Progress: axles and hubs out

[drooartz]

My night of inspiration last night seems to have worked. I got my motivation going tonight and spent a few hours out in the garage. Got the old axles and hubs out -- used the reverse-the-brake-drum hint and it worked just fine. Had to grind out the inside of the old drum I was using, and then all worked swimmingly.

I've decided to start with the rear end, and work forwards. First is rear diff swap (to a 3.9) and a change to the later style rear brakes. Then reassemble the hubs with new bearings and seals. Finagle the parking brake, and I'll have the rear end pretty well buttoned up. Can't think further ahead than that, but it's a start.

One question -- should I reuse the hubs that came off the Bugeye, or use the ones that were on the donor Midget? Is there a difference between the two?

 

[jlaird]

Use the ones you know are good.

 

[drooartz]

Define good, Jack. I've got no idea if any of the 4 hubs I have are good... the ones on the car seemed to be working fine. The wheels spun and didn't fall off at least.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Are the bearings a good friction fit? No indication of them having spun inside the hub (i.e. a wear ridge?) If so, I'd say you should be good. My $0.02...

 

[tony barnhill]

I toss old hubs & buy new...just not worth the effort to take them somewhere to have them micced for thickness & then turned....I mean, rear drums are less that $25 each! What would it cost to run around having them checked & turned?

 

[Trevor Jessie]

He is speaking of the hubs not the drums or rotors(discs).

 

[drooartz]

Correct, Trevor. I'll be buying new drums for sure, but I've now got 2 sets of rear hubs to choose from. I will be installing new bearings and seals, as a while-I'm-in-there project.

I popped the bearings out of the old Bugeye hubs already. I'll have to look and see if I can see any wear signs. The bearings seemed nice and snug in there, but I really don't have anything to compare to.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Drew,

You shouldn't need a 20-ton press... a bench vise and the old race should do it. But once they're in, the race shouldn't easily spin in the hub. That's my understanding... Maybe Dug, Peter C or another of our more mechanically-minded alumni will chime in with a more technical response.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

The worst part of that job (at least for me) is getting the old seals out. I just don't seem to have the technique/tool to do that without cursing.

 

[drooartz]

I just don't seem to have the technique/tool to do that without cursing.

That's actually comforting, Trevor. I tried (briefly) to get the old seal out, then gave up for now. I'll deal with that when I get around to the rebuild portion of this project.

 

[tosoutherncars]

The rubber o-ring? I used a curved dental pick.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Nope the seal that keeps the oil from flowing out past the bearing.

 

[Atrus]

I used a sandblaster :laugh:

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Kevin, I'm not familiar with that technique. How does that work?

 

[jlaird]

The good ones for sure are the ones that came out of the Tunebug.