Laird,
Well, my Midget was standing when I bought it for quite
awhile. Maybe some 3 or 4 years. I didn't think that it might
have some consequences I didn't consider.
The front yoke of the supposedly sliding yoke (on the older
Midgets) was stuck on the transmission shaft. It did not slide.
Form day one (I owned this machine of hell) I noticed severe
vibrations. The rear bearing of the transmission must have died
due to a lot of stress with any bump (Boston!). My vibrations
were mostly around 30 to 35 mph. I couldn't even use the
mirrors. When I tried to take out the drive shaft it wasn't
easy at all. Once out I could see that the front yoke was in
bad shape. On one side there is a one inch wide flat spot as
if the shaft was bouncing always against the tranny on this
side.
I'll have to replace that yoke and the bearing (if that is all
the damage!). So I'll go for the used tranny I have and a used
drive shaft with new u-joints.
Maybe you's isn't all that bad. Never let the oil level in
the tranny get too low. It greases the sliding joint, too.
Cheers,
Gus
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Agustin de la Calle '71 MG Midget (red)
Boston, MA delacall@bcmp.med.harvard.edu
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