This evening I removed R2-D2 #1's foot drives and motors from storage. I then lifted R2 onto a plastic milk crate which lifts the feet off the ground enough to remove the legs.
The legs are off...
Thanks to the assistance of a nosey feline, I got the legs and feet seperated.
I already had the motors installed into the drive system. All I had to do was remove the motor, install the drive into the foot shell, then bolt the motor back in while making sure the belts are on everything correctly.
The knurled fittings I have are of the older design. I thought with the shorter drive belt this wouldn't be an issue....but I can see I'll have to saw off some of the bolt.
I'm curious how the bronze hose will work out....but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
The hardest part remaining is putting the ankle bolt into the foot....while maneuvering around the foot drive. Removing the rear omni ball from the drive gives you some space to wiggle a finger or wrench in there. But, like some other areas of this droid, you have to be very inventive in the tight spots. (I found scotch-taping the nut to the wrench helped hold it into place while the ankle bolt was finally able to thread into it.)
No, R2-D2 is not broken...but with the drives mounted, I leaned the legs up against R2 as I called it quits for the night.
I still need to work on drilling holes for routing the wiring. I also have other work to do on the skin panels, so no sense putting the legs back up yet.
The center foot casters need to be finished too.
Then I need to lock R2 into 3 leg mode.....and the list goes on and on!
