Bill,
>After cleaning the bearings, They seemed to be in pretty good shape. There
>was no discoloration of the balls or races. The right on one side has a
>slightly frosted surface where the balls roll and it makes a little more
>noise than preferred when rolling. Both are nice and tight.
I had that same ticking sound and saw the same "frosted surface" on a set
of rear axle bearings out of a GTO. The surface of the axle, below the
bearing assembly, was discolored (looked as if it had been torched) from
excessive heat. Replacing the bearing and axle solved the problem.
>What does everyone think? On one side, I am already halfway to replacement
>so why not just throw them in but on the other side, I would not be the
>first person to screw something up worse in the attempt to make it better
>and besides, why fix it if it ain't broke. These bearings are not real
>cheap, after all.
Parts aren't cheap, for sure, but beings you've got things apart......
Besides, replace the bearing now and you won't need to worry about it in the
future. Also, things that may seem ok on the bench behave differently under
stress.
>On another note, the right side end of the axle housing and octagon nut
>were all galled up. It looked like they had survived rotating metal to
>metal contact at one time. There is no corresponding damage inside the
>axle hub however so I don't think the axle that is in it was made the
>marks. Any thoughts on this?
Speaking from experience, my guess would be the PO had the rear axle up on
jacks with the engine running and transmission engaged and the jack collapsed.
>MGA weather is gone again for a while. With all of the chemicals on the
>road right now you can almost hear the cars rusting when you walk through a
>parking lot.
MGA weather is never gone. Just put the top up...or get a coupe.
Good luck.
Mike Lambdin
'59 A (fhc)
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