To: Triumphs List, Inet
AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!
I can't get those DAMNED rear hubs off!! I don't have the special
"Churchill" tool shown in the Bently manual, nor does my LBC
mechanic. The local machine shop tried and failed. So, my
neighbor (the one that builds hot rods in his garage for fun and
profit and who happens to be one of the most creative people I
know) and I tried sticking the axle in a vice, putting on the
biggest, baddest gear puller I have ever seen using a special
adaptor that he fabricated, heating the sucker up with an
ox-acetelene torch to, oh say about 15 billion degrees, all the
while cranking down on the gear puller and beating on the sides of
the flange with a 5 pound sledge hammer and ---- NOTHING! Is it
possible that one of those Limey assembly line workers with a
sense of humor simply welded the flange on so that when a Yank
like me decides to do a frame off restoration I would be totally
stymied? Making matters worse is that I am now resigned to the
fact that I will almost certainly have to destroy the flanges just
to get the buggers off of the axles, and replacement rebuilt
flanges are 25 pounds sterling (that's about $40 to you and I here
in the States -- and new ones are GET THIS $150 US!!!!) I mean
my God, it's just hunk of machined steel. Jesus H. Youknowwho, I
can buy a rebuilt cylinder head from Kipping for the same price!
We've reached the end of our rope and are seriously thinking about
cutting off the flanges just to get the axles free so I can finish
this damned restoration project before my 60th birthday.
So HELP! I have seen a thread on this issue before, but did not
save it in my mail folder because I suffer from the dreaded IT
WON'T HAPPEN TO ME syndrome. Otherwise, Spit is fine. Been
painting all of the ancillary chassis parts and will commence
rebuilding the suspension (except for the dreaded rear axles) as
soon as all the parts arrive from Rimmer and Kipping. Thanks in
advance. God love the British.
Frustratingly yours,
Ross D. Vincenti
64 Spitfire 4 (undergoing surgery)
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