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Hey, Robert, good to hear from you. Joe said you'd be around. I own one of
your Dad's cars--Peyote. I spent most of the three day weekend pulling the
rear end apart and crack checking everything.
1. If you look at a blowup picture of the TR3/4 axle you'll see there are
two seals, one on the axle before the bearing, to retain the oil in the rear
end, and a wimpy one between the bearing and the bearing retainer plate that
screws to the brake backing plate. Since you're leaking grease and not oil,
your inner seal is probably okay (or as okay as they need to be) but your
inner seal is marginal or the axle has had too much grease pumped into it.
It really doesn't need much. The easy fix is to degrease everything on the
backing plate (lots of brake cleaner) pull the axle assembly by removing the
six bolts on the back of the backing plate that hold the bearing retainer
in, then pull the whole axle assembly free. You don't have to remove the
brakes to do this--leave it all in place). Wipe out some of the grease.
Directly grease the bearing (just rub some on). Degrease the heck out of
everything else, and stick it back together. If that doesn't take care of
the problem you'll have to press the axle from the hub and replace the seal.
That's a pain, but you'd be wise to get your hub and axle crack checked
anyway.
The only thing holding the hub onto the axle is the big nut on the end and a
tapered shaft with a key. On most cars a simple bearing clamshell and puller
would pop it right out, but we're talkin' Triumphs here--somehow it takes
vast amounts of pressure to pop these. There's a special tool to do it, but
it's a bit wimpy for the task and there are only a few in captivity. The
aforementioned clamshell to support the hub and a ten ton press are my
chosen weapons.
One other thing though. I have this thing about back brakes--I don't really
think I need 'em. I ran a whole season with bad axle seals that would lube
the heck out of the rear brakes with diff oil. Now that I have functional
rear brakes I back the bias way out to keep from swapping ends. I tend to
brake very hard in a straight line and trail brake only a little bit if at
all--a relic of my motorcycle days. If my front brakes are marginal I'm
screwed, but back brakes I don't care much about.
2. It's not only legal but recommended. I think most vintage cars work best
with about a inch of clearance to the pavement. Tracks are smooth these
days.
3. Does the ambro have a TR3/4 front end? If so, the big issues are the stub
axle and hub. You can get them crack checked, but they usually aren't a big
problem. British Frame and Engine and others have nice replacement parts for
the heavy wear items. Everything should be delrin--eliminate all the rubber
stuff. I like the stainless/brass steering arm bushing replacements also.
Get a catalog from Ken Gillanders and you'll see what I'm talking about.
(Ken, you need a website)
4. I worry first about stuff that would break and roll the car (suspension,
axles, etc.) and second about the engine and trans. You can't expect a
racing engine to last long unless you change the bearings frequently (unless
you're Joe Alexander) I drop the pan, replace the rod bearings and look at
the mains. When the mains start looking bad it's time to yank the motor
again. My motors have been out of the cars so many times I can just whistle
and pat the bench and they jump right onto it (I wish).
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