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MG TD TF 1500 - Rear springs and axle removed

I am doing a full renovation on my 1952 TD. I got to the rear springs this morning and found that I could not get the forward spring bush bolts out. It was evident that this had been an earlier problem as a section of the chassis strut had already been cut away to provide better access. I cut through the bolts and found the steel bush had rust/welded itself to the bolt. I will replace parts and restore missing section by welding later.

I then removed the springs and the U bolts attaching the axle. There are severe wear rings around the axle casing at the U bolt positions. I guess that these must have been loose hence causing movement and wear !

Anybody found a solution or repaired this ?

I removed the half shafts and found one to be broken - fortunately the car came with a spare new one !
I noticed that the wheel end splines of the broken half-shaft were worn by approx. 50 thou (compared to the new one and the other shaft)- perhaps this free movement caused chatter and extra stress leading to a shaft failure ?

Any way I will now strip the diff to see what other damage may be present.




Mel Pascoe

I always opt for the conservative approach.

IMHO, there is no real reason to remove the diff, if all that happened was a busted axle shaft. There is LOTS in the archives about how to remove the broken stub, and how to
clean out the debris.

Be SURE to order a set of my magnetic drain plugs, to pick up any swarf you may miss.

And to repair the grooves in the axle, have them welded or JB-Weld them up, get a pair of axle buffer pads for an MGA, and replace the u-bolts and nuts.

See mgtrepair for the magnetic rear axle (and engine and trans) drain plugs.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

My forward spring bush bolts have never been out but in the event I should have to remove and replace these what is the best method to get them out given there may be some rust issues with them. Is there an certain wrench or tool that facilitates this operation? What say those who have been down this road?
John Quilter

Simple task to fabricate your own axle buffer pads, I used some s/steel 10# sheet I had going spare and used the diff housing as a mandrel.
G Evans

Picture of snapped half shaft end that I removed today

Mel Pascoe

The diff tube is .125" so I use a depth mic to check it. I'll JB weld up to .040" grooves.Anything more gets welded. Be careful welding as it can shrink when cooling and bend the tube. A good welder will know how to prevent this.
Dave
Dave Clark Arizona

Thanks for that detail Dave, I will check the depth of the grooves tomorrow. I did dismantle the diff. and found fifty year old oil just like treacle.

Replaced the pinion oil seal after much difficulty getting the pinion drive nut off.

I have, in the mean time, been cleaning components ready for reassembly and found yesterday that the other half shaft, although complete, has cracks and distortion just in the same place as the broken one !

The price of a half shaft in the UK is twice that advertised in the US !
Mel Pascoe

Grooves measured at no more than 26 thou so I am going to fill with metal filler
Mel Pascoe

Mel, If you were here I have a perfect pair of half shafts out of my TF, replaced with new stronger shafts when Dave Clark changed my rear to a 4.1. With the naked eye I see no cracks in my old axles, they look perfect. PJ
Paul161

Mel. I bought a pair of Dave Clarke's excellent half shafts. I also found the grooves in the diff casing and filled them with JB Weld. A couple of square steel plates were formed to shape over the filled grooves (as G Evans above said) before fitting the U bolts. Also clean out the vent hole in the top of the diff tube and consider fitting an MGA/B type vent cover.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I had noticed a hole in the axle tube, not realised it was a vent. I will get a MGA unit as suggested - thanks for that one Dave.
Tips like that make this forum very valuable

Mel.
Mel Pascoe

Mel

please tell me where I can find the vent hole.

Bela

Bela. See pic attached showing the location. I fitted the MGA breather mushroom in the original hole which needs to be tapped to accommodate it. The thread is 3/8" BSPT from memory. I did mine at the same time as the 4.3 rear end conversion to ensure the swarf could be removed from the housing. Cheers
Peter TD 5801

P Hehir

I have purchased a breather from the MGA list. It is plastic and the thread I used is 1/8 inch NPT. This seems a good solution to me - the breather hole in my axle was fully blocked with crud and this device will avoid that for the future.
Mel Pascoe

Thank you Peter

I've found it on the left side and it was clean.

Bela

Dave Clark also advises the thread is 1/8" NPT. I checked an earlier thread not long after I fitted it & I was then under the impression it was a BSF taper not BSPT thread, as I recalled above. Whoever supplies the MGA mushroom should advise the purchaser on the correct thread size & type. As Dave often does these rear end conversions he should know. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Yep, 1/8 NPT I suspect the plastic threads on the breather would conform to something close. Drilling and taping the hole will allow some particles to drop inside so you might want to find a magnet that can drop inside to pull them out. If your half shafts are out then it is easy.
Dave
Dave Clark Arizona

This thread was discussed between 21/06/2016 and 07/07/2016

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