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Silly Question?? But, why didn't you use the bolt holes with the larger circle? Did you not want to bore / tap the ring gear? Or was the layout unfavorable?

Originally Posted by 34_40

Silly Question?? But, why didn't you use the bolt holes with the larger circle? Did you not want to bore / tap the ring gear? Or was the layout unfavorable?

Have you tried to drill and tap a ring gear ??
Also the bolt circle on the MG ring gear is in the thickest section of the gear. The Ford bolt circle would put the bolts into a shallow section that I would not want to use.

I put a spare ring in the pillar drill and it just laughed at my cobalt bit

Regards
Perry

No, I cannot say that I've ever tried to bore or tap a ring gear? I think I could with a Bridgeport and solid carbide.. but maybe not?
And boring would only be half the process. Tapping threads would be a b_tch!! LOL..

I was really wondering if the bolt hole location was less than favorable moreso than the hardness.

Like I said............. a silly question!

Man you'd have a hard time filling a ring gear let alone taping one. Don't know what the Rockwell is on them but they sure are hard

Hard on the outside.. tender on the inside... just like you!

I don't know the Rockwell either. I was just curious as to which was the deciding factor for drilling the carrier.

Personally, I think having the bolts farther from center would've made it stronger but it's a moot point if the part cannot be bored/tapped. (well, at least easily!)

Hi Guys!!
I think it ready for final trial fitting tomorrow

The counter boring made the bolts too long, so I ordered some shorter bolts and they came today. I will do some accurate measuring tomorrow to make sure the bolts are exactly right. I may use the 3/4" long threads that arrived today. Or I may grind down the 1" long threads that I had already. I want to be sure that when its all torqued up that I dont have any more than 1/16th gap between the end of the bolts and the bottom of the tapped holes in the ring gear. The wheel studs arrived today from Summit which is great. The confusing thing for me today was that the wheels studs come in packs of 5. But the wheel nuts and washers come in packs of 4. So I had to buy 3 packs of nuts and washers..... ?? I'm just happy that I have all I need for the holiday weekends work on the rear axle now. Not sure what wheel studs and nuts cost you guys over there, but they arrived at my house in the UK today for $148.00 all in. So apart from the 2 spare nuts thats just under $15 per stud and nut. How does that work out to what you guys would pay over there per nut and stud delivered??

Regards
Perry

I'd have to go look at Summit to see what the prices might be. I know the wifes car uses a lug nut that has a stainless cover on it and they are expensive.

The packs of 4 probably have something to do with folks buying a set of locking lugs that come in a pack of 4.

WELL!!!
Today was some good news and some bad news

The good news is that the spool is now fitted and shimmed and has what seems to be ideal mesh between ring and pinion according to my book about Ford axles and how to set them up. I know this isnt a Ford axle, but the instructions on how to check mesh between the gears is universal. I used white assembly grease as a marker and the mesh pattern seems to match up with the pictures in the book. I did end up swapping some shims around to get it right. But when all was torqued up it looked ok to me. Well as good as it can be on a ring and pinion with 120,000 miles on it ?

Regarding the studs and nuts:

It seems the parts from Summit would be $58 all in. So about $80 for mark up and shipping from a UK supplier. I can live with that. What I cant live with is the wrong studs being shipped to me. AARRRGGGHHH!!!!

I told the guy at the race shop in the UK that my holes in the wheel flanges were 0.590" They sent Moroso studs with splines at 0.594" which I can push in by hand. And with not a lot of force I can spin in the holes. So thats the whole axle build finished for this weekend unless I can get some more studs in a rush. Tomorrow I will call a few hot rod shops in the UK to see if they may have some studs in stock. It may be Saturday but these guys tend to have an on call person to open up the shop on a weekend if racers need parts. Last year we needed an MSD starter for the Slingshot as it burnt out on a Sunday. A fellow racer gave us the number of topspeed automotive near the track and the guy on call met us at the shop to sell us a starter motor
Maybe they will have some studs in stock?

I was hoping to be out next weekend for shakedowns, but if it doesnt happen I'll just bite the bullet and wait for what I need. I have to admit that I came close to pulling the studs into the wheel flange with nuts and spacers so I could weld them to the flange. But my friends at the garage held me down and shouted BAD IDEA at me

Stuff happens eh?

I'll be ready to roll when the time is right I guess

Regards
Perry

Pel, good work on fitting that ring gear and carrier in there! That really stinks about your studs. I hope you can find something that will be correct tomorrow.

Originally Posted by pel

WELL!!! I told the guy at the race shop in the UK that my holes in the wheel flanges were 0.590" They sent Moroso studs with splines at 0.594" which I can push in by hand. And with not a lot of force I can spin in the holes. Regards
Perry

So who's measure is wrong? I tend to think yours is "off a little" ??? Sucks when Murphy reaches out and grabs hold of your day...

I just got an email from the guy who got me the shafts and he says 0.618 spline diameter is what I need. I spoke to a rod shop just ow and they have 2 sets left in stock. So I'm off on a 160 mile round trip to get the project moving again

TTFN folks

Good news on the studs, Pei! Hopefully you can return that first set of Moroso's... On the wheel nuts, I ran into the same thing when I was ordering wheels for the '33 and the Cragar nuts I needed were four to a pack?? I was told they're four to a pack because 1) so many of the little cars only need 4 per wheel, and 2) generally when anyone is ordering nuts they're doing the whole car so they order five packs of four vs four packs of five in the old days. I guess that's right, but it kinda sucks when only doing two as it takes three packs to get the ten needed.

Roger I've had the same issue with the four packs, which really sucks because most cars I have owned had at least 5 lug nuts!

Woo Hoo!!
I'm back on track now

I dropped into a friends workshop on the way home and fitted the new studs. I managed to get them in buy using the nuts with washers and some lube between washers and nut to pull them in with the impact gun. They are well and truly in there now!!

I got back a 4 hours ago, but when I arrived home my Grand Daughter was not happy as she is teething, so she has been on the floor playing with Gramps
for the last few hours. And now Gramps is tired. So in the morning its off to the empty garage where the axle is to start more assembly work. OH!! I just won a pair of rims on Ebay. 8.5 x 15 with 5x4.5 pcd and the backspace is acceptable. My backspace is 4" and these are 3.5". And they are the same slot mags that I like.... Winning!!!!

I'll get more pictures of the progress tomorrow.

Nite nite folks

Pel

Getting close now ??

But I found I need to trim another 10 thou off the bearing retainer caps so they will bolt up tight to clamp the wheel bearings.

When this is done I will double check the shaft measurements and cut them to length.

Then the axle can go back together