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I remove the valve cover to replace the gasket
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This gasket was in bad shape
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Then I can put the gearbox back into place
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Here is one of the areas that needs to be painted before putting back the gearbox onto the engine
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The clutch control arm needs to be cleaned
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The levers are back into place after sandblasting, primer and lubrication
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The new release ring doesn’t fit correctly…
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… it’s slightly different from the original one…
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… I had to make deeper holes for the holding clamps to fit correctly
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Here is everything back into place
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I can then put back the main gearbox axle
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The axle is easy to install but the holding clip is another story
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Here is the clip installed, after numerous “f” words 😉
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The nose cover is back into place also
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Then I apply a coat of paint on the engine and gearbox blocks, with a paintbrush
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It will act as a good base coat and on cast iron the paintbrush doesn’t leave marks
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I put back everything I can to paint in one shot
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I’m going to use a airbrush to be able to reach areas that are difficult to reach
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I won’t paint the dynamo in green color…
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… because even under the cover ring the color is black, so I guess this is the original color
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I use masking tape wherever needed…
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… I install the drivetrain on rolling carts…
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… I bring everything in the garage I use for my everyday car, it’s separated from the rest of the garage/workshop
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And here is the result after the first coat of paint
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This is always a polyurethane paint with the RAL6020 color code
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I’m happy with the overall result
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But I didn’t protect enough the garage from paint fumes and projections, so the floor paint I did last year will need to be redone one again. I used water on the floor but it was not enough
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To avoid more damage, I did the second coat outside
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It looks very nice to me…
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… even if I’ll have to do some touch-ups, especially underneath the engine
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Then comes the time to prepare the engine bay
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The left side is in bad shape, I can’t simply do some cleaning
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The hydraulic fluid did some serious damage
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The hydraulic tank will require attention, esthetically, but also because one of the return tubes needs to be welded again
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Beginning of the cleaning operation and a bad surprise…
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… paint disappears at some point
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On the right side it’s better and the objective is to keep the original manufacturing marks on the fire wall
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At the front, I do what I can but even after cleaning it’s not very nice
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To keep the manufacturing marks, I decide to simply apply black paint, to make things clean
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I initially wanted to apply the exterior color but to do that correctly, it would have been too much work
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So I just paint to get a clean look. I apply the paint with a paintbrush, the result is “good enough”, not more
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I reduced the car weight with all the dirt I removed 😉 But I didn’t clean the interior of the engine bay
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Then I replace the steering cylinder boots
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Their installation is not easy, and I suspect the quality of the remanufactured boots, as they don’t fit very well
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I first reuse the previous clamps…
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… but I don’t like the result…
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… so I finally replace them with Ligarex clamps
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Then I work on the wheel bearing seals (inside the “pivot”, not sure of the exact name). Here we barely see the seal under the dirt…
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… but once removed, we see the difference
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Here on the left this is the exterior seal (transmission side) and on the right side this is the interior seal (brake drum side). I’ll try to fond similar seals because I don’t like those sold by the Traction Avant parts specialists, as I don’t want to have the same issue I had with the seals on the transmission axle housings
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Here is another issue with remanufactured parts: the rubber part covering the gearbox control lever is too long…
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… so I cut to keep only the end portion…
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… and here is the result after gluing back the pieces together
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It’s clean and levers won’t touch the rubber even in extreme position
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Here are the transmission plates back into place, there are new, hoping they will be leak-free (but once again, they are remanufactured parts so I’m not sure)
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Then comes an important step, reassembling the front brakes
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Cylinders are new and I repainted all sheet metal parts so it’s quite nice
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Both plates have to be kept together, but for the moment it’s not difficult or risky
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This is when you put the springs back that the operation becomes difficult…
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… if you don’t strongly keep the plates together, springs can fly easily up to your face 😉
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Here is everything back into place on the right side
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Brake shoes are new. They have been glued into place, not riveted
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Same result on the left side. I’m proud to not have received any spring into my eyes 😉
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Speaking about brakes, I discovered that the brake line was damaged on the right side…
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… it can’t be repaired…
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… so my supplier sells me a copper tube, even if I have little doubts about the original material
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I shape the tube the best I can
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It begins to take shape…
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… but when I cut both tubes I clearly see that the original tube is stronger, so it’s not simply made of copper, at least not 100 %…
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… so my supplier sells me a steel tube especially designed for brake lines. It’s protected from corrosion, it explains the green color and the inside seems copper coated or something like that. It should do the work but it will be harder to shape !
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I found the seals for the wheel pivots, they are made from steel, that’s what I was looking for, so I hope they will be easy to install