Proper way to "seat" ball bearings in OD operating valve

[bighealeysource]

Hey all,
Still working on my overdrive - that Healey 5 speed is looking better every day ! Anyway, could someone tell me proper way to "seat" the ball bearings for the oil pump and operating valves ? Know it says to "gently tap the ball bearing into its seat with a copper drift" but how do you tell if it is "seated" ? I have had both apart and know I did not seat these two ball bearings with a copper drift or anything. Basically pushed the oil pump ball bearing into place and simply dropped the operating valve one into the access hole. And works great when cold but as everything heats up to full operating temp, lose oil pressure and OD stops working. I've posted lengthy posts about this previously so will not bore all with repeating here. Can you use a piece of soft wood as I think I have read instead of the copper drift ? And is a copper drift just like a nail punch but made of copper ? All advice will be very appreciated
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Chris_Masucci]

A copper or brass drift is going to be required. Wood is too soft. Basically you want the ball bearing in position, and then you smack it with the drift/hammer so that it squishes the aluminum it is seating against in the OD housing. That way the aluminum is formed to the ball bearing and will make a good seal.

 

[roscoe]

I have posted about this before. When I went into the pressure relief valve on the overdrive iol pump I found the ball bearing seat was pitted. It doesn't take much to let fluid leak past it at pressure and no amount of staking of the ball into the seat would have fixed that. I sized the ball and found I could buy them at the local Orchard Supply hardware store. I bought a few and glued one to the end of a small wood dowel. Using valve grinding compound (coarse and then fine) I used the mandrel in a drill and lapped the seat. When the seat looked good I checked it with a new ball bearing and some Dykem blue to make sure I had good contact of the ball in the seat. It made a world of difference in my pump pressure and was actually the fix for the low operating pressure I had. For what ever reason I did not find the same issue with the operating valve ball bearing seat. Take a good close magnified look at the seat before you pound a ball into it.

 

[bighealeysource]

Thanks Chris and Jon ! Going to check out both as like I said, did not properly "seat" either ball bearing. Pump ball is a real pain to deal with but accessible so guess I'll bite the bullet and do that one first since it is an oil pressure issue. I'll post back here with the results. Appreciate you both taking the time to post your advice.
Regards
Mike