On Wed, 17 May 1995, Agustin de la Calle wrote:
> Dear fellow sufferers (if you have the same problem),
>
> My latest idea (it took me awhile) where these bad vibes
> that shake my Midget at 30mph might come from is that the
> U-joints might be dead or stiff in a way of speaking. I
> can't really check this without taking out the
> engine+tranny+drive-shaft.
>
> Is there another way of doing some work on the rear end of
> the tranny? Would I have to cut a piece of tunnel away and
> reweld it? Since the thick grease crust would light up
> pretty well I would have to clean up the tunnel.
>
> To bad that there's no such thing as a service lid that
> would do the trick without risking the rigidity.
>
> In the worst case I would have to bite the bullet and as
> George Haynes said invest "3 hours" to pull the whole thing
> and put it back together. He's fast.
>
> Cheers and greetings to the bunch from the Rochester area,
>
> Gus
>
> =====================================================
> Agustin de la Calle '71 MG Midget (red)
> Boston, MA delacall@bcmp.med.harvard.edu
> =====================================================
AGUStin,
That vibration is almost certainly the U-joints.
I have a '78 Midget and recently replaced the U-joints and don't remember
it being that much hassle. I just removed the drive shaft.
I did invest in one of those $20 Skil cordless ratchet drivers though.
Fitted it with a flex knuckle, and poked it in the access hole to undo the
four locking bolts and nuts.
DON'T FORGET to mark the position of the flanges though; a small hacksaw
cut across both flanges BEFORE removing the bolts always works.
In my Haynes book, (page 148+), it clearly steps you through the
procedure....the engine/tranny/rear axle does NOT have to be removed.
Good Luck!
Nick D. Benson
Dept. of Industrial Sciences
Colorado State University
Fort Collins CO
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