That was a year that was..

[Bfg]

^ Sorry to keep you hanging, time for a quick ( ! ) reassembly . . .

First, I fitted the replacement trailing arm, looking very neat and clean, sealed in clear lacquer and complete with the poly-bushes.  As the brackets on the chassis rail hadn't been loosened, the task was simple enough..  I first loosely hung the rear of the trailing-arm on the damper's drop link to hold that end up, and then fed the polybushes forwards and upwards into their brackets, aligning the pivot-bolt holes first with a screwdriver and then with a tommy-bar, so the bolts (liberally coated with Copaslip) then slid in easily.  

I then refitted the (cleaned up and well lubricated) brake-shoe adjuster onto the backing plate.

Before moving onwards to fitting the handbrake cable. . .

   

^ A minor mod being fitted, for the handbrake cable. . .

Good man Marco, in Germany also has a TR4A and while investigating the poor performance of his own car's handbrake, recognised that the Bowden cable's run wasn't in the same plane as the actuating lever arm on the brake.  As a consequence, as the handbrake was applied., these arms (one on either rear wheel) would twist down / be tilted at quite an angle, instead of their being pulled perpendicular to the backing plates.  And this of course caused binding of the supposedly-sliding brake mechanisms and so a good percentage of the applied force (by the driver on the handbrake lever) was being lost. The solution was simply to raise the height of the cable run.. to that of the actuating arm. 

To do this, he very neatly turned on his lathe, an aluminium block to fit under the cable's original end-stop.  Naturally this block was sized and carefully shaped to fit onto the trailing arm's casting, without further modification to the arm or any other original fitting.  It of course had to be robust enough to take the full force of the handbrake cable, and so a steel inner sleeve was made and internally threaded to accept the stud of the original end-stop.      

   

^ Unfortunately I assembled things in the wrong order.  And having bolted the post in place on the trailing arm.. the end-post of the cable couldn't be twisted and screwed in.  Duh .. I must have been having a greying-blonde moment.    Never-mind I thought, I'd just undo the end of the Bowden cable, remove the original end-post so that it could be screwed on.  Wrong ! ..the cable end doesn't come off !  Hey ho., the height post from Marco had to come off again, to be first assembled onto the Bowden cable, before it was fitted to the trailing arm.  

I took the opportunity to clean and lubricating the end of that cable.

^ assembled and now with the handbrake cable in the same plane as the actuating lever.  Nice one Marco

He also specifies, for better still efficiency, a very stiff spring (suggesting one from a sprung clutch) to be inserted between the cable's end adjuster-nut and the forked-end-bracket. This is to give a bit of elasticity in the cable's length ..to enable pulling an extra notch on the handbrake ratchet. Unfortunately as I no longer have a garage full of bits to rummage through, I didn't have such a spring to hand.. so that'll be acquired in due course, to be retrofitted on another day.

The bolt through the cable end / lever arm was replaced for one which had a plain shank. 

   

^ Rowlocks.., the thread of the height block was too long, to allow the flange of the half-shaft to go through.  Out it came again, for me to cut the thread a little shorter.  This sort of thing is quite usual in prototype development and so no big deal.  I suspect that there is a slight variance in the wall thickness of these trailing arms.

^ There she goes, and all is good. 

^ With the half-shaft back in place, the hub was bolted up to the trailing arm. The brake shoe was refitted, and the cleaned and now working adjuster used to accommodate the wear of the brake shoes. The handbrake cable was then adjusted to length. The loosely-fitted lever arm was disconnected, with the trailing-arm resting onto the trolley jack while the coli spring with its collars were refitted, and then this jacked up again to refit the lever-arm's drop-link.  The half shaft flange was re-bolted to the differential with new locknuts.  Lifting under the rear of the trailing arm to take this side of the car's weight (suspension compressed), I slipped back under the car to pinch up the polybush pivot bolts.  Wheel back on - Job done. 

I haven't yet done the same (cable-run / height) mod to the near-side handbrake brake cable yet, and I never recorded braking efficiency as it was. Nor does the recent MOT record the braking (in)efficiency from before.  Although I had well-lubricated the sliding brake assembly before, I've now correctly adjusted things. Still.,  I can categorically say that before .. the handbrake was not nearly secure enough to tighten up the wheel nuts.  But Now  with the handbrake and its cable so configured, those same wheel nuts tighten securely with absolutely no indication of the handbrake not holding. The difference in feel is so obvious - I'm really pleased with it.  Highly recommended.  It's also worth remembering that without dual-circuit brakes.. the handbrake is truly an emergency brake.  

Thank you for this excellent work Marco, and thank you again Rich for your generosity with the trailing arm.

Pete.

 

...Next please !

 

[Bfg]

Near side front wheel off this afternoon, as grabbing hold of the front wheel and one could feel a discernible amount of play in the steering, and it also produced a very noticeable clonk.

Because the clonk is only from the near side, and the track-rod-end looks to be new, I mostly ruled out the likelihood that the rack & pinion was the issue, next out then is the inner ball joint.  This is hidden under a rubber gaiter but I felt would be accessible without removing the rack. And once dismantled it has shim adjustment. . .

 

^ The gaiter is passed its best, not least because wire was used to secure it, and that has cut into the perishing rubber. Can't complain as it that wire has most likely done its job for the past 20 - 40 years.!

 

^ There's the inner ball joint.  But no discernible play was to be felt.  ..good news or bad news Pete ?? 

Excessive play was found in the mounting of the steering arm onto the hub.. well when I say excessive, I ought to quantify that there shouldn't be any at all.  More of that in a moment.

First thing was to apply some fresh grease to the now exposed parts of the steering rack and to slip the gaiter back on place.  I particularly like CV joint Lith-Moly grease (lithium-molybdenum) for this sort of application, but the downside is that the grease is black and slimy to handle anything ..and it tends to get everywhere. . .

 "Oh what fun I had"  ..trying to get an already split gaiter, slippery with black grease, over the twice-as-large knuckle of the inner-ball-joint.  I tried pushing and poking, I bent a teaspoon handle to hook and pull it, I carefully eased a small screwdriver in there to slide the gaiter up ..all to no avail  (..temper intact but I was starting to get warm enough under collar to remove my jacket !)

So, off to the kitchen to raid the store of plastic pots and jam jars.  I had an idea   . . .

    

^ up-cycling the plastic walls of a sour-cream tub to be used as a cone to slide, and to evenly stretch, the gaiter up.  It's surprisingly easy when you know how, but it's just not something I had experience of doing on my old motorcycles ..which don't even have rubber gaiters.     hey ho., summer holidays are over, now every day is a school day !

Having succeeded, very neatly if I might smugly say, to get it over the knuckle ..I then needs to get the plastic out.  Too slippery to grip well enough, but my small vice grips came to the rescue.

^ The gaiter is now back in place, this time with a couple of cable ties.  I'll order new gaiters and replace both sides in due course. 

In the meantime., it's back to the steering's clonking and looseness. . .

   

^ The steering arm was loose, but its securing nuts were good n' tight.  When the nuts were removed the rust was obvious. The arm is rusted onto the bolts and most probably have been like this (with a little slack) for a very long time.  I applied penetrating oil and levered with large screwdrivers, hammered and sweated the arm on its bolts, and I used plain-washers under the nuts to pull it tight.  I then undid the nuts and sweated it some more, and then again, and again. The arm barely moves on those bolts., and with it in situ I'm not going to apply heat, so (again) for the time being, there's more penetration oil squirted on and I've pulled it up tight. 

With that tight, and no clonk, I can still feel a little play in the steering rack ..that ought to be addressed at some time, but it's not excessive, nor probably enough to vary the toe-in very much.

More jobs to do tomorrow, but for tonight ..it's time for supper.

Bidding you a good evening,

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

I questioned on the TR Register forum about lubrication for the TR4A, which is just slightly different to the TR4, and to my way of reading the workshop manuals were unclear. Kindly gents replied and then some more on the steering rack, suggesting how to change its end bush, etc. 

Excellent replies as well as useful photos from Marco, in Germany.   I was particularly glad that he took those in English.

I rebuilt a Citroen steering rack a few years back, needing to replace the guts of my rack and pinion ..from another model of car (because my car was too rare to find the correct parts for).  It worked great but changed the steering ratio ever-so-slightly.

   

^ Oops pinion that didn't work very well. It's not at all worn but damaged beyond use. ..And you think you have problems with Triumphs !  Anyway I resolved the issue and managed to identify the cause, which in essence came down to needing to tighten the track-rod-ends up ..only  when the suspension was normally loaded. This was not something mentioned in the manuals.

From Citroen's diagram (above) you can see its thrust button (plunger) with its spring (items 16 & 17) on the right hand side.  The spring pre-loads the pinion against the toothed rack, and also allows the interlocking teeth to lift off a little when the steering hits a bump.  Marco, the spring's give also compensates for lesser or no wear towards the extremities of lock (left and right ends of travel). Suitably lubricated the button (plunger) and back face of the rack will polish together but shouldn't rasp.  Over many miles the rack and the button (plunger) will of course wear excessively, possibly through their surface hardening ..which will then tend to rasp, and so need to be replaced.

Without pulling my rack apart, I cannot say how badly worn these rack or pinion or thrust button are worn, but the end bushes clearly have a little play in them. I think they need to be on the job list but not at the very top.  I have yet to check anything on the offside, but for feeling for any slack on that side ..and if there is any - then it's very little.  

 

Today, I emptied one of my motorcycle-kit grease guns and refilled it with gear oil to use on the bottom steering trunnion. . . 

   

^ that's darn slippery oil when you get it on your hands !   I pumped that oil in until a little grease came out of its top rubber-boot, and then pumped some more, left it for half-an-hour while I topped up the grease in my other grease gun and did the wishbone's top ball-joint & track-rod-end (their different sized nipples needed different grease guns) and then, after refilling the gun, pumped the bottom trunnion with oil again until it was coming out all around that boot.  I think I'll leave myself a mental note to do that again in a 100 miles.  There's no discernible play in the trunnions and I'd like to keep it like that.

I cannot see how to lubricate the bottom wishbone  trunnions, without removing the road spring, but the TR4/4A manual (page 4-106 item 36) shows it to have nylon bushes, so I'm hoping these were assembled with silicon and don't otherwise require lubrication, despite the TR4 showing grease nipples for these.?

 

As an aside I didn't like this lock washer (below) so swapped it out. . .

 

^ spring / lock washer stretched open.   I don't see the purpose of the spacer tube between that and the splash guard clamped to the back of the brake caliper, so I've swapped the bolt for a shorter one and did away with the spacer.

The brake pads are in good shape, but the rubber boots in the caliper feel hard, so I'll get a set of those in stock for when I change those pads. Aside from pinching up the bolts through the wishbone (most were replaced by M&T and have settled with use) and a bit of cleaning up and repainting, a bit of Copaslip here n' there rubbed into the brake-pipe's securing clips to help prevent corrosion, I think that's it for this side for the time being.

With the wheel back on.. the play in the steering or anything else in this corner would, I'm confident in believing, not be flagged in an MOT.  And thankfully no more clonk !

We'll come back to the steering rack and other bits ..after other higher priority items have been deal with. 

Pete.      

[Bfg]

But of course I'll need to check the tracking again.

[Bfg]

You know the kettle's on whenever you're in the area Mathew.   Once I've looked at the offside front suspension & steering, and the nearside handbrake brake, then I'll drop the car back to the ground and for the time being have a quick check with the cord stretched around. It ought not be far out after we checked it before but who knows !

 

... I moved across to the RHS / offside front suspension this afternoon with the intent of inspection, a quick clean up & repaint, and lubrication.  I ended up with more items on my job list . .

^ first impressions is that it's tidier than the LHS was, still . . .

   

^ the steering rack gaiter is shot.

^ track rod end gaiter, most likely pinched ..and now split.

^ Lower wishbone trunnion, also severely rusty (long-term and from its inside)

^ Brake pads held in with a set screw. 

Top wishbone ball joint has a hole alongside the grease nipple (it was a small sized one which I removed to clean things up, so I could see what was what).  Although this had a nylon body washer over it, the grease was still coming out of the little hole.

So., for now . . . 

The steering rack gaiter I can't do anything about until I get the replacement in.

The track rod end gaiter is not perished so I'm trying a 'fix' of CT1 over it . . .

^ Cleaned off first with carb cleaner, it's a fudge ..and it'll either work or not.  If not then a new track rod end is pretty cheap as and when it's required.

Lower wishbone trunnion ; I realised that if I lift under the wishbones to take the road-springs compression, then I ought be able to release the lower wishbone trunnion bolt to lubricate those nylon bushes.  On the other hand I also know how stubbornly a steel bolt through spacer tubes (which of course are not plated inside their hole) rust together.  Still it was worth a look while i was here  . . .

I reasoned that with the jack supporting under the wishbones, that lower trunnion would only be bearing the weight of the hub and brake. 

Out with the split-pin & off with the nut. . .

They came off easy enough, the nylon bush and its inner dust seal are in my hand.  However even with copious amounts of penetrating oil squirted into and around the steel sleeve (red arrow) and the castle nut ..put back on upside-down so I could hammer the end of the bolt - it wasn't going to shift.  The trunnion is doing its job for now, and there's no discernible slack ..so there's no urgency to battle with it.   NB. Despite appearance I'm not actually looking for work, I'm just trying to get the car in a fit state and on the road.

Anyway, for now I flooded the bolt and steel sleeve with more penetrating oil, and quickly put the bush, dust seal, the thick washer and the nut with its split pin all back together again.  It can stay like that until those bushes need attention.  At that time ..who knows, the penetrating oil might have soaked in and tilt the forthcoming battle in my favour..   Always the optimist huh Pete 

And finally for tonight, the hole next to the grease nipple in the top ball joint . . .

^ I simply swapped the nylon washer that was on there for a stainless steel one which likewise covers the hole, after having degreased it and a blob of CT1.  It'll not leak again.

I'll come back to do the greasing and oiling (of the steering trunnion) tomorrow.  It's time for a cuppa !

 

..oh., just a quick one . . .

^ The hub next to the cap is bright and shiny from where it's been cut back with a grinder.  I hadn't noticed it on the other side as that was smeared over in black grease.  Anyone know why this was done ?  anything to do with someone fitting wire-wheel adapters ?

cheers,

Pete

 

[Bfg]

Just finishing up on the offside front suspension this morning. . .

^ for the time being, I've also sealed over the tears in the steering rack gaiter, with CT1.  Their replacement is still on the job list, but again this 'fix' moves them down the priority list. 

^ oozing after a liberal dose of gear-oiling in the steering trunnion. Also greased of the top ball joint and the track rod end (now that the CT1 has re-sealed it rubber boot).  So those are a few more tasks off the everyday-maintenance check list. 

   

^ And then I finished up with wire brushing off the flaky paint & surface rust, then splash some paint around, and some copaslip over thread ends and the flexi brake-pipe brackets.  Time to move on. 

I think I'll next go back to the rear LHS corner ..to do Marco's handbrake cable mod. I liked that. 

In the meantime, this afternoon, I was supposed to be getting a Honda 125 running for my ex-neighbours grandson ..who I gather wants to sell it.  I used to have a Honda CB125 and thought it a great bike, so if this one was a sensible price then it would be handy as a run around.  Alas, no-one was in and the bike wasn't there. Another time perhaps.

That's it for now, so I'll bid you all a good weekend.

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

Thanks Mathew,  ..I do wonder where you find such things !

I used the string, as I reckoned it would be a sad waste of the planet's natural resources to cut a 1" thick x 9 " (w) x 7' - 4" (L)  hardwood  plank ..for use as a straight board, seeing as I only ever check a vehicle's tracking once every 24th blue moon.  Also I find the string a little more convenient to store inbetween times 

Aside from that, it's interesting to see that the author subscribes to checking and adjusting for the vehicle's wheelbase length on either side, and in the example illustrated to adjust it (nominally) by 1/8" via the shims.  I'd challenge even the most experienced test driver to feel that difference in wheelbase, if the tracking is true..  But I guess if it's wrong it wrong. That I didn't do this just goes to prove that I'm no perfectionist.

Pete.

[Bfg]

Here's one for y'all . . .

Personally I think these TR's were pretty robust ..bearing in mind that most of what I'm dealing with on Katie,  is a consequence of five-and-a-half decades of use, deterioration with age of rubber parts and sealed-in lubricants, plus a fair dose of poor maintenance &/or mechanical empathy, and some very iffy parts.. she's survived surprisingly well for a UK climate car.

But sorta related.., I was reading on Sunday morning ..in bed with a coffee and crumbs from toast n' chunky marmalade, the following from August 1969  . . .

 

   

It sort of puts things in perspective, that these cars were not considered that brilliant when new.  And were mostly daily drivers, often driven with vigour, not wiped dry to be put away in an integral garage each night, and then ..as already cheap cars, were most likely passed down the line to the lowest-budget family member / owner.  

Anyone thinking their car has only done xx,ooo miles might like to think again about Trigger's broom

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

 

Started today with opening presents .. no celebration, just some tools I thought best to invest in..

^ six-point A/F sockets with 3/8" drive ..for continuing work on the TR.  I've been using Koken's six-point Whitworth  sockets for some years now (including while professionally restoring 1950's Sunbeam motorcycles for a couple of years) and have been delighted with their quality. They're compact and easy to handle yet tough.  My Makita sockets are all 12-point (also 3/8 drive) and whilst excellent tools, six-point is very much better to avoiding rounded off bolt heads and nuts.

I also received an external rod / thread deburring tool, as recently discussed and recommended in the TR Register website.

 

^ Big box, little package. 

 

Otherwise today was very much..  same ol', same ol'.   In-so-much as I decided to check the rear RHS brake adjustment, which previously I had assumed  was good to go ..with the car having just come back from a chassis swap.  I also wanted to further my greasing schedule ..so the half-shaft had to come out to get to the outer UJ.  And then pleased with the improvement to the LHS rear, I also wanted to fit Marco's handbrake cable run spacer.   All in just a ten minute job then. . . 

^ despite Copaslip copiously slapped all over it, the handbrake adjuster nuts were seized on to the rusty thread.  Just undoing and cleaning up this cable end took 45 minutes.  The pin connecting it to the lever arm was again a threaded bolt, which I've now changed to a set screw with a suitably long plain shank.

I then had call to use my new external deburring tool today for the first time, in cutting the thread of Marco's handbrake cables spacer to suit the thickness of my car's trailing-arm casting. . .

   

^ measured, cut to length and deburred / chamfered. The tool needed a little care to centre and isn't as smooth a finish as the linisher I'd normally use, but my cordless drill is always to hand and so it was quicker than getting another power-tool out. 

 

I disconnected the rear wheel hub and pulled the half-shaft out. This is the first time I'd touched this side and so was anxious as to whether I'd find another stripped thread in this swinging arm. Thankfully not and so all went well.  However this grease nipple was also bent and split . . .

^ When the outer   UJ is cranked over (perhaps while the springs were being changed and the trailing-arm was lowered to full rebound) the UJ's forks foul the extended nipple ..and bend and crack it.  This has happened, on this car, on both sides ..whereas its inner UJ's long grease nipples were undamaged, even when disconnected and the UJ is cranked right the way over they are just about clear. The half-shaft's inner UJ forks are rounder and have wider gaps than those of the outer UJ's.

^ I didn't have a normal (shorter) nipple to hand, so for this outer UJ, I've borrowed another extended nipple to do the greasing. And then I removed it and fitted a set-screw to blank the hole.  I'm learning ..slowly  

 

   

^ not only was the cable's adjustment seized, but so was the adjuster in the brake itself.  Penetrating oil wasn't enough to sweat the adjuster loose so I resorted to a little heat.  Then it only took a minute before it started to move, and then getting the adjuster out and cleaning it up was easy-peasy.   Copaslip then liberally applied to its thread, with heavy grease inside the adjuster.

Moving on to reassembly . . .

^ the hub was refitted with new nyloc nuts.    I have noted that the brake shoes only have 2-1/2 to 3mm of thickness left on them.

Tip to anyone who doesn't know.. if you can thread a nyloc down a clean thread without using a ratchet, then it's already way-past time to replace it.

^ That's it, those tasks have now also been checked-off in this corner.  Marco's spacer block can just about be seen under the handbrake cable stop and the cable's run looks good and true.  Shame on Triumph for not casting such a height block into the swinging arm. Thanks again Marco for those   

With all things lubricated and correctly adjusted.. the handbrake lever inside the car has possibly half-the-angle of lift than it had before.

I think for tomorrow.. I might not crawl under the car !   . . . yippee 

 

[Bfg]

On 15/11/2021 at 20:22, Bfg said:

I think for tomorrow.. I might not crawl under the car !   . . . yippee 

 

  .. Well that only sort of happened insomuch as I didn't work on the car at all on Tuesday, but on the other hand.. on Wednesday, the following day I did work on the car I found myself underneath again..

 

^ Seats & tunnel out, to address the leak from the recently rebuilt gearbox.  I've been here before when I first collected the car, because the overdrive stopped working. That was just a matter of the replacement overdrive solenoid's wire having a 3+mm (?) bullet being loose in the Lucas 4mm bullet connector.  That was odd because M&T had soldered new bullet connectors where some were loose to the headlamps.  The gearbox and overdrive refitting was done by a sub-contract mechanic (Keith) who clearly cared little for his customer's business reputation.

Anyway while finding that fault, I also noted the gearshift spring was fitted upside down in the cup ..which is why I was having difficulty changing gear, and the propshaft UJ bolts were loose.  Two of the four bolts I could tun in my fingers, the two others each took up by about 1/4 of a turn.  The oil leak, all down either side of the gearbox, was clearly coming from around the top cover.    

You may recall from previous posts that the gearbox oil-leak delayed the car being ready for me to collect, and it was taken out again, returned to Klassic Transmissions, then refitted, then taken out again, and the overdrive was deemed to be at fault so that was replaced.  And yet as soon as I looked at the oil wash from high up the gearbox and down either side, it was obvious that the top cover was leaking.  That might have been the seal(s) from the selector rods, but because of the widespread slick of oil that scenario was unlikely.

^ I'd also noted that this bolt was stripped out (wouldn't tighten) and as you can see it is different to the one nearer the front. It did have a spring washer under it but I removed that to try and get a pinch on the next thread down.  I couldn't do much else about it at the time, so corrected the solenoid wire and tightened the prop-shaft, with the intent to coming back to this before I drove the car much further.  Accordingly that's why I pulled out the interior (again) yesterday. 

 

^ as removed from the rear of the top cover

^ the two forward holes are stripped out for the most part, the bolts fitted were wrong / of fine thread. 

The spotlessly clean interior of the gearbox case reflects it having been just rebuild, a couple of month and some 200 miles ago,  ..no ?

^ aside from the stripped out thread to the right of the case, which similarly had a wrong (fine thread) bolt in it, the rear two  threaded holes are likewise mostly stripped out.    I understand that these bolts should be about 1/8" shorter than the front ones, and so they too were wrong (albeit of they are correct thread). One is an all-threaded bolt, which I suspect should have a plain shank like the other.

That's five of the eight threads which hold / seal this cover down are mostly stripped out, and similarly five of the eight bolts were incorrect.  Unfortunately, each of the bolt holes are through  the turned-inwards rim of the gearbox casing, so any broken threads or bits of aluminium drop straight into the gearbox.  And that gearbox oil is shared with the overdrive. 

The overdrive is a newly refurbished one ..thankfully that was not rebuilt by Klassic Transmissions, Wolverhampton, who did the gearbox.  

^ The underside of the top cover, as it was lifted off, reflecting both the amount of oil leaking passed it and a lump of displaced aluminium ..from where a screwdriver or some other butchery had been hammered in to prise the cover off.  It doesn't take much noddle to realise that this 1mm of ridge of crude would prevent that top cover sealing again on a thin paper gasket.

As an incentive to leak even more, the gearbox was over-filled by 1/2".  

Can these thread repairs be done in situ. ?  Well if it were the one then I'd pack underneath the hole and take the risk, I might even do that for the front two as well.  but the rear two not ... 

^ I cannot even get my head around to see this ..the camera is somewhat smaller and more nimble !  But as you can see the flange / overhang at the back is very close to the gear, and I cannot even get a little finger in let alone to successfully build a dam to collect any dropping swarf.   If they were blind holes rather than open at the bottom then things might have been different, but the rebuild cost of an overdrive unit is at risk here, and I dare not take it. 

^ Bottom line is that the gearbox has to come out for those threads to be repaired ..without risking of dropping swarf bits of metal inside.

This sort of conning the customer  is a sad reflection on our society.

NB., This is not M&T's fault, they did not rebuild the gearbox, they just offered, while the engine was out to drop the gearbox off for me. And that was done because the lay-shaft bearings were noisy.  The car and there the gearbox was pleasantly oil-leak free beforehand. 

Pete

 

   

[Bfg]

 

...it's all been done before, but briefly.. this is my taking the gearbox out on my own, despite my dubious back ..which tends not to bear well with twisting and lifting, particularly at the same time as stretching. . . 

^ From what I learnt in removing / refitting the gearbox to replace the clutch..  I cut a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood to aide doing this job on my own.   It's 22" x 14" wide, but for the last 10" which taper down (equally on either side) to 11" wide. This clears the chassis rail on the LHS and the exhaust pipe running down the RHS on my car.  Exhaust clamps are off the 2:1 downpipe connection and at that at the gearbox was loosened, so the engine might be tilted slightly up at the back.  The long 5-1/2" wide block of timber supported by the trolley jack, lifts under the very back end of the sump.  The cut piece of 3/4" ply sits on top of this, immediately behind the sump, and is the right thickness for the bellhousing to almost rest on. 

I'll check when I put the gearbox back in place whether the thickness is exactly right to align the gearbox shaft back into the clutch. 

The back of the engine, together with the gearbox, is lifted and tilts. Only a small lift is required, in fact just enough to align the top of the bellhousing to just below the rounded cutout of the body shell, under the battery tray. I'm sure when we remove the gearbox before, my helping mechanic was a little too enthusiastic in jacking it up (too much) and the bell-housing's flange then wouldn't come backwards through the bulkhead's cutout. 

Thereafter plywood makes it very easy to simply slide the gearbox back and inch or two off of the clutch spline. Only then, the back end of the gearbox can be lifted onto blocks inside the car . . .

^ The blocks inside the car are a bridge over the prop-shaft UJ., which wont drop lower without removal of the exhaust pipe. And I didn't want to disturb that any more.  The gearbox rubber mounting has been removed but the steel brace across the chassis is otherwise untouched (still bolted tightly to its chassis brackets).  Sliding the gearbox back on the piece of plywood is safe n' secure and low enough to clear the heater and dashboard. The heater flap has an Allen key lightly pinched in place of the control cable, to keep that flap closed.

 

^ Under the car, I added a support tower, just in case ..as a safeguard. But as the long timber plank was sandwiched between the sump and the jack, the top of this tower and that plank didn't actually touch, even as the gearbox was pulled back. Btw., those blocks are mostly screwed together, so is more stable and robust than might first appear from this photo. 

^ next was another block which I lifted the clutch lever onto.  I'm very wary of pulling my back again ..and then being out of action for a month, so this maneuver was more a matter of rolling the gearbox over to the right hand side onto a block, and then sliding the bellhousing end across to the left, together with the lever arm over the lip of the floor. 

^ slid across on timber blocks.

^ sill / door seal rubber lifted off and another bridge placed to lift the back end of the gearbox onto. 

By then the gearbox was out of the car sufficiently to avoid stretching while lifting and so dragging the gearbox out and onto the backless-office-chair (covered in thick plastic) was easy. 

^ task done, with body and each finger intact...  Tbh it was far less drama lifting it out on my own, than with an enthusiastic professional helper.  Admittedly it took me 100 minutes, including making a cup of coffee, removing the top half of bellhousing bolts (the bottom ones I did yesterday evening), removing the starter motor, removing the gearbox mount, measuring and cutting the 3/4" plywood, positioning the trolley jack and in general being very careful. 

Having bought a UNC thread repair kit, specifically for this task (albeit I only expected to be doing one or perhaps two), tomorrow I hope to repair the five.  All being well, I'll collect the full set of (correct) top cover bolts next week.  That's not a problem as I hope to have the gearbox refitted over this weekend, and the cover can be loosely refitted until then.

Pete 

 

[Bfg]

Btw., those blocks are mostly screwed together, so is more stable and robust than might first appear from this photo. 

[Bfg]

This afternoon my focus was on the threat-repair of five of the eight holes, for the bolts which secure (and seal) the gearbox's top cover.  Again my apologies to those who have seen these thread repairs / inserts a dozen or more times before. . .

    

^ after being stood on end and slightly inverted overnight ..to drain the last of the oil out (of gearbox and overdrive), I cleaned / degreased the case and my stainless work tray this morning, covered over the exposed gears and prepared for drilling. 

^ I'd bought this kit of UNC thread inserts off an e-bay seller a couple of weeks ago specifically for this task, and having used the same sort (but Whitworth threads) on my Sunbeam motorcycle engines - I had a fair idea how to do it. As you can seen the kit comes with the correct size of drill, and tap, a good number of thread inserts (coils of the replacement thread) and the tools to insert them. 

The difficult part of the task is drilling and then tapping squarely into the old hole.  A stripped out thread is very nearly the right size already but a sharp drill-bit will tend to cut at an angle if you're not really very careful. I use a spirit level to sight against . . . 

   

^ the gearbox was set, with spacers under the bellhousing flange, so that its top face (where the holes are) was sitting vertical. Alongside the gearbox, and set at a convenient height, a spirit-level was leveled.  Then, as can be seen in the second of these photos, the drill can be sighted to be level with it.   Yeah Ok., so while taking the photo I was having difficulty holding the drill perfectly horizontal ..but I'm sure you get the idea.  During the drilling - my head was alternating, like a nodding-dog in a car's back window, from sighting at this angle to looking down on the drill ..to ensure that it wasn't going in at an sideways angle.  The blue masking tape is simply a depth gauge, so that I knew when to stop !

The modus operandi is likewise used when tapping the oversized thread ..into which the insert will be fitted. . .

   

^ tapping the oversized hole is more difficult than drilling it, and although the first part of that is its chamfered end - I take as much care with this stage as when the tap bites and starts to cut (seemingly very crudely with a coarse thread into cast aluminium). Great care is needed at this stage., as the tap bites a chunk of aluminium out of one side and then at 90-degrees ..which tries to throw your direction off true.   But if I can do ..then so can you 

During this tapping, I stop to brush-clean the tap, and to clean out the hole, two or three times. This is because the chunks of metal being cut out need to be cleared out rather than their snagging and binding.  My marker tape might tend to prevent some bits from clearing, but I still prefer to have it there as a depth gauge.  Personally, I don't use cutting paste or lubricant either while drilling nor when tapping, because I want that hole and the freshly cut thread to be bare-metal clean for its insert. 

   

^ The thread-insert is a coil of stainless steel, although not of marine grade because it's slightly magnetic. The outside of the coil winds into the freshly cut oversized thread, and its inside is the right size and thread for the bolt.  In this case 5/16" UNC.

The forks, on the end of the tool provided, engage with a wire across the coils inside end, and is used like a screwdriver to fit the insert into the threaded hole. It very simple to do so.   I liberally apply Loctite 2400 both onto the insert and into the threaded hole, before winding it in to about a mm below the surface.  

I then screw a clean bolt in ..to first ensure that the insert has gone in correctly, and also to collect / clean out the excess of Loctite.  I do this two or three times, inbetween times removing and wiping the bolt's thread clean with tissue paper.

The wire inside, used to screw the insert in, has to be broken off and removed.  There's a straight rod within the kit to do this with, which when inserted into the hole is tapped on end with a wooden block. . .

     

It's then very important to retrieve that little piece of wire ..as you wouldn't want it floating around inside with the mechanical gnashing of teeth or otherwise restricting an oil gallery. A small screwdriver, temporarily magnetized can help retrieve those which are broken off in a blind hole.

Job done . . .

..except I had two others to do . . .

    etc., etc.

^ here I clamped the spirit level to the side of the case so that it was again at a suitable height for sighting the drill, and tapping, level.   With those done and all the bits carefully swept up and disposed of, and the newly re-threaded holes picked clean - all that remained was to ensure any bits ..that might have got passed or around the barriers were blasted out . . . 

  

^ copious amounts of carb cleaner jetted into and around the gears and all around the inside of the case, which itself was tilted so that any bits would wash out of the open top. 

^ ,,and left it was to drip dry.  I had very carefully cleaned the tray out before doing this, and subsequently.. I found one small piece of aluminium from the thread cutting in the tray. whether that came from inside the case or from its outside, I will never know.  Still better be safe, in the knowledge that reasonable precautions had been taken, than miserable.

Tomorrow I'll address a few other issues before trying to refit it back into the car.

Bidding you a good evening,

Pete.

 

[Paul H]

54 minutes ago, Bfg said:

This afternoon my focus was on the threat-repair of five of the eight holes, for the bolts which secure (and seal) the gearbox's top cover.  Again my apologies to those who have seen these thread repairs / inserts a dozen or more times before. . .

    

^ after being stood on end and slightly inverted overnight ..to drain the last of the oil out (of gearbox and overdrive), I cleaned / degreased the case and my stainless work tray this morning, covered over the exposed gears and prepared for drilling. 

^ I'd bought this kit of UNC thread inserts off an e-bay seller a couple of weeks ago specifically for this task, and having used the same sort (but Whitworth threads) on my Sunbeam motorcycle engines - I had a fair idea how to do it. As you can seen the kit comes with the correct size of drill, and tap, a good number of thread inserts (coils of the replacement thread) and the tools to insert them. 

The difficult part of the task is drilling and then tapping squarely into the old hole.  A stripped out thread is very nearly the right size already but a sharp drill-bit will tend to cut at an angle if you're not really very careful. I use a spirit level to sight against . . . 

   

^ the gearbox was set, with spacers under the bellhousing flange, so that its top face (where the holes are) was sitting vertical. Alongside the gearbox, and set at a convenient height, a spirit-level was leveled.  Then, as can be seen in the second of these photos, the drill can be sighted to be level with it.   Yeah Ok., so while taking the photo I was having difficulty holding the drill perfectly horizontal ..but I'm sure you get the idea.  During the drilling - my head was alternating, like a nodding-dog in a car's back window, from sighting at this angle to looking down on the drill ..to ensure that it wasn't going in at an sideways angle.  The blue masking tape is simply a depth gauge, so that I knew when to stop !

The modus operandi is likewise used when tapping the oversized thread ..into which the insert will be fitted. . .

   

^ tapping the oversized hole is more difficult than drilling it, and although the first part of that is its chamfered end - I take as much care with this stage as when the tap bites and starts to cut (seemingly very crudely with a coarse thread into cast aluminium). Great care is needed at this stage., as the tap bites a chunk of aluminium out of one side and then at 90-degrees ..which tries to throw your direction off true.   But if I can do ..then so can you 

During this tapping, I stop to brush-clean the tap, and to clean out the hole, two or three times. This is because the chunks of metal being cut out need to be cleared out rather than their snagging and binding.  My marker tape might tend to prevent some bits from clearing, but I still prefer to have it there as a depth gauge.  Personally, I don't use cutting paste or lubricant either while drilling nor when tapping, because I want that hole and the freshly cut thread to be bare-metal clean for its insert. 

   

^ The thread-insert is a coil of stainless steel, although not of marine grade because it's slightly magnetic. The outside of the coil winds into the freshly cut oversized thread, and its inside is the right size and thread for the bolt.  In this case 5/16" UNC.

The forks, on the end of the tool provided, engage with a wire across the coils inside end, and is used like a screwdriver to fit the insert into the threaded hole. It very simple to do so.   I liberally apply Loctite 2400 both onto the insert and into the threaded hole, before winding it in to about a mm below the surface.  

I then screw a clean bolt in ..to first ensure that the insert has gone in correctly, and also to collect / clean out the excess of Loctite.  I do this two or three times, inbetween times removing and wiping the bolt's thread clean with tissue paper.

The wire inside, used to screw the insert in, has to be broken off and removed.  There's a straight rod within the kit to do this with, which when inserted into the hole is tapped on end with a wooden block. . .

     

It's then very important to retrieve that little piece of wire ..as you wouldn't want it floating around inside with the mechanical gnashing of teeth or otherwise restricting an oil gallery. A small screwdriver, temporarily magnetized can help retrieve those which are broken off in a blind hole.

Job done . . .

..except I had two others to do . . .

    etc., etc.

^ here I clamped the spirit level to the side of the case so that it was again at a suitable height for sighting the drill, and tapping, level.   With those done and all the bits carefully swept up and disposed of, and the newly re-threaded holes picked clean - all that remained was to ensure any bits ..that might have got passed or around the barriers were blasted out . . . 

  

^ copious amounts of carb cleaner jetted into and around the gears and all around the inside of the case, which itself was tilted so that any bits would wash out of the open top. 

^ ,,and left it was to drip dry.  I had very carefully cleaned the tray out before doing this, and subsequently.. I found one small piece of aluminium from the thread cutting in the tray. whether that came from inside the case or from its outside, I will never know.  Still better be safe, in the knowledge that reasonable precautions had been taken, than miserable.

Tomorrow I'll address a few other issues before trying to refit it back into the car.

Bidding you a good evening,

Pete.

 

Thanks Pete , great practical tutorial 

Paul 

[Bfg]

 

4 hours ago, Paul H said:

Thanks Pete , great practical tutorial 

Paul 

^ Thanks for the feedback,  I'm glad it was of interest and perhaps even useful.

3 hours ago, Mathew said:

Looking good. Nice new gasket on the top should seal that leak for good. 

A little set square could ease the square drill angle viewing?

Cheers Mathew,

Unfortunately I don't have a gasket for the top cover so will have to make one, not difficult ..but quite time consuming.

Yes indeed, I've used a metal working set square on occasion when I wasn't readily able to set the angle of the gasket face either horizontal or vertical, such as when replacing pulled-out cylinder-head-studs on my motorcycle's engine (while that was still in the bike's frame). The set-square was good for sighting but, because the gasket face was quite small (twin cylinder), it was also in the way my drilling and tapping. I found having the spirit level nearby but to one side was easier and less prone to getting knocked over.

Hope you're now feeling better after your booster jab ..

Pete

 

[Peter Truman]

Pete have you ever displaced a thread of the Heli coil when you tap the little shear leg off, it’s happened to me a couple of times which has necessitated me pulling the coil out and insert a new heli coil thread.

Is it me just being hamfisted 

[Bfg]

No I've never done that Peter.  Perhaps I've just been fortunate or else my running the bolt in and out a few times, to clean out the excess Loctite (before I break the wire off) also ensures the coil-insert is sitting securely in its own thread.?  

Conversely., I have had a couple of those wires which simply refused to break off.  One on the end of a thread-insert through a bellhousing flange on my motorcycle is still there, and can seen from the side of the bike ..as even with long nose pliers wouldn't twist it off.  So perhaps it comes down to how well the nick was made in the wire. 

Otherwise I wonder if the thread (bolt or stud) you are putting in has a hard cut end and would benefit from a slight chamfer ? 

Pete. 

[Peter Truman]

I get there eventually, 

[Bfg]

Good morning all,  with the gearbox top-cover's threads now all being good, and my friend Rich having a complete set of the correct bolts which I'll collect sometime this week, all I needed was a gasket.  Not many pence perhaps but for the inconvenience of ordering just one item and then also its postage cost.. I made one. 

To many who read this, a home-made gasket is a huge No, No.!   Some may argue that its thickness is critical, and that it's a false economy and so forth. And very often I would agree that those arguments.  Conversely, many an Engineer has made gaskets for engines and mechanics that are either unique or else so rare that such things as gaskets are simply not available.  Many others will think "why not if you can do it successfully "  particularly as in this situation - it's not an engine nor gearbox out again job if its oil sealing is less than 100% successful.

The failings I've seen in home made gaskets (..and I have seen quite a few over the years) is that the card used is inappropriate &/or the cutting out and holes are awful.   Regarding the former, there is of course sheet-gasket-paper commercially available.  Alternatively, selection of a suitable piece of card comes down to it not having been compressed too much when it was made or printed ..nor is it creased or soiled from use.  In my estimation, more often than not, cardboard which has a glossy surface (such as a cornflake box, whether printed or not) is less than suitable.  However the brown card envelopes now used by Amazon is really quite excellent for our purpose. 

Again.., I am not saying 'do as I do'  ..all I'm showing here is 'this is how I do things' if you find yourself caught-short of a gasket . . .

 

^ with the card cut slightly oversize, and three of the sides square to each other (because the holes will be measured from their edge, the first two holes are easy to mark.  The hole centres were first marked as ticks along the edge but then checked with a ruler.  Note ; as this gearbox was made to imperial measure, so then the checking of its hole centres was done to 1/16".   Btw, that first edge overhangs the side of the gearbox case a little, simply because the card is stronger when the holes are not so very close to the edge.  If that is subsequently ugly (such as on a motorcycle engine which is clearly seen) then it is best trimmed after the cover is installed.

Holes are not so difficult when you press them out rather than trying to cut or drill them. Here's how. . .

   

^ the hole centres are marked on the one side of the paper, and a suitable penny washer is aligned to those. It is held in that position as the card is turned over and placed faced-down on a work-bench edge, and then a suitable rounded end of a ring spanner is pushed into it.  The steel of the ring spanner pushed firmly and turned stamps a hole neatly through the cardboard.  It's very nearly the same as using a hole punch through the edge of a sheet of paper ..but I do find using a washer easier to centre accurately.  These simple tools, and a used Amazon envelope, are also convenient for the tool kit when touring.

NB. the penny washer has sharper edges on one side than the other from where it's been stamped, the sharp side is used against the card.  The ring spanner has to be small enough, to push into the hole.  And the hole in the penny washer (penny washer used because it's easier to hold when turned over) is a size smaller than the bolt size used.  ..So, in this instance the bolt is 5/16" UNC. The penny washer used was of 6mm (1/4") hole, and the ring-spanner used was of 8mm.   

^ the cut hole is adequately neat (..the pressed out piece of card still within the washer).

^ Although firm pressure is needed to punch these holes out.. accurately marking out their position is very much more time consuming.  Again remember to measure in from the edge of straight edges and then check the hole centres correspond to imperial measure, so in this example the centreline of top cover's LHS holes is exactly 5" apart from the centreline of the RHS holes.    

^ I had carefully removed the old gasket and with that loosely in position over the new, I roughly traced the line of the inside cut. Using a straight edge I refined my tracing before cutting.  Still it saved a fair amount of time, in measuring and draughting the cut line . . . 

^ almost done.  Although I use scissors to cut the outside shape, I find it easier to cut the inside with a Stanley-knife (cutting through onto a piece of scrap plywood) ..working from each corner.  

^ to finish off, I've sealed the card's surface and edges with paint.  Here I've used aerosol zinc-primer, which with a finger I've rubbed into the surface and in particular into the cut edges of the cardboard.  This was done on both sides, and is akin to fibreglassing, whereby its resin holds the fibres together.  Here I'm using the paint to prevent any loose paper fibres along the inside edges from washing away.  As you can see I've only applied and rubbed-in a thin / sealing coating of paint.

Making this gasket from scratch, including paint and taking all the photos, took 60 minutes ..so it's not instant. But at the same time buying and getting a new one isn't either.  And this is (imo) much better than reusing an already compressed gasket, or else using an excess of goo.

Once the paint is dry, its use is just the same as a commercially available gasket. In this application I'll most likely use a smear of Wellseal between the gasket and gearbox case, and a smear of heavy grease between the gasket and the top cover.

"granddad, have you sucked that egg yet ? "

Pete     

 

[Pete Lewis]

to add i use an old pushrod and washer to cut a hole ...and a small hammer 

but i prefer stuff like Loctite 574 and dump the gasket  for any face to face surfaces

( providing the gasket is not of any dimensional significance )

used on trials to solve truck oil leaks and it was head and shoulders better than any other stuff we tested 

so was  made a permanent production process 

when it goes solid  it needs a tap or a lever to split the joint but you are oil free

{Pete

[GrahamB]

My friend's father was an engineer at Dunlop's wheel division, probably started there in about 1930.  To make a gasket, he placed the gasket material over the joint and then tapped gently with a hammer around the edges of the casing.  This left an imprint of the surface and the holes on the material which could then be cut out ready for use.

[PeteH]

42 minutes ago, Mathew said:

That's how i do it, quite quick. 

👍 Made literally hundreds of Pipe Flange joints with the same process often using Graphited sheet "jointing" material, small ball peen hammer produces a pattern and on the thinner stuff even a cut.

Pete.

[mark powell]

I have a good selection of hole punches purchased at auto jumbles.  perfect for gasket making.

[PeteH]

"one off" hole punches can be fabricated from short sections of steel tube. They will often cut a couple of gaskets before giving up the ghost.

Pete

[Bfg]

19 hours ago, GrahamB said:

My friend's father was an engineer at Dunlop's wheel division, probably started there in about 1930.  To make a gasket, he placed the gasket material over the joint and then tapped gently with a hammer around the edges of the casing.  This left an imprint of the surface and the holes on the material which could then be cut out ready for use.

I'll not  do that on an aluminium case, but might do the same with an iron casting ..if I thought it were robust enough, such as with a cast-steel water pump. However it often means cutting the centre out first, to clear any protrusion ..so the gasket material lays flat (although to start with, that need only be a localised hole).  

Also if doing things that way, then I'd suggest ; marking and cutting two holes first, and placing their bolts in the holes to keep things in line.  Otherwise the tendency, particularly for long &/or skimpy gaskets,  is for the gasket material to creep a little as you work your way around it, and then you find the last holes are perhaps 1/16 of 1/8" out of place.   How might I know it tends to do that ! ?

Pete