Green plastic sleeve on 4WD lever

[Julian B]

As part of my restoration I removed the 4WD lever from the body and have bought a new rubber grommet where the lever goes through the body. But I now can't get the lever back through the grommet due to the thickness of the green plastic sleeve. Has anyone ever tried to remove the sleeve (by warming it in boiling water (or similar)? If not, how else am I going to get the lever back through the grommet?

If I put the grommet on the lever before inserting the grommet into the body then there is not enough room to press the grommet through the body ...

Any help from anyone who has ever been through this issue would be hugely appreciated!

TIA

[HaffyHunter]

Hi Julian,

I've managed to get the levers through the grommets while the vinyl grip was still installed but it was not easy. I used a liberal amount of white Lithium grease in the grommet opening as well as on the lever. You need to work very carefully and slowly using an improvised guide tool to prevent damage to the friction plates embedded in the grommet or damage to the vinyl grip. I made a guide tool using 24 Ga. sheet steel to form a "funnel" shape. I slightly overlapped the edges of the metal so that the small end could be inserted in the grommet. I then inserted the lever into the larger end of the funnel and carefully slid it through. The funnel was able to expand inside the grommet due to the overlapped edges and easily was removed once the lever was well underway in the grommet. Try to avoided turning the lever anymore than absolutely necessary when the grip is inside the grommet. I'm quite sure the S-D-P folks applied the grips after the lever was installed as it is by far the simpler method.

I doubt you can remove the grips without destroying them as they are exceptionally brittle due to their age. I found this when removing old damaged grips for replacement. Yes, I have replacement grip material (heat shrink application).

Cheers,
Steve

[Julian B]

Thanks Steve - I will give that a try. The yellow ones were easy to do (wider grommet system), but the green one is very tight. If I am not successful perhaps I could take you up on a set of heat shrink sleeves?

I'll let you know how I get on ...

[AustHaflinger]

What about just replacing them with an appropriate heat shrink tube?

Garry

[Julian B]

What about just replacing them with an appropriate heat shrink tube?

Something like this? Will check the diameter of the control rod(s) later today, but this company do both green and yellow.

The other day I also thought that I might like to put a short length of heat shrink plastic on the roof bars that extend out to the top of the windscreen; when the windscreen is down and these two bars fold back against themselves they tend to scratch the paint and this could be a neat solution.



[EDITED TO ADD] I've ordered a small quantity of yellow and green to check colours and will report back at the end of the week.

[heinkeljb]

You can buy heat shrink tube with adhesive inside it which makes for an even more permanent repair. THe advantage I think would show on things like the levers and the windscreen tube Julian mentioned as the glue would help prevent the edges from peeling up.

John

[ogdenenterprise]

Hi Steve,
This subject was discussed on the yahoo forum,I think it was you who suggested the heat shrink solution. I tried with my levers but I could only get heat shrink that was too large diameter ,when it was heated it left ripples on the inner radius of the lever ,Can you let us know what size you used and where you sourced it from?. I managed to obtain some levers to replace the others, but it would be good to get the others repaired for future use.

Dave

[HaffyHunter]

Hi Dave,

I don't recall the specifics of the heat shrink that I have but it has a high shrink ratio and is indeed initially quite large. However it does shrink to a very good fit with correct final thickness. I'll get the shrink tube dimensions for you a post them later.

They are more durable than the original vinyl ones and the colour match is spot on to the original vinyl when they were new (I have a set of NOS levers in my treasured spares that I used for comparison).

A bit of spray on glue (3M #77) can be used but I don't find it necessary and makes the chore of working out the wrinkles much more difficult.

Here are the directions I've given to other Hafi owners who got some of this tubing from me:

When you go to install them start to shrink at the bend in the lever. The tubing will want to wrinkle on the inside of the bend but you can take this out by working with a minimum amount of heat and stretching the tube along the lever's shaft a little at a time. Use a heat gun to shrink the tubes. Flame from a torch would work but it will discolour the tube and can easily cause blisters and holes. The tubes are a bit longer than required but I made them this way to allow you to more easily grip them to stretch out the bend wrinkles. Just trim off the excess amount with a sharp knife or razor blade when you're done.

Here's a photo of one of my re-gripped lever sets.

Cheers,
Steve

[Julian B]

Here are a couple of (poor quality) photos of my first attempt; I managed to get the creases out using Steve's suggestions and the yellow one (an old spare that I had to experiment with). The photo shows my new heat shrunk lever alongside the old one that I cut off. Colour match is fine, although to be honest it feels more "matt" than the original. Whether that is due to it being new or a different plastic I am not sure.

The other photo shows my existing green handle and the as yet unused green heat shrink plastic. The colour of the new stuff is a better match in reality than the photo shows, but it is nothing like as good a match as the yellow. This leaves me with a slight quandary - as whilst not ideal I haven't been able to re-insert the green handle through the new body grommet as is, and so see no alternative to cutting the old green wrap off.

[heinkeljb]

As I haven't seen it suggested or what the outcome was if it has been done.

What happens to the original lever wrap if you heat it, like putting it in a bowl of boiling water?
Does it become pliant enough to pull off? If it does, could the same technique work to put it back on?

Even allowing for the colour imperfection on your camera, those to greens don't look anything like each other!

John

[pathfinder700ap]

Do I understand correctly that the rubber grommet may not be fitted from the other end of the lever because of that spherical part at the end?
I find it hard to believe that the grommet may not be fitted over the green handle. Even when you warm up the grommet it does not become flexible enough? And some grease on the handle?

I wonder how they did it back home in Thondorf...


Kind regards,
Constantin

[Julian B]

Constantin - yes, I can't push the other end of the lever through the grommet because of the spherical end piece.

The problem that I have had with the 4WD lever grommet (which is, as you know) very different in type & style from the two diff lever grommets, is that not only is it is a very tight fit, but it also has three brass(?) shims within it that look very delicate and are presumably very easy to damage. One option might be to put the shaft through the grommet and then press the grommet into the body but the thickness of the grommet "lips" are such that I really can't see that working either. But I will have another attempt at pushing the 4WD lever through the grommet on Friday and see what happens. Had the green heat shrink been a better colour match I might have been tempted to take the easy option and replace it, but as it is I am not keen on doing so.

The men at Thondorf might have applied the coloured tube after installing the levers in the body?

[pathfinder700ap]

Hello Julian,

I would definitely try to fit the grommet on the handle first and then put the whole assembly into the hole in the body tinwork. I thought you had tried it that way anyway. Then use a rather large screwdriver to put pressure on the lower lip and push it through the remaining space. Of course, oil or grease should be very helpful.

Kind regards,
Constantin

[AustHaflinger]

A completely different approach would be to use plastic dip - many complex shaped items can be plastic coated with this stuff.

http://www.plastidip.net.au/plasti-dip

[Julian B]

Success !!!

I have two diametrically opposed personality traits when it comes to mechanics - I'm either too rough and damage things or I am too timid and give up too soon. I had erred on the latter with this problem but this morning I tried Constantin's suggestion of putting the grommet on to the rod first and then pushing the combined thing through the body. Armed with copious quantities of grease and a screwdriver I was able to push it through without damaging the rubber (or copper inserts).

Job done, and all original plastic sleeves maintained.

I hope to re-attach the body to the rolling chassis tomorrow - 17 weeks exactly since they were split apart.

Thanks for everyone's help & suggestions etc,

Julian

[HaffyHunter]

Congrats Julian!
I appreciate the timidness exercised in that chore because the last thing you want to see is a scratch in your nice new paint or the nuisance of acquiring a new grommet while still having no conclusive way to install the replacement without repeating the disaster

Once again...well done,
Steve

[heinkeljb]

So Julian,

You'll be driving around in it this weekend then? Get it dirty as soon as possible!!

John

[Julian B]

Ha! I wish! I'm away next week, and still have a load to do & fix (including re-sealing the rear hub gaskets )

But I'm getting there!