MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - F*** W**** B*******

I know that the above is a taboo subject, but I thought I'd share with you all a good way of getting the bearings seated properly in the hubs.
I noticed that the 2nd hand front wheel bearings that I had had fitted by a local garage, seemingly in good nick, were getting noisy. When I came to change them today, I found that the hub nut was quite loose, probably no more than 1 - 2lb ft. It had obviously slackened off due to the bearing bedding itself in over a few thousand miles.
Anyway, this led me to thinking - I needed something to chase the bearing right down to the shoulder of the hub. I obviously didn't want to put any load on the centre, so I spent 5 mins grinding the outer ring of each hub down so that they were a loose fit in the hub. This way, I could press the bearings fully into place without having to resort to hammering or winding them in with the hub nut!
I now have a nearside front that runs without any complaining. Offside tomorrow, then it will have new bearings at each corner!
Dominic Excell

Dominic,

"I spent 5 mins grinding the outer ring of each hub down so that they were a loose fit in the hub"

Do you mean you ground the outside of the race down so it was a loose fit, if so I won't give it much time till you get problems. Not a good thing to do, most people just use a soft metal drift like brass so as not to damage the race. The hub bore dimensions and bearing dimensions are closely controlled so they fit together in a consistent manner.
David Billington

Sorry David, my mistake, I meant the outer ring of each bearing, not hub! That way the now slightly smaller old bearing outer acts as a drift, spreading the load over the entire surface of the outer ring of the new.
Dominic Excell

Dominic,

Did you grind the old bearing outer races and use them as a drift, if so that would be OK.A few years ago I did some mods to a Porsche hub and on removing the races from one hub I found that they had been removed badly leaving burrs on the bearing seats preventing proper seating of the new bearing and likely fitted badly as well due to the damage evident in the bores indicating skewed fitment. The Porsche hubs were aluminium and easily damaged.
David Billington

That's correct David.
A good reason to stay with a simple basic somewhat prehistoric design then - steel hubs!
Mind you I have an old Morris Minor hub, which is kept as a toe-stubber (very effective too!) and that has a lot of burrs from removing / replacing bearings in the past.
Dominic Excell

You can also just cut a slot in an old outer race and use it for a drift. A bit easier than grinding the entire outer surface.
Trevor Jessie

That's a neat idea, Trevor.
Dave O'Neill2

No need at all to grind the old bearing.

I've been drifting in the fwbs since 1977 using the old outers. The new bearing stops the old outer from going in to the hub.

As for the bearing coming loose because it bedded in. I can't see that at all. It came loose because the bearing wasn't installed properly, or because it was never torqued up properly and a split pin added, or because the tagged washer was missing or shagged, or because of a combo of the lot.
Lawrence Slater

Thats what my MG mentor always said to do here and other sites

Bill young

He ground the out side edge so they would fit the 2mm radius of the hub....he caught a lot of h#ll for it also...and for making the suggestion

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Hey Prop, how is Bill?
Since his wife past away he has kinda dissapered on here.
If you still have contact with him say hi from me then.

Arie de Best

This thread was discussed between 07/11/2013 and 08/11/2013

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS now