This rear axle belongs to a vehicle which has remained unused for the last 34 years and is now undergoing a complete restoration.
The car had been running with loose spring U bolts which had caused the spring centre pins to fret and wear the holes in the axle spring seats. The first job after stripping and degreasing was to restore the holes ready for the fitment of new oversize centre pins. The spring seats were clocked centrally to their outside dimensions so that the offset wear in the holes could be corrected.

Next job was to mask and sandblast the axle casings with Aluminium Oxide grit. Immediately after the sandblasting operation all bare metal is Phosphate treated to restore equilibrium to the metal and to help prevent subsequent rusting. All traces of sandblasting grit are carefully removed before any painting can take place.

One of the joys of a thorough restoration is the uncovering of information which has been concealed for the last 69 years: The original axle number and ratio stamped on the casing. This is not the usual axle ratio for any 2 litre Aston Martin although the numbers stamped here confirm that the crownwheel and pinion are original to the car. The original factory road test describes it as a "long chassis 2 litre with above average performance and a noisy back axle"!

This is the differential cage which houses the diff. assembly and to which are externally fitted the crownwheel and the crownwheel bearings. It was showing scars from some rather careless treatment during previous overhauls many years ago. Since the crownwheel bearing cones were no longer a press fit, the bruised and scored journals were turned down to an undersize. Steel sleeves were then manufactured and pressed on to the undersize journals before machining to the correct interference size for new Timken bearings. The bruised crownwheel register was then machined true to the bearing journals.

Although this is a rare car, the ENV rear axle was a popular choice amongst manufacturers and it's worthwhile keeping tools and fixtures in stock. This is the assembled crownwheel and pinion supported in a bracket for easy handling while the gears are meshed correctly. As is often the case with old assemblies the crownwheel bolts had worked loose. The worn bolt holes were reamed true and a new one off set of bolts were manufactured with oversized shanks to fit the holes snugly. New taper roller bearings have been fitted and the crownwheel and pinion assembled into the case complete with a modern oil seal conversion. Here marking blue is being used as the mesh of the teeth is carefully adjusted to ensure a long life and quiet operation on both drive and overrun.

The rear hub oil seals were originally a metal cased leather design for which there is now a direct modern replacement shown on the left fitted to the carrier plate. The seal wiping journals were badly scored so new steel journals were manufactured and pressed on to the ends of the axle tubes.

The original spring shackles were made from cast bronze and had no separate bearings. Since this car is to be for regular use we manufactured new steel shackles with renewable phosphor bronze bushes and new shackle pins. These are a direct replacement for the originals and are an instantly reversable modification.

The original spring pins were sandblasted and the worn bearing journals surface ground to a slight undersize. The rear springs were stripped and de - rusted. Corresponding undersize bronze bushes were manufactured and fitted together with new centre bolts having heads of over size diameter.

The rear hubs and halfshafts were in good order and required no further attention other than thorough cleaning and painting. Brake drums and backplates were sandblasted and painted together with all the associated bracketry ready for fitting to the chassis.

The finished assembly ready for fitting back to the vehicle. All bare metal has been phosphate treated and primed with Red Oxide paint before being sprayed in 2 pack primer and top coat. Because the Aston Martin chassis is underslung at the rear the brake assemblies will not pass between the chassis and the coachwork so they will be assembled once the axle is in place.

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