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My 71 midget

Posted by tater salad 
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
I needed to put the front tires on the back, back tires on front, because toe out issue, I thought if I had straight tires on it would be easier to do.
So as i did ttire swap I also checked if wheel assembly moved or if front spindle assembly was need of new parts, lol, yes need new parts, rotor is warped and pitted so bad,
I was wanting to disassemble the hub to get the rotor off, I have wire wheels,
And I can't seem to get the front hub off, what is the trick to get a wire wheel hub off?

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AmishIndy Avatar
Seth Jones
Wheaton, IL, USA   usa
1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
First you have to remove the dust cover. use a puller or a slidehammer for that.

Nextyou'll see a small hole in the side of splined hub. Thats to access the split pin and pull it out. With the split pin removed, its time to undo the nut.



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
dust cover? is that what Moss parts book calls grease cap?, sorry to be so lost here but it sure aint no chevy truck

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injunjoe Avatar
Joseph Tiller
Sugar Valley, Ga, USA   usa
Tater, yes its the grease cap. It has a threaded insert in the center but I cant recall the size or thread pitch. Someone will jump in with it I'm sure. You can thread a female to female coupler on it and remove with a bolt inserted into the coupler. Like Seth says, disassembly is as described.

Joe
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
ok I understand now, I wish the previuos owner would have asked how to remove the grease cap, because the threaded post is trashed out so bad its hard to Identify what it was at one time, I just got sick to my stomach, any ideas how to gget this grease cap out when the threaded post is beyound repair?

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Mark Woolf
Charlotte, NC, USA   usa
Having had the pleasure of dealing with the same situation with several Spridgets & Bs over the years, my first advice is to be patient, persevere and it will come out...eventually.

The dust cover/grease cap is a pressure fit in the hub. Usually it becomes one with the hub because of rust bonding them together. Try spraying the inside of the hub with your favorite penetrating/light oil. Then use a pair if narrow nose vise grips to grab the stud on the end of the dust cover and wiggle it out. If the stud breaks lose (which it will do sometimes)try prying with a pick-type tool. Or bend the end of an old/cheap screwdriver and try to pry with that. You can also try using a small punch thru the cotter pin holes and slowly edge it out a fraction at the time. I've also been successful using a lag screw (that fits the hole where the stud had broken off) and screwing the dust cover out. Use you imagination along with what you have on hand and you will succeed in getting it out.

Then the fun begins with getting the cotter that secures the castle nut out. Good needle-nose pliers will usually get the cotter out in a few minutes but I've also resorted to hammering a socket over the nut and cotter and using an air gun on the nut to shear the cotter pin as the nut unscrews. Don't forget to remove the remains of the cotter in the stub axle.
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
Mark NC, WOW,are you anywhere near Steele Creek?

Mark Woolf
Charlotte, NC, USA   usa
Todd,
Check your PMs.
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
thanks Mark and everyone else, here is a couple pics id like to share, so as in post 1 i said I seen movement in the assembly, well I did, I took the wheel off and greased everything up because I seen about .02 movement, after grease I did not see tis movement anymore, so I put the wheel back on and I can tip from top to bottom the wheel, close to a 32nd of an inch? what gives?
I mean whats wrong?

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tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
Ok. I took the driver side apart, outer bearing greeted me in all 15 pieces, also I need a wishbone for the left side, anyone help me out here,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2012 04:57AM by tater salad.
tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
well here is a pic of the left wishbone, I dont think it will work, this was done by P/O, and is cracked and that wasnt even fixed, wow, I drove this car 93 miles to get it home and then I see all this, its like this car keeps telling me" dont fix me I will make you pay for it"

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tater salad Avatar
Todd Smith
charlotte NC, USA   usa
no one can give me feedback why the tire and wheel can rock up and down a 1/32 of an inch when mounted to hub assembly? but I dont feel or see movement with wheel off the front hub assembly
Kerr Avatar
Norm Kerr
Ann Arbor, Mi, USA   usa
it looks like you already know the answer, but you're hoping that it is not true:

your splines are badly worn, so hubs and wheels ought to be replaced as a set, and your wishbones are shot - new ones with matched lower fulcrum pins are readily available

This is common with these cars, the front suspension is an antique design and modern (sticky) rubber (tires) only makes it wear faster. Properly rebuilding it costs money, but that's what you signed up for when you decided you wanted one of these (otherwise) wonderful little cars.



Norm

AmishIndy Avatar
Seth Jones
Wheaton, IL, USA   usa
1971 MG Midget MkIII "Guenevire"
2007 Mazda 3 "Porco Rosso"
FWIW the thower trunon bushings were brazed in by the factory. Yours doesnt look too abnormal to me.



Seth Jones

1971 MG Midget

www.SpridgetGuru.com

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