johny

wow surprising when its been immersed in oil the whole time! And yes I guess the head was brazed on because it would be easier to do that than machine a large bar - the flange is probably brazed on the same. I take it after all this your doing away with the cooler take off adaptor?

but why did the head of the bolt have to come off? Surely once the extender is undone the bolt will pull out as per the diagram?

I wonder if we're talking about the same bits? You have a bolt, item 2 in Pauls diagram, and onto the threaded end of that an extender sleeve has been screwed so the extra thickness of the oil cooler adaptor can be accomodated. If you get a stilson onto the sleeve and a spanner onto the bolt head they should unscrew...

I would have though decent stilsons best to undo the extension piece. The jaws should bite into it as it cant be hardened and not crush it like a vice might...

Thats what I thought Pete and what the manual shows but as weve seen before theres two types of original filter holders and as per Pauls diagram in this one the seal sits in a recess in the top of the case and you can just see it in the photo...

of course I reckon that lump on the bolt in the photos is an extender to allow for the increased depth of the assembly with the oil cooler take off... The other thing to ask is if the oil cooler is really necessary - does its thermostat actually open to allow cooling of the oil? Always makes me a bit nervous the idea of taking oil outside of the engine in hoses etc🤔

Could it be a problem with the system at DVLA? I know it can be awful trying to get anyone there on the phone but there are other options such as webchat and email to try. Additionally it seems theres quite a long time period available for getting a car on to a SORN and you first get a warning letter reminding you so theres no immediate panic...

The free to download workshop manual has a sectioned diagram of the filter housing. Although not exactly the same as yours it shows a seal up inside the head of the fixing bolt plus the misshapen o ring looks as if it has to seal against the block. On yours both of these look like they should be replaced and indeed I think a flat section rubber washer of the right thickness would be better in place of the o ring...

yes they might do it - worth a try anyway...

yes needs a beefy vice to hold the bearing outer race but thats the way I would do it and even then it would probably need a few reclamps and bashes. Ive not had to resort to that yet as used an old thin blade screwdriver down between bearing and backplate then managed to tap between shaft shoulder and inner race gradually all the way round. Of course it all depends on how well its stuck and if heating you would have to try to keep that away from the shaft for maximum effect...

Difficult to see why the backplate should be damaged Colin if only the bearing is clamped and then you hit the inner end of the quartershaft? Might need a brass or copper bar to hit with but the backplate should always be free.... Im talking of the bearing being held radially of course.

why not give Polyfilla a go on the car😁

Oh if youre not worried about saving the bearings the job becomes easier as you can clamp it in a vice and bash the shaft...

Any obvious reason for the sticking?

Electrical resistance is just that, it resists FLOW of electrons so if theres no flow as you had when the wire was disconnected theres no resistance and you get full voltage at the end. Its like a water pipe thats shut off by a valve, it can be a huge pipe or a thin tube but the pressure (voltage) will be the same. However when you open the valve the large pipe will allow a lot of water to flow while a small one will restrict the flow to a dribble... The voltage youre measuring when running is an average of when electrons are flowing (points or electronic ignition closed so resistance effective) and not flowing (points or electronic ignition open so resistance non effective).

It may well not be missing on the current layshaft! Anyway I dont think its worth worrying about as its there to stop the layshaft from spinning and thats unlikely to happen...

yes I reckon the ball only needs replacing approximately once for every ten sets of bushes😄

Not ideal but I cant see any other way - let us know what you find...

yes they seem to vary as Ive had some easier than others but theres no need for Triumph to have made the fit so tight as the bearing is retained by a circlip anyway!

I can only think the drive shaft of the angle drive is a bit mangled and got stuck in the gear output. No other way to get it apart except a bit of pressure perhaps prising with a screwdriver between the body of the angle drive and the knurled nut now its undone?

One possibility for example is that the master cylinder is failing. This has a seal in it that if leaking stops fluid being sent to the slave cylinder that operates the clutch instead allowing the fluid to go back into the reservoir. If this happens with the brakes its easy to detect as the pedal goes to the floor but with the clutch its obviously more difficult - however you might see the fluid level rise in the reservoir as you press the pedal...

Does the pedal feel any different to operate now? The normal failure of a high mileage clutch is that it starts to slip when accelerating because the friction material is worn but it doesnt sound like this is the case with yours. Therefore I think its much more likely theres a problem with the hydraulic side or/and the actuator mechanism than the clutch itself. Unfortunately theres not many checks you can do to confirm this without removing the gearbox cover...

Hes talking about the 'backplate' of the quarter shaft Dave, item 14 here, which houses the seal and can be distorted if you use it to lever the bearing (17) off the quarter shaft...

just one thing first. When you say the clutch has gone what are the symptoms?

As Pete says that sounds like the bottom part of the lever is hitting something because in the gearbox itself its the same component that engages third and forth, it just moves forward for one and back for the other. With this its possible to not be far enough over but not the opposite as youre experiencing...