Blue Mule resto in Malawi

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Thank you, Keith!

Finally tonight, a huge THANK YOU to Keith Richardson. Got a nice little packet today from S Africa - a replacement spare carrier hinge pin he had made up for me to replace the one damaged by the panel beater's BFH. Perfect! :D:bounce::clap:
Carrier-pin.webp
 
Its a pleasure

I'm glad the Malawi customs didnt sieze it
 
Wow! But that is just "zinc paint" isn't it?

(I can't see anyone hot-dip galvanising brake drums!)
 
Blago - zdravei, brat! Chudesna rabota. Great work!

Restavratsia si shte buda sladka. That's gonna be a sweet restoration. :clap::clap:

Nikopolis ad Istrum - I love that place. Still undiscovered by most...

Blagodarya za novosti - thanks for the update. I'll check your thread right now.

:cheers:
 
Just a small update... I hope to do a few of these over the next week or so. Taking a week from work to do some serious :wrench::wrench:ing.

Finally got by the panel beater on Friday afternoon and the tub is now BLUE! :D:clap: It looks good. The seams are obvious to anyone who knows they should be sealed up, but I'll deal with that when the mule is back in the States. Shouldn't be a difficult job for a good shop to close up the seams and match the paint.

More importantly - the PB thinks they will be able to deliver the tub and bits I left for rhino lining on Tuesday. Fingers crossed :hhmm:

In the garage yesterday, got the front hubs finished up.
Bearing-grease.webp
Hub-disc-on.webp
Locking-hub.webp
 
The preloads fell right in nicely. At least if the fish scale is more or less accurate. 6 lbs before the lock nut, 12 lbs after torquing the lock nuts to spec - same on both sides. Sweet! :bounce2:

Rear brakes are next.
Rt-side-done-1.webp
Rt-side-done-2.webp
Rt-side-done-3.webp
 
M5driver said:
The preloads fell right in nicely. At least if the fish scale is more or less accurate. 6 lbs before the lock nut, 12 lbs after torquing the lock nuts to spec - same on both sides. Sweet! :bounce2:

Rear brakes are next.
Click to expand...

Hi M5driver,

What made you go with sloted rotors?

I found they held to much crap and tended to score up pretty bad. I don;t think your going to be driving that fast that your brakes need all that extra cooling or are you! on those dirt roads.
 
watrob said:
Hi M5driver,

What made you go with sloted rotors?

I found they held to much crap and tended to score up pretty bad. I don;t think your going to be driving that fast that your brakes need all that extra cooling or are you! on those dirt roads.
Click to expand...

Watrob,
This is what I could get locally off the shelf. An Ozzie product (DBA) carried by the local OME dealer. After examining the old rotors (original) the right was noticably warped, and both are beyond turning again - less than the Toyota recommended 19mm (left one at about 18.7, right one unable to get a good measurement). Toyota Malawi have none in stock; they offered to order from Japan, with a 2-4 month wait for delivery. Since my projected 4 months at the panel beater has become almost 8 months, I am running out of time. So... I figure slots might be a problem with dust, but that washes out. As for small stones - I'll have to see. I may end up swapping these after I get the mule back to the States. But I need to have it running again soon, hence local $$$ supply.

Thanks for asking. :)

:cheers:
 
Teebag,

That was some more of this unusual cruiser karma. After getting the time estimates on getting new rotors from Toyota,and knowing I couldn't ship 2 at once by mail pouch, I started asking around. Chris suggested I check with the OME dealer - he had heard that they ordered some of these for the guy from Zim with the BJ43. So I checked. Turns out this is the guy who abandoned his truck at the golf club (no one has seen him for about a year). He had ordered these rotors, but had not paid, so North End Motors (located on the south side of LLW, of course :lol: ) was happy to sell them to me at a discount. :D He won't carry the products - too expensive, but he will order for you. He now requires full payment in advance, tho.

:cheers:
 
A short update before I disappear into the garage again :D

The tub was not delivered yesterday - no surprise. It seems the truck they were going to use "failed to start", so they will try again this afternoon. I'll busy myself with more small bits while waiting. Also started dry fitting a few items to make sure I'm getting stuff back together right.

Rear brakes - easy job. I'm sticking a few photos here of the process. Might be useful to someone else doing the job or looking for brake line routing, etc.
Coolerman has many photos of this work which are quite helpful.
RR-brake-lines-1.webp
RR-brake-lines-2.webp
 
I'll have to continue this later. My "broadband" internet connection is topping out at 8kbps this morning.

Meanwhile, here's a newspaper ad from yesterday - something you hope you never need here :D
Bush-Ambulance.webp
 
M5driver said:
Watrob,
This is what I could get locally off the shelf. An Ozzie product (DBA) carried by the local OME dealer. After examining the old rotors (original) the right was noticably warped, and both are beyond turning again - less than the Toyota recommended 19mm (left one at about 18.7, right one unable to get a good measurement). Toyota Malawi have none in stock; they offered to order from Japan, with a 2-4 month wait for delivery. Since my projected 4 months at the panel beater has become almost 8 months, I am running out of time. So... I figure slots might be a problem with dust, but that washes out. As for small stones - I'll have to see. I may end up swapping these after I get the mule back to the States. But I need to have it running again soon, hence local $$$ supply.

Thanks for asking. :)

:cheers:
Click to expand...

I've got the same DBA rotors on my rig. They've been there for over 5 years and I've had no trouble with them. I've never had them collect rocks on a mud/water crossing. Very nice thread by the way.
 
bsevans said:
I've got the same DBA rotors on my rig. They've been there for over 5 years and I've had no trouble with them. I've never had them collect rocks on a mud/water crossing. Very nice thread by the way.
Click to expand...

Thanks... :o I think the DBAs will be fine. My Pajero I use here has drilled and slotted rotors and my :princess: drives it everywhere, through just about anything and we've had no problems.

BTW, I'm always eager to read your threads and comments - always good info. If I get back out to S AZ in the next year or so, I'd like to get a look at your rig :)

:cheers:
Dan
 
Continuing from this morning - I'm getting a little better speed now... 16-20K

Most important detail with this job is getting those "ramps" on the adjusters pointed the right way. Glad I had the FSM handy. :)
RR-brake-1.webp
RR-brake-2.webp
RR-brake-3.webp
 
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