Throttle Lingage Magic Needed

[Brian N.]

Last week while in Stockton dropping some parts off at Delta Plating, I stopped by British Car Specialists and picked up some throttle linkage parts. Mike the parts counter guy, was super helpful. I also got a chance to speak with Dr. Nock again. He siged the Tech Talk book I bought there that visit. But I also bought some throttle linkage stuff. Like the firewall bushing, and rocker cover throttle shaft end bearing. (I guess that's what you would call it.) Anyway, I was advised where to look for other and very hidden linkage slop. Like in the transverse shaft bearings. They told me these are heck to replace with the engine in the car.

Has anyone managed this procedure?

 

[Pete Haburt]

Brian;
I have not had to struggle with this personally, but a guy in our club just had to on a 66 BJ8. He was able to remove and replace by taking the trans tunnel and panel that screws over the trans opening off. He said it was an absolute bear, but better than pulling engine out. Sorry I can't be more specific.
Pete H.

 

[Dave Russell]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Brian N.:
Anyway, I was advised where to look for other and very hidden linkage slop. Like in the transverse shaft bearings. They told me these are heck to replace with the engine in the car.
Has anyone managed this procedure?<hr></blockquote>

Hi Brian,
Did they tell you how to check to see if these bearings were loose? Since it is such a bear to replace them, I would find a way to be absolutely sure that it was really a problem.

I personally don't think that a little free play in this part of the linkage is a problem since there is a separate spring return on the throttles anyway. It may be a solution looking for a problem.-- Unless you are just looking for something to do.

Maybe someone will jump in & tell us that replacing these bearings made a huge improvement.

And no, I have not tried it.
D

 

[Brian N.]

OK, removing the trans cover makes sense. I had not thought of that.

And, yes, unfortunately the right side bearing is very sloppy.

I will do all the easy stuff first, and see how much problem there still is.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Dave Russell]

Bummer -- You can do things like gluing the loose nuts onto the back side, oil on the screw so it doesn't stick, use the screw for alignment, quickset epoxy on the nut. Lot of straining & head scratching about how to reach things that you can't see etc. Not impossible, just a PITA. These things were built without captive nuts on the back side of panels & sometimes require three 6 ft long arms & hands to work on.
Good luck,
D

 

[Stretch]

There's also the same bearing where the throttle pedal passes through the footwell. Mine was severely worn. The rubber in the bushings for the relay rod were just deteriorated. After reworking all three to remove the slop the throttle pedal now travels less but still some before engaging the carbs.

 

[Hangtown Healey]

Replacing those bearings with Delrin or other Teflon does make a big improvment. It can be done without taking the tunnel off. Just get started. I used multiple extensions of my 1/2 inch socket set to get some of the hard ones from under the car. A 1/4 inch socket set will also help. We are only talking about 4 small bolts here.