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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - second hand GTV8 rear axle

I have finally put a deposit down on a second hand V8 rear axle and V8 propshaft that a garage is removing from a "not yet broken" original GTV8 - the car is too rusty to repair so is being broken for parts, and the axle is in good condition.

My car is a GTV8 conversion with the original GT axle.

Do any of you have any hints/tips for the installation of the axle before it arrives at the end of November?

i.e.
- anything I should watch out for when removing my current axle?
- is it possible to just take the old one off and stick the new one on (along with my new prop shaft)?
- even though it's in good nick, are there any parts that I should renew/recondition anyway?
- I'm going to clean it up and spray it with something like hammerite, any opinions ? (fyi - probably going to spray it red!! Whilst my car looks like a normal BGT on the surface, underneath and under the bonnet it doesn't!!)

thanks in advance,
jim
j w mcglynn

Super easy swap -- a morning's work going very slowly. Only PITA is you'll of course need to bleed the brakes -- never enjoyed that task. Only things I'd renew would be the breather and the oil seals at the ends of the axles. Plus why not change the oil (Castrol Hypoid 90 or something like that). Hammerite would work -- though I personally think a red axle would be unattractive. Good luck!
Ted

thanks Ted, sound advice.

fyi, everyone seems to say the same about the colour!

j w mcglynn

No need to bleed the brakes to make the swap, unless they need it anyway. Car up on jack stands under the body, wheels & brake drums removed. Undo the clips or clamps holding the brake lines to the axle, remove the U-bolts, shocks, etc. Remove the driver side(USA, left side)brake backing plate bolts then carefully pull the plate away from the axle & forward. If done with care, you can bend the brake line without kinking it. For the Brits, be sure this is the side with the lnogest line from the junction block. Support the back plate on a bucket or such. Unbolt the other back plate, but do not remove it yet. Slide the axle unit to the left a few inches, letting it hang on the springs taking care not to let the pinion rotate down. Another bucket is helpful. You should now be able to remove the other brake backing plate & it should be supported as well.

A trolley jack & a bit of muscle will let you remove the axle by sliding it to the left until the right end clears the spring, lowering the right end to the ground, then sliding the axle right until the left side clears the spring. Once the last back plate is removed, you need not worry about the pinion dropping.

This method eliminates the need for dropping the springs & shouild cut your time in half. Installation of the new axle is the reverse....
Jim Stuart

Have you heard the axle running? Are the seals sound? Bearings? Spacers? Gear noise? Might pay to have it rebuilt now rather than later. Repacing a Rostyle is a straight swap, but if the old one is a wire-wheel you will need a new (longer) handbrake cable. If yours is a roadster you will need to retain your own back-plates and slave cylinders, the V8 (being a GT) had the larger diameter slaves which can cause the rears to lock. Other than that it is just a few nuts and bolts. Be very careful you don't bump the pinion flange of the new axle or you can destroy the pre-load. I disconnected the spring shackles making removal/insertion even easier, even left the exhaust in-situ.
Paul Hunt

Jim, I don't get how you can do this w/o bleeding the brakes! The swapped-in unit's cylinders are bound to be less than totally full, no? Plus wouldn't you wanna ensure everything contains the same type of brake fluid?
Ted

I think Jim's idea is to reuse the existingbacking plates and cylinders. B rmoving the plates & cylinders from the axle, you don't need to breach the integrity of the brake's hydraulic system.

after both brake sets are removed from the axle, the axle is R & R'd with the BGTV8 axle sans backing plates and wheel cylinders and the old backing plates and cylinders (re)installed on the replacement axle.

For me, the question would be the inegrity of the old wheel cylinders. If they are recently rebuilt and no leaking, Jim's idea makes sense. If they're clapped out and/or spewing, I'd rebuild the replacement rear axle w/ new or honed and kitted wheel cylinders and new brake shoes (I might do that even if i ran the swap per Jim's instructions)

As I have acces to a power bleeder, this isn't an issue with me personally, just making comments to further understanding of the described process
Greg Fast

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2002 and 13/11/2002

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