On 2016-12-09, Larry Jaques wrote:
On 9 Dec 2016 04:42:07 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:
On 2016-12-07, Larry Jaques wrote:
On 7 Dec 2016 03:00:25 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:
[ ... ]
Are clutch pilot bearings still sintered bronze? That's a dusty,
dirty, hot, and demanding application.
Well -- the MGA (1956 to I think around 1964) used needle roller
bearings for the clutch pilot, and the throwout bearing was a graphite
ring in a cup applied to a hardened steel ring..
Caged? Wow, advanced tech back then.
No such luck! :-)
At least those trannies were
single-armers. I used both knees and both arms to hoist my Borg T-10
up into the Javelin bell housing.
Well ... with the MGA, while the tranny was lighter, it included
the bell housing as part of its casting, so you needed to pull the
engine and trans as an assembly out of the car before you could either
pull the trans off the engine or re-install it. :-)
Back then, it took an hour for that job. It's a little different
today.
A bit longer if you followed the official service manual
instructions. They had you pull the trans tunnel, which required first
removing the seats and the (plywood) floorboards, and the screws holding
them in were usually rusty from salt spray from winter roads around
here.
After the first time, we figured out a way to do it with the
trans tunnel still in place. (Remove the smaller panel with the
gearshift boot, reach through that with a 1/4" drive ratchet and
extension and pull the shifter off, then reach down through there to
undo the four drive shaft flange bolts, and put an old V-belt around the
flange and through a 2x4. Then get under, an reach up the sides of the
trans and remove the nut and bolt which go through a rubber shock ring,
supporting the weight of the trans and engine with that V-belt and
lever. Once that was done, you also disconnect all wires from the
engine, and all hoses, attach a hoist (pulley over a tree limb), undo
the front mount pads, and lower the tail of the trans while pulling the
engine nose-up out of the engine compartment. (Actually you could leave
the engine over the compartment while removing the trans.) And, since
it was so much trouble to get to it all, while you had it out to replace
the clutch and pressure plate, also pull the trans apart and replace the
synchronizer rings. :-)
But if you want one which is *really* a pain to work on, find a
MGA twin-cam. Dual overhead cams, and the distributor was mounted facing
the radiator. To do a tune-up, you had to remove the radiator to
access the distributor. :-(
Of course -- there was the Sunbeam Tiger (no, I didn't have one)
which required removing two access plates in the firewall -- to reach
through and change the rear-most spark plug on each side of the V-8
engine. :-)
I remember climbing over the fender of my '60 F-100 and
standing next to the 312cid V-8 to do the tuneup. I could see right
down into the distributor for points and condenser. change, and the
spark plugs were right in front of me. Times have changed.
Yep!
The needle roller bearing was not an assembly, but rather a
cluster of needles which you put in place with some grease to hold them
until the input shaft pilot was into place.
I thought that kind of sadism was limited to u-joint cups...
It was not that bad, I had the engine hanging from a tree with a
pulley, and could easily insert the needle bearings, and then lift the
trans and put it into the back of the engine, with the pilot starting
nicely enough. It helped to have another pair of hands to put the first
couple of bolts in place holding the trans to the engine. :-)
First stab is the reckoning. You start to tighten the bolts and it
just doesn't want to easily slide up to the engine block when you
realize that a needle is caught. Gently undo it all and start over.
BTDT, got the t-shirt.
We made sure that it would slide up fully *before* putting in
the first bolt.:-)
OBTW -- The MGB was the same, as I put an 1800 CC MGB engine
in my 1622 CC MGA 1600 Mark II.
Ricky Racer, wot? I'll bet that pepped it up a bit.
It did give it some pep. Surprised a number of people at
stoplights and such. :-) Also, while a friend had that engine in *his*
MGA, he took it in to get a professional tuneup, and the performance
surprised the fellow who did the work. He didn't spot the fact that the
engine was not original.
There were only 2 places I ever used long grain wheel bearing grease.
The first was on water pump gaskets, after gluing the gasket to the
pump. I hated scraping old gaskets off timing case covers. The second
was to glue the loose needle bearings in u-joint cups so they wouldn't
be crushed in the press during assembly. I bought the Harbor Freight
5" Mechanic's vise in 1976 for that latter use. Once the cups were
flush-seated, I could use a dowel and mallet to finish seating them to
snap-ring depth. The newer moly wbg didn't work worth a crap to hold
those needles.
At that time, I had only a very tiny bottle of Molly grease,
which I used for hand tapping with spiral point (gun) taps.
Yeah, it wasn't extremely available when I started that. Now,
searching for the long grain grease is like finding a dinosaur tooth.
It was given me by my employer in a little bottle about 1/2"
diameter -- from a big can of the stuff. (I had to occasionally climb
into awkward places and tap holes for cable clamps and the like, and I
broke fewer taps with that grease on hand. When I moved on to another
job, I kept that little bottle. :-)
Now I have bought a can of my own. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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