Kit 10 - Rear Axle, 2nd Shaft, Bearing Housings & Caps etc.

I am starting this thread as Kit 10 has just arrived..... having glanced at the instructions it appears that most of the large items in this kit are only dry-fitted, and will then need to be removed.  I will put a few photos on here as I go along for future builders to look at. If anyone has any pearls of wisdom regarding this kit, please feel free to comment !!  



Here is a picture of the items after they have been unwrapped - there is some fettling to be done and some cleaning up of the castings and then I will start to fit the parts to the hornplate assembly.

This kit is off and running with the surface of the axle tube cleaned up a bit - not too much as it still needs to have some “character” - and the bearings have been glued into the axle tube and the axle test-fitted.

Here is a tip for new builders, which I learned when I put my first wheel bearing in a few months ago......when the instructions say “the bearings should be a good sliding fit....” What the instructions SHOULD say is “The bearings MUST be a good sliding fit , with no friction whatsoever BEFORE you attempt to glue them in, otherwise they can get stuck halfway after you have applied the Loctite and you won’t be able to get them in or out”

My other tip is to draw a couple of lines, one on the bearing and one on the axle to ensure that the holes line up when you are gently tapping the bearing into place.

Here is my next tip.... look carefully at the bottom of the axle tube casting near where the bolts will go through.... there is a good chance that you will need to file away some metal so that the washers will seat flat, otherwise it’s very difficult to do up the bolts.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that you don’t need to cut the bolts down so that they don’t stick through the side of the hornplates -  I guess the Factory used to supply just one washer, but now there are two, the bolts are fine.

I seem to have a gap of about 1.5mm between the hornplate and the end of the second shaft (see picture) The other end of the second shaft is fully located and the countersunk bolts have been tightened. .... I don’t want to tighten these bolts any more or I will distort the hornplate (which currently has an equal distance to the other one at both the front and the back).  Is this an issue ?  Thanks for any advice.

Further progress has been made and I now have the components “dry-fitted”. I can see how important this stage is because you don’t want to be messing around with files, drills and angle grinder after everything has been painted. The right-hand bearing carrier went on fine after a bit of grinding and filing of the face that is next to rear spec. plate. I have 2 small countersunk bolts left over - I haven’t figured out where they go yet.

I haven’t posted for a while. I was sidetracked for a few weeks painting and installing lighting, coving, picture rails etc., into one of my wife’s miniature houses. It is a model of a Georgian London  Townhouse.... So after finishing that for her, I have been finishing off some painting of the parts in this kit. I was expecting to pay a deposit on the cylinder casting (Kit 11A) last month, but I didn’t hear from the factory , so maybe there has been a delay. No problem - I will be patient.  

It’s getting a bit cold for painting stuff now, although I had wanted to get the first topcoats onto the outside of the hornplates. Maybe I will warm up the garage at the weekend and have a crack at them. I don’t want to get too fancy with topcoats yet as I am fully expecting some issues when I come to assembly, so I will wait to do 2nd topcoats for a while.