Rear Axle Strip Down - Part 2

The next step in dismantling the rear hub carriers was to remove the brake shield.  This needs to be cut down as part of the AK build so the fact that the edges were all rusted and knackered did not matter.  My main issue, as I mentioned previously was that the holes for the handbrake shoe retaining pins are distorted and oversized on both sides and don't look like they will hold the pins in place for long! - so I will need to come up with a fix at some point

The shield is held in place by four torx head screws (2 upper / 2 lower).  The first side came undone relatively easily using a spanner on the shaft of a torx-head screwdriver to loosen the screws.  The second side proved more troublesome.  The two lower (larger) screws came out no bother but the smaller upper screws would not shift.

Attempting to undo them with the spanner / torx screwdriver combination eventually stripped the head sufficiently that I could not get any purchase with the torx driver.  Plan B was to cut a slot in the top of each screw with a dremel and try again with a large flat-bladed screw driver.  That didn't work, so Plan C involved buying an impact screwdriver from Toolstation.  Unfortunately that didn't work either.

Plan D involved using a blowtorch to try and get some heat into the aluminium hub carrier and using a hammer and cold chisel to try and drift the screws out.  I thought I was getting somewhere when the screw started to turn after a few clouts with the hammer.  At this point I switched to the impact driver and slowly but steadily the screw started turning......

Well the screw head started turning - after two turns the head sheared off leaving the rest of the screw thread still in the hub carrier.  It was a similar story with the second screw.

Today's tools include a blowtorch, impact driver, hammer and cold chisel.

The result being sheared off screw heads....

So another job to add to the list later which will involve trying to drill out the rest of the screws and re-tap the holes.

With the brake shield off, I could then remove handbrake retaining clip and cable and then the inner and outer oil seals from both hubs together with the bearings.  The outer bearing races were drifted out quite easily.  The inner races required me to purchase a new 1.5kg club hammer as my dad's old and trusty hammer was just not up to the job!

Farewell to my dad's trusty club hammer - welcome Mjolnir!!

I removed the lower fulcrum sleeve and taper bearings by using a socket to knock one end of the sleeve out of the bearing which enabled the sleeve with one bearing attached to be removed and the other bearing could then be pried out easily with a screwdriver.  All the bearings and seals looked in quite good condition from the outside but removal of the second shaft was accompanied by a large pile of rust.  One bearing was completely rusted up - good job these will all be replaced!

One rusted up hub fulcrum taper bearing (and one not so..)

And the accompanying rusted bearing race

I'm a bit stumped how to get the taper bearing races out.  There are two slots (visible in picture above) behind the race but I can't work out how to get any kind of drift in behind them to knock the races out.  I don't want to try and pry them out from the front in case of damaging the aluminium hub carrier.  A pause for thought is required.