peg on the car, and the spring engaged with the 'pointy' bit of the hat shape. The Marlin seats are more like cups on threaded stubs (so you can adjust the height of the springs). So I cut the pointy bit out of the middle, and slipped the rubber ring that was left over the cup. The pointy bit was then trimmed and bored out to fit the threaded stub:

The flat bit of the spring will engage with the seat on the top - the cup will slip inside the spring. The smaller end will locate on the lug on the trailing arm.

I've also ordered some more parts, so I can get the rear end pretty much sorted out - Brake discs, pads, shock mounts & hand brake shoes. 

So I should be able to crack on after Christmas, as I doubt I'll be allowed in the garage over the festive period. Something to with being 'sociable'...   ;)