I finally got the time to put the diff in the Midget on Friday. That of
course is a fairly straight forward assembly. All went well until time
to torque the pinion nut. I did after all replace the seal. The spec is
140 lb/ft. Now I am laying on my back under the car trying to get enough
leverage to pull 140. As I get closer the whole wheel assembly begins to
turn. Even with the parking brake on as tight as I can get it. So I get
somebody in the car to stand on the brakes. Finally my Snap-On torque
wrench gives me a resounding loud crack!! I try again just to make sure
and there it is again. Put the drive line back to the pinion and put the
wheels on and let it off the jack stands. Start it up, cross fingers,
pull out of parking lot quiet as a sheep from the rearend.(No comments
from the peanut gallery) Hooray!!. Of course when I got the old pumpkin
out I found several shards of metal from the gears, including one nearly
as big as my little finger!!. I cleaned out the housing with solvent and
a magnet to make sure I got all of it. Drove it a little on Sat to make
sure - no laeks and it would hold together.
Sunday, Father's Day, Damnit Dick's Day June 20,1999.
Went out and played golf on Sun AM. Love pulling into the Golf Club
parking lot with the clubs hanging out the front passengers seat. After I
got off the course I got a call from some old camping buddies from my
AR/OK days. They are in southern Joisey at a campground. So I grab a few
things, clothes, sleeping bag, cooler, etc. and head out from Lansdale.
Philly and then out into the back roads of Southern Joisey. Drove nearly
120 miles, the last 20 or so in the rain with no top!!. Arrived at the
campground abot 4PM with a big ol' sh*t eating grin on my face!!! They
didn't know for certain I was coming as I just took a message from them
and couldn't call them back. Boy were they surprised when I pulled up in
the rain with no top on the Midget.
Then on Sunday we decide they want to see the Statue of Liberty. Another
100+ miles in the drizzle and rain. Unfortunately this was all up the
Joisey Turnpike. Then another 100+ miles home, This time w/o the rain.
The Midget ran like a top with nary a rumble or squeek out of the
drivetrain.
All in all a great weekend with some old good friends, The Midget too,
back in action after 2 1/2 weeks down.
Larry
Larry Macy
78 Midget
Keep your top down and your chin up
Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu
System Administrator/Manager
Neuropsychiatry Section
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce St. - 1015 Gates
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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