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TR2/3/3A TR3A Steering Gearbox

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LarryK said:
Get a nut splitter and split the brass nut and then get the tube and olive and use new brass nut. The brass nut probably is galled on the steel threads, if you split and replace, you won't have same problem later!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Larry.
The nut may be galled onto the threads, too, but that's not the main reason now why I can't get it off. The threaded fitting is turning in the front plate with the nut. I can get the nut off by splitting it or cutting it off, but I'll still either need to fix the fitting or get another front plate/fitting. I don't see any evidence of an olive, so someone might have cranked down on the nut to try to stop it from leaking and broken the fitting loose.
 
TR3driver said:
If you can keep it flat to within .002" or so over that long distance with a Dremel tool, then your hands are a whole steadier than mine are!
Click to expand...

The area around the fitting on the backside of the plate is not flat anyway. The fitting has been staked into the plate so that there is a circle of depressed areas alternating with non-depressed areas all around the fitting. I can braze it and stay within that area. Also, yes, I can hit it with the MIG but I think I can get a better seal around the fitting with brazing.
 
"Also needs to be flat where it seals to the box; the gasket will take up a little distortion but not much. And I'm thinking that just bringing the center up to brazing temperature is likely to warp the whole piece; but I could be wrong."

That's why I want to make sure there is another front plate/fitting available before I try to repair this one.
 
TR4nut said:
Related to this, if the olive is missing I'm not clear how that stator tube stayed fixed in place, wouldn't it try to rotate with the steering wheel? If you fix this plate, and get an olive, the tube will be fixed in place - if the control head is old just make sure it still rotates otherwise you might break the stator tube or something else.
Click to expand...

The stator tube was not fixed in place, except by a small hose clamp that had been installed on the stator tube in front of the steering box. It merely prevented the tube from moving back into the steering box. One complaint was that the turn signal switch (a new replacement) rotated 360 degrees. Actually, two of the three set screws that secure the switch to the steering wheel are missing, and so far I haven't been able to push the switch far enough into the wheel hub to engage the single set screw. It appears that the metal disc on the switch is too large to fit into the set screw circle. More investigation about that problem is needed. Oh, yeah: the short stator tube was not mated properly with the long one, but just forced over the end of it, which closed up the slot in the long tube. It is mated properly now.
This car was last worked on by some well-known British car mechanics in Durham, NC but whether they were responsible for this mess, I don't know.
 
Steve
Finally got around to getting a steering cap off. Have a good one with brass nut and ferrule. Just PM me if you still need it.

Marv
 
Steve,
I have had great success with used parts from Triumph Rescue (866-461-9050)
A local British car shop here has recommended using grease in the steering gear box until a major leak can be repaired. That has been my approach for the past year and has worked well. So you mught try that for the weekend drive to the car show.

Ron
 
Pitch it and get a nice used one.Also get( with it) some extra shims so you can set the end lash.
My other trick is to pack the pinion shaft with the heavy wheel bearing grease.So that when its filled with
70/90 it wont leak out......
MD(mad dog)
 
Just to close this thread, thanks to TexasKnucklehead I got a spare steering gearbox front plate as a backup in case I ruined the original. I brazed the fitting in the original plate and got the nut off (no olive inside). The olive has been replaced and everything is now buttoned up and the steering gearbox filled with Penrite. No leaks! On to the next issue... the side curtain fittings.
 
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