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MG MGB Technical - sump and timing chain cover removal

I have the front crossmember removed for repainting at the moment which leaves the bottom of the engine accessible. I have an oil leak from the front and rear of the engine. The front is probably from the timing chain cover and the rear may be sump or possibly crankshaft seal (not examined it that closely yet. I was thinking of pulling the engine next winter (or the one after that!!) but wondered how difficult it would be to replace the sump gasket and timing chain cover gasket. I know I will have to remove the radiator (only just gone back in after engine bay tidy up). I expect to have to wedge the crankshaft to get the pulley bolt undone so the sump will be off anyway. Is it possible to do both these from under the car?

The oil leaks are not serious (a few drips on the garage floor) and I could probably live with them for a while yet. This is another case of "while thats off I can do these other things". It all delays getting the car back on the road.
Steve Church

Both of these are straightforward jobs with the crossmember removed. Just be sure that you use the crankshaft pulley to centralise the cover before tightening all the bolts. Use blue Hylomar jointing on both faces for an oiltight job.
Iain MacKintosh

Hi Steve
Was it difficult removing the front crossmember? Thinking about taking off soon (have bought a rebuild kit for front suspension and new poly pads, bolts etc - the rubber ones on are finished)...
/Moss
Moss

Moss, removing the front crossmember is no problem,points to consider are, if you are to rebuild your front crossmember unless you have a spring clamp, or unless you are very strong,it is better to compress the front springs using a jack under the spring with the crossmember still in the car,carry out the repairs to the crossmember with with it still in the car, then drop it down to replace the pads, also this will save time undoing the brake pipes, which will save time bleeding, and even more time if you cant undo the brake pipes or the bleed nipples,also do not tighten the nuts up on the bottom arm bushes with it jacked up, let it down on the ground, bounch the car,let it settle, then tighten them up, A.T
andy tilney

I echo Andy's comment on having to break the brake (!) union at the crossmember. But as I had to remove the caliper anyway it was inevitable. Jack the car up enough to be able to get the spring pans almost vertical or else the springs won't come out. I found getting the tie rod ends free was done with a big hammer and a lever after using the two hammer method on the end of the steering arm to help free the taper. This was recommended to me by another member on here when I queried removing the front suspension.

I have painted some parts myself but the majority of the components should be ready at the powder coaters tomorrow. I didn't trust them with the king pin and stub axle assembly.

Moss, I found that the bumpstop assembly had become pretty corroded, especially the ally spacers which had to be cut off and will need replacing.

The worst bit was cleaning all the years of grease and oil off everything before painting!
Steve Church

Probably a case of overkill, but I bought and have still to fit a complete front pan kit. This included the front pan,( obvious!) but also the bushes lower wishbones, the bumpstops and presumably that ally spacer etc. I am not going to put the standard bushes in, as I have some urathanes to go in. Actually I read with interest the crossmember bit, cause I was not sure about the bushes there-in. With the new pan kit I will not need to clean or paint, mind you might be worth stove enamelling ? Mike
J.M. Doust

Steve may i ask,does this two hammer method for removing the track rod ends,involve hitting one hammer with another, A.T
andy tilney

Not as I understand it - putting the big one on one side and hitting the other side with the other. Hitting one hammer with another is likely to send bits flying. Alternative methods are simply one hammer belting it in line with the steering arm. My accuracy has never been good enough for that, the various wedges and pickle-forks I've tried have either been useless or beggared the TRE (no problem if you are replacing it) but the scissors type works well. However I had to modify that by building up part of the arm the bolt bears against so it bore against a flat surface instead of angle.
PaulH Solihull

Many years ago, a friend introduced me to the 2 BFH method of removing tapered pivot joints. He worked out in the woods, on large logging equipment, where specialized tools were often not available, Indeed, one hammer is placed on the back of the steering arm and you hit the front of the steering arm with the other hammer. The resulting compression and shock wave disengages the tie rod end every time. Be sure to leave the tie rod nut on by a few threads to prevent it from sailing up and hitting you in the head. Me, I prefer to use a pickle fork that is air operated and mounts in an air chisel gun. Less weight and it takes only a second. RAY
rjm RAY

Iain,
You mentioned using blue Hylomar. How is that used? Is it applied as a bead or as a film. I seem to remember that it differs from red Hermatite that I used to use many moons ago in that it seemed to form a gel almost straight away.
Steve Church

Some of the silicone products 'skin' almost immediately and even generally harden unless the surfaces are very short and simple and it is applied and the part fitted quickly. For that reason I prefer the non-setting stuff such as Hermetite red. Not sure what is meant by 'gel', which to me would be 'jelly-like' i.e. no skin or hardening. Whichever, the ads and picture are like for toothpaste i.e i.e. great thick beads far more than you need or is desirable, I've seen great wodges of silicone inside intake passages reducing the effective diameter significantly.
PaulH Solihull

The blue Hylomar is put on and smeared to a film which sets quite quickly. Then stick the gasket to this to give good location and apply a film to the new side of the gasket and bolt up the pan.
Iain MacKintosh

One of the beauties of Hondabond is that you can apply it and mate the parts almost immediately or let the parts sit for half an hour before assembly. It is very forgiving and never hardens fully. RAY
rjm RAY

This thread was discussed between 21/01/2011 and 27/01/2011

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