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Spitfire Spit rear hubs, Arrrgh!

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t_bush

t_bush

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Anyone have a good Idea to help me out.
The car is a 1974 Spitfire. The rear hubs have very likly never been removed from the axles. There is no rust.
I tried to remove them using a tool patterned after the Churchill tool. This is the one with a welded flange and a central screw. Two grown men could not get either hub to pop.
Frustrating to say the least. If you have a method that works please tell me. This is the only thing preventing me from getting my chassis back on it's wheels.
Thanks.
- Tim
 
I used what sounds like the same tool and had the same problem. What I did that worked very nice was to tighten the screw of the tool and then tap the u-joint yoke with a 1lb ball peen hammer and alternating from side to side of the yoke while pausing to re-tighten the screw. Only took a few taps and it popped apart easily.

BTW - it is important to reassemble the tapers clean and dry. Any taper should never be assembled with oil or anti-seize. Oil or anti-seize can very easily cause the tapers to pull together too far and cause the outer taper to crack open.
 
Just went through this myself.

First try - one of the guys in my shop bent both hubs and mushroomed an axle.

Second try - I found a local guy who had the churchill puller, and it took an impact driver AND a box end wrench with a 18" extension working together to get them to pop. I soaked one in pb-blaster for 3 days before pulling the hub; the other I soaked in the forum "weasel pee" concoction for 2 days. Neither seemed to help. We did not try using heat.

If I didn't have access to the churchill puller, I would have tried pressing the bearing housing and hub off the axle together using a hydraulic press - but this would have required cutting off (and replacing) the oil slinger on the back side of the bearing housing, and digging/cutting out the oil seal. Dunno if anyone has tried that before.
 
Boy wouldn't it have been nice to have had the Internet, Youtube and a hub puller back when I had to rebuild my wife's rear axles on her Mk III. :smile:

Scott
 
When I did my spit hubs, I used a homemade puller, loaded some tension and applied a little heat from a propane torch. The crack sound was like a gunshot, but the taper seperated without damage to the hub.

ScottD
 
Thanks guys.
Before I started I warmed the parts up and sprayed on PB Blaster and let them soak. When I could not get the hubs off initially, I put a torch on them. I rapped the screw and kept tightening. Still no luck. I didn't get midevil with the tool as it was borrowed.
I suppose I could cut the hubs off and salvage the axles.

-Tim
 
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