Jim:
Ya gotta believe!!!!
Seriously, working on British cars requires a certain amount of magic.
You have to KNOW that the joint will break free, otherwise you will be
spinning your wheels for hours.
You are on the right track. The heat will cause the two pieces to move
slightly relative to each other. Then I would suggest taking a heavy
hammer and wacking the joint one time. Don't tap the joint with a light
hammer, it will just move the surface metal around without transmitting
the energy to the joint. Whack it once, knowing that it will break
free.
Real timely as I got into this last night. I wanted to change the oil
in the diff of my SD1, only to find that the fill plug (there is no
drain plug) was completely rounded. Clamping the plug with vice grips
and trying to tap it around with a dead blow hammer, just caused the
vice grips to grind more material off the plug. I got out my torch set,
only to find that the oxygen regulator had failed, so it was back to
propane torch technology. After heating, the plug still was frozen.
Out with the BFH, and one blow with the 1 lb sledge hammer did the
trick. It turns out the DPO had cranked the plug in without a copper
washer, and the next time someone tried to access the plug it had
rounded off. So now I am in the market for a TR7/8 or Rover diff. plug.
BTW. Draining the diff. was easy with a Mityvac pump. The tube was
just small enough to snake past the pinion gear and down into the bottom
of the diff. Based on the color of the lube, it was about time the job
was done.
Tools are wonderful things.
Kelvin.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of James Schulte
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 10:16 PM
To: MG Club Philadelphia; Mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Tie rod end removal problems
Listers,
Nearing the end of a 2 year restoration of a 69 MGC, I've run into a
stubborn
tie rod end. I've sprayed it with penetrating oil, heated it with a
propane
torch and in between attached a vice grip to the shaft and an adjustable
locking wrench to the tie rod with no success in loosening the tie rod.
Any
suggestions?
Jim
69C
70B
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