Double Feature Part II: Engine Paint and Pass. wheel bearing replacement

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER.    

Sorry for all (probably one) of you that read this; I had to play a bit of catch-up on some other non-car related projects. I wasn't able to type this up in time.

Anyway, this one is quick because not a lot was done.  Though with all this out of the way, the fun part starts hopefully this Friday!

Painting the Engine!

Gallon of acetone from NAPA, a bloody mary (thanks Lea) and a microfiber cloth.  I scrubbed and cleaned the engine of hopefully all particles and goop that would cause an issue with paint.

Not pictured, my stupid face.

Once everything was cleaned off, time to wrap everything up and prep for the painting.  I had some plastic and a ton of newspaper.  So with some blue tape, I begin the painstakingly SLOW process of taping everything off.  This is by FAR the worst and most boring part.

Pictured:  the crankshaft not secured in place.

"Cool, now that I'm finished with this side, I'll just rotate the engine and- "

...

...


CLANG!!!!

Not pictured anymore: that same crankshaft.  Also, my damaged pride.

I am a tremendous dumbass and dropped the crank onto the floor when I rotated the engine.    Yes, pretty much worst case scenario. But after inspecting the crank, journals were still pristine and no visible damage to the counter weights that it fell evenly on.  

So yeah, going to pretend that never happened.

LESSON FOR YOU NEWBIES OUT THERE: IF THE CRANK ISN'T SECURE, GO PUT IT IN A SECURE PLACE.  AT ALL TIMES.  GOD I SUCK SO MUCH  AARRRRGGGGG

After my little exciting episode of the drops, I finished off taping the engine up.    Now to start painting.  Which literally takes 10 minutes at max.

Just wanted to document the numbers here for history's sake.

Engine, Ford Blue.  Check.  My face, Embarrassed Red (still). Check.

With that done, I bought some replacement dust caps for the car.  One to replace the driver side one I lost and another one for when inevitably lose that one too.

Gotta paint them black so they match my wheels.  Chrome is for suckers.

Sunday: Passenger Side wheel bearing/race replacement

Second verse, same as the first.   This time with more pictures.

Tire the wheel off.  (I love these tires)

Then, take the Brake Calipers off and don't let 'em pull on the brake hose.

Plenty of lighting but honestly, I can't make out anything in this picture.  I took about a million of them and they kept coming out like this.  Plus, I'm so shaky, I couldn't take a clear camera phone picture for the life of me!

Take Dust cap off with a screwdriver or some sort of flat head.  Mine popped right off and some how managed to roll far away from me.

Pull out the cotter pin and TOSS it.  

Give it a proper burial.  After all, it and the wheel nut is the only thing keeping that thing on your car.

Take the nut lock ...thingy...off.  (Clean it and save it for later)

Take the Wheel Jesus nut off.  Clean it, bless it and set it aside.

Also take off the lock washer underneath the nut as well.

Slide the rotor off the spindle.
Remove and toss old bearings, the grease seal and races.

 I cleaned it all up with some brake cleaner.  Don't let s*** get inside of there.

Side Note about the races (or bearing cups if you will): If you are prepared - you'll go get some race drivers and removers from the store or rent them.  If you're me, you use a narrow punch and hammer to nail the ever living snot out of them until they pop out each side.

Make sure everything is clean.  

After a dab of grease on the outside of the races, drive em home until they are firmly seated.

NOT PICTURED: about 20 minutes of me packing 2 bearings full of grease.  Again.  Ugh.

After that, my hands were too dirty to take pictures. But basically, you slather the inside of the rotor with grease, then slide it back onto the spindle.  (Make sure you clean everything first, spindle, wheel splash guard, rotor, everything.) Also, use a NEW cotter pin when everything is back together.

Tighten the wheel nut finger tight. Spin the wheel. Tighten again. Repeat until you can't do it anymore.  Then give her about 16 ft lbs of torque (or about a quarter turn I think?) and you're done!  The whole thing took me about two hours and I was taking my time cleaning things.  Pretty simple actually.

Wait, the dust cap....   MY GOD, the dust caps;  I spent about 45 minutes hammering, bending, tweaking with that thing until it finally popped into place.  But I can assure everyone, it isn't going anywhere. EVER.

Anyway, wrapping up, hopefully next Friday, the real engine work begins.

Until then, I'm going to have nightmares of dropping more crankshafts.