[Healeys] steering box oil seal

[E.A. Driver]

Hi Rich

Michael is right on. Four years ago I was confronted with the same problem.
I removed the castle nut and washer, then very carefully removed the 
steering arm,
initially tapping on top of the arm then using a gear puller.  I took a 
small screw driver,
bent the blade into a hook to remove the dust cover and the oil seal.  
The new oil
seal and dust cover were purchased from a UK supplier.  The seal was 
"driven" into
place slowly with a small flat and dull chisel.  Afterwards I used 
Penrite Steering box
lube.  No leaks to date!

Regards
Ed
Saskatoon
Is

On 23/07/2013 3:10 PM, Michael Salter wrote:
> Hi Rich,
> I think what you are thinking is correct.
> There is a step in the casing because the OD of the seal is larger than the
> OD of the seal.
> I would think that if you were to use a Dremel to clean off all the rag
> ends you could put the new seal in and get away with it. I would put a
> little sealant on the outside of the seal just to be sure that nothing
> would seep past it.
> We used to use a pair of very narrow CR seals in that position because the
> sealing face on the shaft was usually quite pitted right where the original
> seal used to fit.
> Sorry I don't remember the CR number but I'm sure a scan through the CR
> site would find it.
>
> Michael Salter
> http://www.netbug.net/blogmichael/?p=445
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 3:38 PM, Richard Berman<richberman at verizon.net>wrote:
>
>> I am looking for some help with my steering oil leak.  Since I installed it
>> there has been a small but continuous leak.  So before I closed up the
>> front end, making life more difficult I decided to pull the steering column
>> to double up the seal.  Upon removal I noticed that the PO had already
>> placed a second seal over what appeared to be the original seal.  I tried
>> like heck to remove this original seal, in breaking the handle of my seal
>> puller, butchering a series of chisels and other tools, almost blew myself
>> up with a propane torch all to no avail.  Here are pictures of what's left
>> of the "seal",
>>
>> https://picasaweb.google.com/110087349657726745747/57AustinHealey#5902464093826732930
>>
>> So what I'm wondering is, is this really a seal or could it be a part of
>> the casing?  What is the best method to fix my now even more difficult
>> problem?  Or should I do what I did which was to place a new seal over it
>> after cleaning it all up, put in Penrite steering gook (oil), close it up
>> and pray?
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Here's a link to my entire restoration album for those who want to see
>> other pictures:
>>
>> https://picasaweb.google.com/110087349657726745747/57AustinHealey#5902464093826732930
>>
>> thanks for the always excellent help.
>> Rich Berman
>> '57 Longbridge BN4