Day 15: Handbrake and differential

Having pretty much completed the front of the car (save for the cycle wings and indicator repeaters), it's time to attack the back.

First job was to fit the handbrake. On the face of it, this is easy. But a couple of tips:
- the handbrake is much narrower than the gap between the two brackets. You need to nip up the nuts and bolts so that the gap is drawn together and the handbrake doesn't wobble
- the electrical connections both turn on and off with the switch. Tested with a multimeter
- I put some heatshrink around the lower connector, as it was very close to the chassis (and would have shorted)

Looking at the RHS of the main handbrake, you can see 1) the white connector for the handbrake warning light, below that 2) a bit of heatshrink around the other terminal then below that 3) the red earth connector

Handbrake assembly from above

Second job was to fit the differential into the rear axle casing. This is taken from the Suzuki Jimny, but the rear axle is then comprehensively tweaked, re-welded, etc etc. In doing so, various slots and rebates are cut, to allow the diff in.

Now, that's the theory. In practice, my diff didn't fit at all. There is only one way in: with the ring gear (the biggest gear wheel) dropping into the deeper part of the axle casing. But the rebates had not been cut too well, and it jammed.

So, after a big head-scratch, out came the Dremel, and two small areas were ground back by less than 1mm.

The rebate on the LHS shows where my attempts to fit the diff started to scrape the casing...

So I took the corner off with the Dremel...

On both sides..

Hey presto, the diff dropped in perfectly, and was easily torqued up. The breather feels insubstantial, but is easily fitted.

All fitted together, with gasket leaching out between the two (probably put a bit too much on)