MGB & GT Forum

I'm pretty wiped out from today's "fun with Bs" marathon ... I long dreaded this differential job, w/ good reason I see now - it really was a nightmare. N/M the failed axle Speedi-Sleeve and destroyed oil seal (3rd in 3 yrs) that caused a brake mess from Hell on pass. side. (See below).

The diff. work did NOT go smooth and easy - all those vids and people's instructions and opinions leave huge gaps in the process. That Mike guy on YouTube DOESN'T reveal that his B's gas tank was removed for better access, you have to look really hard to see that. He also didn't show how to insert the spider gear cone washers; all he said was - "the washers are in". And most of us don't have a nice hydraulic press to do seals with PISS POOR TEACHER!

And unlike his demo, with his knackered and wallowed out diff., the pinion shaft roll pin and shaft itself DID NOT just fall out w/ tapping, OMG we had to force the shaft out w/ a rigged slide hammer! My B's diff was never opened (or abused) in 42 yrs and everything was newish-looking and tight ... except - no fiber washers behind the axle sun gears (expected). Took almost 1 hr just to get rid of the damn diff. gasket. There sure were copper cone washers behind the spiders tho, somewhat worn, and NO WAY could we force the new ones in - 2 more hrs lost! We ended up re-using the old cones, and there's absolutely no gear play now, so that's the good part.

We extracted the axle w/ a slide hammer and hook, and BL tool 18G 284 - that went fine. I'm almost in shock over the failed Speedi-Sleeve - bloody thing went oblong on the seal collar and ruined the 1 yr old seal - it wore a groove in the sleeve! So we reassembled w/o one, and I was careful to put only 1 1/2 pts in the diff. (maybe I overfilled before the recent 2400 mi trip, who knows ). I ran up to 85 MPH on the 40 mi. trip home from the work site (member Guido Perrone) then checked for oil drips out the brake drum - negative (fingers crossed)

Sorry no photos, we were too filthy and preoccupied to even think of it. 2 people, 8 hrs today, uggh.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR AWESOME HELP GUIDO!!

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~ Marco and Viajero ~

Marco,

Your experience is a little unusual in that the pin usually does tap out. I did my first clunk-ectomy on a bench and I think that helped. You definitely have to fit the cone washers, the spider and the fiber washers in a kind of ballet to get things in and geared up. You also are not the first person to have to reuse the old cone washers. Spitfires are very difficult to source the exact needed thickness. MGBs a bit easier.

Many congrats on your achievement.

Dave

Thank you Dave! I feel better now knowing it wasn't just me hehe. I didn't mention it was worth all the trouble; smoother shifting and decellerating, no scary noises in reverse

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~ Marco and Viajero ~

Yeah, there was no way those new cone washers were going to fit. Way too thick. The diff went together nicely with the old ones and it is smooth and tight! No play. You Tube guy probably re-used the old ones too. That's why he edited it out
Need to credit Scott (biglawndog) for his assistance today as well.

Glad it's working well Marco. Hopefully you'll get a lot more miles on this seal. I'll let you and Scott recover for a week or 2 and then we'll do it all over again on mine!

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Guido Perrone
1979 MGB "Penelope"

After buying the two sets of fiber and brash thrust washers, I added a bronze set in place of the fiber ones, bought from someone who made them oversized. And all the seals that need replacing with a banjo axle. But, now with spring weather and summer coming up, clunking has again disappeared

Reading the stories and recognising the general longevity of banjo axles, I've decided to skip this job, at least for this year

PS Activites that are easier and more rewarding the last weeks were: placing a new Kenlowe fan and a number of relay switches in the circuits for the fan, the dipped and longrange headlights and the OD-circuit as advised by JT. Coming up are K&N filters for the Coopers and the last action will be taking anti-freeze out & putting the summer thermostat in

Yep, I also saw that video on YouTube and was half tempted to do this job myself... Kinda glad I chickened our after reading about your experience. Took the mechanic about 4 hours so I reckon it would have taken me about four weeks. The lack of 'clunk' from the rear end is really nice - although now I can here a different clunk coming from the front suspension... Lower trunion bush I think. Oh well.

Really? I watched the same videos as everyone else, read the threads, and slowly went thru it. Everything went per the video.

Seems like the issues poor Marco had with his car are a bit more unique with his particular differential. Mine is newer, a 1979, and I still have in place but worn down thrust washers until I performed the work recently. Wondering if the fluid level wasn't maintained properly on that diff (common) or there are other issues.

"the pinion shaft roll pin and shaft itself DID NOT just fall out w/ tapping, OMG we had to force the shaft out w/ a rigged slide hammer! "


Ah, here, reading this...could it be that the DPO had previously messed with the shaft - if you don't put it back in the exact correct position, you are forcing it back into place (since there is a flat section on that shaft!!), making it difficult to remove....

Seriously doubt your experience is normal, more due to DPO or their mechanic's work.

Keith



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-17 07:03 PM by knewham.

And then guess who's next?

I watched the videos and it was great help. I have doe two of these jobs. A 1980 B was a breeze. All old out easy and all new in and assembled easy. The 1967 Gt was a pain. The roll pin was out easy bit I had incredibly difficult time pulling the shaft out. Finally got it out and into the freezer for reinstall.

Did my 78 gt after the video, found no problems. my copper washers just slid in, could have done with being a bit thicker if anything.
Bit fiddly getting the gears back in mesh but nothing serious.
you must have been very unlucky.
I seem to remember that the video was done on a car that had been coverted to electric, so no petrol tank needed.
Ian